Joe Horn Madden Career 1997-2008 - Peak 93 OVR

Before Joe Horn was a star he was flipping burgers and working a furniture factory, an Itawamba Community College product the Chiefs took in the fifth round in 1996 and largely ignored. New Orleans changed everything. Signed in 2000, he became the Saints' clear number one and one of the most productive receivers in franchise history.

Horn made four Pro Bowls with New Orleans and set the club's single-season record with 1,399 receiving yards in 2004. His signature moment came in 2003 on Sunday night against the Giants, when he scored the second of four touchdowns, reached under the goalpost padding, pulled out a hidden cell phone, and mimed a call. It cost him a 15-yard penalty and a $30,000 fine, and it stands among the great end zone stunts. He finished his Saints run with 523 catches and more than 7,600 yards before a stint in Atlanta.

His Madden climb tracked the reinvention. A forgotten 29 in the 1996 edition as a Chiefs afterthought, he opened his Saints prime at 82 in the 2000 edition and rose steadily to a 93 in the 2005 edition, the game finally treating the late bloomer as the alpha receiver he had become.