Alundis Brice Madden Career 1996-1997 - Peak 69 OVR

Alundis Brice was a ballhawk at Ole Miss, a converted receiver who intercepted seven passes in each of his last two college seasons, a production that should have made him an early pick. Health concerns dropped him to the fourth round in 1995, where Dallas took a corner they hoped would grow into the secondary. The slide turned out to be a warning the medical staff had read correctly.

His Madden cards run backward, which is the sad tell. He peaks right away, a 69 as a rookie in Madden NFL 96 built on a 73 speed and a 66 coverage rating, the number of a promising young corner, then collapses to a 29 in Madden NFL 97 as the injuries took hold. A torn ACL in 1996 and a ruptured kneecap during the 1997 rehab ended it before it started, and the card's dive from 69 to 29 in a single year is the injury doing its work in real time.

Brice did get a ring, on the roster for the Super Bowl XXX champions after his rookie season, and he appeared in that playoff run. He finished with just twenty-four NFL games and a single interception before the knees forced him out, then played a bit of Canadian football. The seven-interception seasons at Ole Miss were the real player, and the NFL, and Madden, only ever saw the small, injury-shortened shadow of him.