Picked Off: Who Will Death Intercept Next?

When the limelight fades and the cheers are but an echo, former NFL stars often face life after football about as gracefully as a fart in church. The hits pile up, the injuries begin to mount and then the day they thought would never arrive, materializes all too soon. The members of the media which they embraced or dismissed at their whim no longer seek out a quote and their fame, like their income, diminishes commensurately.

While most former players make the difficult transition without fanfare, there are those who make Ray Finkle of "Ace Ventura" fame look like a motivational speaker. Below, we handicap those who look like they're on the edge; of course, we genuinely hope these odds never, ever pay off.

They make their living as elite athletes in a game that glorifies speed, agility and brute strength. Professional football players start as little boys in great big pads but grow up to be great big men in padding that's not so big anymore. After countless hours spent practicing and playing from Pop Warner to the NFL, the average player has taken a merciless beating, and the effects manifest long after his playing days over. 

And so it was with Junior Seau. A sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible, Seau's is the latest in a series of tragic stories of NFL players unable to live with the toll taken from a life spent participating in the brutal ballet we watch each Sunday. 

While nobody wishes ill on any player active or retired, the fact that so many players are claimed before their expiration date is now fodder for SBR debate. Whether it be by their own hand or being in the wrong place at the wrong time (Momma always told me nothing good happens after midnight), professional football players have a knack for premature and often violent endings. Let's take a look at the odds-on favorites for the next tragic headline.

Art Schlichter: +500

If you have never heard of Art Schlichter, then you just haven't been around the game long enough. Chosen fourth overall by the then Baltimore Colts in the 1982 draft, he was banned from playing pro ball due to a gambling addiction back in the mid 80's and has been arrested throughout the years on a variety of charges that all stemmed from his insatiable thirst for action. He is currently serving a 10 year sentence for fleecing millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors (had none of them ever heard about this guy?!). Many dangers lurk in prison, but none more so than the danger Schlichter may cause to himself. 

Ryan Leaf: +500

When you hear the name Ryan Leaf, think "Schlichter the Younger" and substitute a drug problem for a gambling addiction. Like Schlichter, Leaf was a top five overall pick and failed to live up to the lofty expectations of scouts and coaches alike. Recently, while out on bail on burglary and drug charges, he was arrested a scant 4 days later on virtually identical charges. He's looking at a long stretch in the Gray Bar Hotel and will undoubtedly face the same dangers in prison as Schlichter.

Terrell Owens: +700

The real estate market tanked about the same time as Owens' pass catching skills and that was a double dose of disaster for the former 49'ers star wide receiver. Eighty million dollars in career earnings, and all he has to show for it are the creditors lining up at his doorstep. At 38 years old, Owens is persona non grata in any NFL training camp and now he's got to tell his baby mamas - all four of them - that there's nothing left in the piggy bank.

OJ Simpson: +300

Over 15 years ago, former Bills standout OJ Simpson assembled a dream team of lawyers who buffaloed a jury into acquitting him of the double murder of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a young man named Ron Goldman, who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Simpson is now in prison for armed robbery on a separate charge, and his future looks bleak. But one would think that if he was going to do himself in, he would have done so on that fateful day back in '94 when he led police on a low speed chase with best friend Al Cowlings in the driver's seat.

Any member of the '94 Chargers: EV