Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Good call, I never heard of him.  

That's who I was trying to remember(w/o AI or google) was that  in the NFL?

No, he did that at Bama.

That's important too ...

well, if you didn't play for a blueblood or on a winning team

Why might one consider the NFL careers in judging COLLEGE athletes?

Well, one obvious reason is the college playing field is not level, or at least, a lot less level than the NFL.  A QB might put up ridiculous stats at say Hawaii because of "System" and then do zip in the League.  Others might have played in a run oriented offense in college and then later shined.

Is that fair?  Who cares?  When the criteria are laid out to list one's OPINIONS about whatever, one is thus free to use whatever metrics one wishes.  Otherwise, one can just list quantifiables, the QBs with the most passing yards career and be done with it.

IMHO you shouldn't bump up a middling college career based on a stellar NFL career. But a stellar NFL career can be used as validation that a player was truly that good when you have a player that all the stats and eye test say "yes" but perhaps they played against weaker competition or on a poor team. 

For QB, look at guys like Drew Brees or Patrick Mahomes. These were guys that played in pass-happy offenses and could rack up tons of stats. But sometimes you don't know whether they were successful because they were a "system QB" like say Colt Brennan under June Jones, or whether they were the real deal. Knowing that they could produce at the next level validates that what you saw at the college level was true. 

On the opposite end, Tom Brady wasn't exactly a Michigan great. I mean, he was probably "great", but not Mt Rushmore inclusion great. He didn't consistently even own the starting role, splitting some with Drew Henson. He had a strong team around him that didn't require him to be the hero. His college career was good, but it wasn't good enough to get him drafted anywhere better than the 6th round. You can't put him on a college football Mt Rushmore just because he did great in the NFL. 

He was found not guilty.

I’m aware, but still unfortunate. And from what I remember reading, When the news came out a few people who interacted with him were basically like “yeah that guy was a little off.“

Why might one consider the NFL careers in judging COLLEGE athletes?

Well, one obvious reason is the college playing field is not level, or at least, a lot less level than the NFL.  A QB might put up ridiculous stats at say Hawaii because of "System" and then do zip in the League.  Others might have played in a run oriented offense in college and then later shined.

Is that fair?  Who cares?  When the criteria are laid out to list one's OPINIONS about whatever, one is thus free to use whatever metrics one wishes.  Otherwise, one can just list quantifiables, the QBs with the most passing yards career and be done with it.

FFS