Milk Carton All-Stars of the Week

This week, we thought we'd bring you a Giant-sized Milk Carton All-Star of the Week(a Milk Gallon of the Week, perhaps?) with this Big Blue trifecta that is bound to make our buddy Gabe foam at the mouth. The trio you see before you are none other than former New York Giants running backs Rodney Hampton(top left), Tyrone Wheatley(top right) and Ron Dayne(bottom center) or as the rest of the world knows them "The Guys Made Obsolete By Tiki Barber". We'll start in chronological order.

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Rodney Hampton was the 24th selection of the 1990 NFL Draft(For better perspective, he was taken three rounds ahead of fellow MCAS Chris Warren, four rounds ahead of Super Tecmo Bowl unstoppable force Barry Foster and six rounds ahead of future Hall of Fame tight end and three-time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe. Oops.) Hampton was serviceable toting the rock for the boys in blue. After his rookie season was cut short by injury, Hampton rushed over 1,000 yards in the next five seasons and made the Pro Bowl twice. After the 1995 season, Hampton's production tailed off and he would eventually retire two seasons later. He would be replaced by......

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......Michigan standout Tyrone Wheatley. With perhaps the Giants sensing Hampton's glory days were over, Big Blue tabbed Wheatley with the 17th pick in the '95 Draft(ahead of ring-wearers like Ty Law, Derrick Brooks, and 2,000 yard rusher Terrell Davis, not to mention the most underrated running back in NFL history, Curtis Martin). Wheatley never really came on with the Giants, with his best season in New York coming in '97 when he rushed for 583 yards and four touchdowns. Shortly after that season, the Giants would use a 2nd round pick on a scatback out of the University of Virginia named Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-ah Barber, or better known as NBC media whore Tiki Barber. With Barber in place, the Giants gave Wheatley the axe where he would then go cross-country to Oakland and find his calling as a goal-line back. Wheatley rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in his first year with the Raiders and matched his Giants career rushing touchdown total with 8 in '99(He also had three recieving TDs). The next year, he broke the 1,000 yard mark and rushed for 9 TDs and added another through the air. Injuries reduced him to short yardage situations and he notched 15 more rushing TDs over the next four seasons before fading away in 2004.

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Meanwhile, back in Jersey, Barber was struggling as Wheatley's replacement, as his smallish frame couldn't handle every down work and his numbers diminished in the two seasons after a pedestrian rookie season that saw him rush for 511 yards and 3 TDs. Feeling that Barber wasn't the guy to carry them to the Promised Land, the Giants brought in a running back who was physically Barber's opposite. With the 11th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, the Giants selected Heisman Trophy winner and all-time collegiate rusher Ron Dayne out of Wisconsin. The 5'10 250lb Dayne, who went by "The Great Dayne" or "The Dayne Train" because of his immense size and speed combo(insert raucous laughter of Giants fans), was thought to be the perfect back to carry the pill through the swirling winds in the Meadowlands. Instead, Dayne's arrival lit a fire under the ass of Barber. Barber combined for 1725 yards from scrimmage and 9 total touchdowns in Dayne's rookie season, leading the Giants to an improbable Super Bowl appearance. Now being billed as Thunder and Lightning, the Dayne/Barber combo looked like they would wreak havoc over the NFL. That was only half true. Barber emerged as a Pro Bowl back, topping at least 1400 total yards from 2001-2006(including three straight 2,000 yard combined yard seasons from '04-'06). During that span, Dayne's carries lessened. After notching 228 carries in 2000, Dayne's carries would go from 180 in '01 to 125 to 52 before the team eventually let him go in 2004. To make matters for Dayne, the guy taken eight picks after him, Shaun Alexander, would go on to win MVP and set the all-time TD mark. Not only that, but the Giants found a bigger, faster replacement to Dayne in Southern Illinois' Brandon Jacobs. After his Big Apple flop, Dayne spent a couple seasons in a running back committee in Denver before spending another two seasons in Houston. Currently, he's out of the NFL at just 31.

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So let's give it up for the Three Men to Tiki Barber's Little Lady: Rodney Hampton, Tyrone Wheatley and Ron Dayne, everybody!!!