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Theodore Anthony Gregory (born February 11, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for one season with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Syracuse Orangemen, earning consensus All-American honors in 1987. Gregory was selected in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. He listed his height as 6'1". However, a shocked Dan Reeves, who is also listed as 6'1" commented, "I'm taller than he is!" upon meeting Gregory after the draft. By Reeves's estimate, Gregory was closer to 5'9".

Gregory had injured his knee in his last collegiate game, and the knee gave out during training camp. Following scathing criticism from the press for wasting a pick on damaged goods, the Broncos traded him to the Saints for Shawn Knight before the season. He is now regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in Broncos' history. After the Gregory incident the Broncos began meeting with potential draft picks prior to the draft, a practice they had not previously engaged in.

Gregory blew out his knee in his third game with the Saints, and never played in the NFL again. After a series of failed business ventures drained his life savings, he took a job as a construction worker, only to have that end due to a ruptured disc in his back that temporarily rendered him a paraplegic. Gregory placed 8th in Deadspin's "The 100 Worst NFL Players of All Time".

References

1. "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
2. "Ted Gregory, NT at". Nfl.com. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
3. "Dan Reeves Past Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards". databaseFootball.com. January 19, 1944. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
4. Pearlman, Jeff. The 100 Worst Players in NFL History, part 2. Deadspin, 2010-11-16.
5. ^ Cimini, Rich. "Glory Days to Ugly Daze". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on April 15, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
6. "Biggest draft bust ever for all 32 NFL teams at". ESPN.com. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
7. The Bottom 100: The Worst Players in NFL History. Deadspin. Retrieved August 14, 2014.

• 1965 births
• Living people
• All-American college football players
• American football defensive tackles
• New Orleans Saints players
• Players of American football from Queens, New York
• Syracuse Orange football players