It was a moment of weakness in an otherwise strong summer. Shawne Merriman(notes) was trolling the Internet and came across a list that had been floating around – a ranking of the NFL’s best linebackers – and couldn’t believe how far his retinas had to drop to get to his own name.

Twelfth.

These are the moments that most fans don’t see in an offseason of recuperative torment, when NFL players reconstruct their bodies and fight through doubt, all in hopes of recapturing – or even exceeding – what they once were. So in this particular instance, Merriman figured he deserved a little slack. If he were to give you his mission statement, 2009 is all about the here and now, and showing rather than talking. But roughly nine months after surgery on his left posterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments, he was incredulous. Twelfth?

"I was pissed off," Merriman recalled. "I’m sitting there like, ‘Hold on, there are 11 guys in the league better than me? When did this happen?’ I know I didn’t play for a year, but I didn’t know I had that much of a drop-off."