Best players you have played with who never made it

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Always found it strange watching some players and thinking how's he made it say for instance your average west brom or boro defenders / midfielders but is it right place right time for them or are they a class above anyone we have grew up with or watched . I think a bit of luck and your environment you grow up in matters a lot IE a good family and no drugs or gangs around you .maybe am wrong and them players mentioned are better but I don't think so . I seen quite a lot of good players growing up around Liverpool in 70s/ 80s

I feel like this watching Heskey.
 
My brother had scouts from Celtic and Rangers come to watch him but 5 minutes into the first game of the season, John McGinley (ex Bolton and Scotland) clattered into him and he got a slipped disc which put him out for the season. After that, his job meant he had work on Saturdays so he couldn’t play in the league and missed his chance.
He used to play regularly with McGinley and also Duncan Shearer (ex Blackburn, Aberdeen and Scotland) and both say my brother was a much better player than them both.
Is your brother Wotto?
 
...think this is one for a different forum (Ale House or World Football). It doesn’t seem appropriate on the Everton Forum.

I played youth football at a professional club for years, so there are plenty. Often a rizzla paper between those who come through and those who don’t, but those who do usually have attitude. Probably as much surprised at one or two who played top flight as a few who didn’t.

Often the rizzla paper was the decider itself!! Plenty of mates who were incredibly talented but just smoked and drank during their teens and never made anything of it.
 

Grew up playing with a lad called Peter Holmes. Was signed as a schoolboy by Sheffield Wednesday when they were in the Prem. Was part of the Lilleshall Football School and played U16 Schoolboy football in the same team as Scott Parker. Regularly played against the likes of Alan Smith, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen at youth club level.

Anyway, he was on the brink of his breakthrough year at Wednesday after their relegation from the premier league, until Paul Jewell was sacked and the new manager didn't fancy him. He then went to Luton as I think Mick Harford also left Wednesday to manage Luton and took Peter with him. He went on to make 100 apps over 7 years at Luton but injury was always a problem for him.

He spent the latter part of his career out on loan at the likes of Rotherham and York before dropping down to non league permanently.

Just shows that despite being rated highly in a particular year group, it's a difficult profession to make it at the top level. Looking back at an U16 schoolboy programme I have. Only Scott Parker made it and I struggle to recognise many other names.
 
Not football. Basketball instead.

A kid named Chris Grice. Played high school basketball with him. He was an freakish athlete and a very skilled player. We went to a relatively small school, so at his size, 6' 6" he was by far our tallest player.

Most kids his height would be played as a center, but from a young age he showed that he was perhaps one that could make it. So he was groomed to be a guard.

He averaged something like 30 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds our senior year. In our junior year we played against Shaquille Oneal's team in the playoffs. We lost a close game, but Chris dominated that game by both being our best offensive player and shutting down Shaq defensively.

Sadly despite all of his talent, Chris wasn't gifted in the classroom. He was given a pass essentially because of his athletic prowess. He was heavily recruited for college, but his SAT score was abysmal, which meant he'd have to go to a junior college first. Which he did...for a couple of months.

He ended up dropping out and returned home. No idea what ended up happening to him.

Still can't believe he didn't make it.
Is there no other other route into pro basketball or American football except through college
Surely if you are good enough one of the teams will take you on
 

Worked with a lad once who played in the same Sunday league team as John Ebrell. He said they had a top side and won everything in sight as kids. Ebrell was then selected to go to lilleshall with England and of course signed for Everton, making a very decent career for himself. Don’t get me wrong, the lad said John was a very good player, but said there was at least 5 other players better then him in that particular Sunday league side. He had nothing against John (said he was a top lad) but it always puzzled him as to why he was the chosen one, when there was other better kids in the team.
Chances are that by the other kids being 'better' he means 'could do more mad skillz' though. When you're a kid it's the lads who can do all the little nutmegs and shoulder drops etc that you think are dead good (some people carry that on into adulthood to be fair) but that's not what scouts are looking at. I do some occasional scouting for cricket players, and a load of kids and parents can't believe it when one lad takes 5-10 and you ask the lad from the other end to trial after he takes 1-30 because he looks like he has a higher ceiling.

Obviously it's not an exact science and you can make mistakes, but if scouts watch and don't pick you up, you probably haven't got it.
 
Played 5 a side for a few years with jimmy ryan, he did make it though just not premier league.
He's at Blackpool now he spent most his career at accrington stanley.
 
Chances are that by the other kids being 'better' he means 'could do more mad skillz' though. When you're a kid it's the lads who can do all the little nutmegs and shoulder drops etc that you think are dead good (some people carry that on into adulthood to be fair) but that's not what scouts are looking at. I do some occasional scouting for cricket players, and a load of kids and parents can't believe it when one lad takes 5-10 and you ask the lad from the other end to trial after he takes 1-30 because he looks like he has a higher ceiling.

Obviously it's not an exact science and you can make mistakes, but if scouts watch and don't pick you up, you probably haven't got it.
Same with football.... from what I understand it’s not predominantly what you do with the ball that scouts look for. It’s positional sense, awareness, communication, decision making, work ethic.... plus many other things. Obvs that raw talent has to be there somewhere but players who can naturally do the things without the bell catch your eye at times. Think it was Bobby Robson who said the only thing separating a top amateur from a pro was the ability to always choose the right option...decision making.
 

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