The former Gators quarterback and future NFL messiah (maybe?) has been the talk of the proverbial football town recently. First, he served as a ring bearer of sorts for a Florida football fan who was proposing to his girlfriend (a fan who obviously wasn’t too concerned about being upstaged by the pride and joy of Gators football).
Then, Tebow was rumored to have accompanied Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and personnel head Nick Caserio at dinner in the North End. Is Belichick thinking about making Tebow the heir apparent to Tom Brady’s throne?Is that a good thing?
The possible marriage between Tebow and the Patriots got us thinking about the most unintentionally ill-fated marriages in recent sports history — not that we’re assuming that a union between Tebow and New England would end in divorce or misery or anything.
Kenny Rogers and cameramen
Athletes, along with celebrities in general, often have to deal with reporters and videographers at inconvenient times — after a loss, after a scandal … or before a leisurely pregame stretch. Yes, Kenny Rogers, you have a job to do. So do the cameramen. Shoving them, threatening them and even putting them in the hospital because you’re angry that you broke your pinkie and therefore will miss a start is still not OK.
Patrick Kane and cab drivers
First cameramen, now cab drivers. Young Blackhawks star Patrick Kane enmeshed himself in a bit of an unwanted controversy last August, when an altercation with a cab driver in Buffalo, N.Y., led to a brief arrest and an assault charge. Kane and his cousin were both arrested after allegedly robbing and then punching a cab driver because of an argument over fare. Yes, it is frustrating when your cab driver cannot make change for you (even if it is only 20 cents, which even the most meager of professional sports salaries would be able to cover). That still doesn’t mean you can punch him.
Cincinnati Bengals and the law
Here’s a stat the Bengals likely would rather not be associated with: Beginning in early 2006, nine members of the team were arrested in the span of nine months.
It all started with the late Chris Henry, who was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm and aggravated assault with a concealed firearm, among other things. After that, a slew of Bengals followed suit, including A.J. Nicholson, Frostee Rucker, Matthias Askew, Eric Steinbach and more. Cincinnati, which struggled to maintain its fan base after posting a record of 72-152 from 1989 (its last Super Bowl appearance) through 2002, certainly didn’t do itself any favors with numbers like that.
Milton Bradley and Cubs (or any MLB team)
In the beginning, the partnership seemed promising, but it swiftly turned sour. The talented-but-troublemaking outfielder — who has failed to find a home with a single team for more than two years throughout his entire 10-season career — signed with the Cubs prior to the 2009 season. Many thought that if anyone could whip him into shape, it would be manager Lou Piniella. Unfortunately, such was not the case. On Sept. 21, Bradley was suspended for the remainder of the season after he publicly criticized the team in the Daily Herald of Illinois, telling the newspaper, “You understand why they haven’t won in 100 years here.”
After the season — and once Bradley had safely secured a contract with the Mariners — he expounded upon those comments, adding that he “was a prisoner in his own home” and was the target of racist comments from fans.
Bradley played in 124 games for the Cubs and hit .257 (his lowest average since 2002) with 12 homers and 40 RBIs as the North Siders missed the playoffs.
Sean Avery and celebrity girlfriends
This brings us to the Milton Bradley of the NHL. Even before the infamous events of Dec. 2, 2008, Avery had a reputation of being a bit of a nuisance. Then, prior to a game against Calgary, Avery approached a group of reporters and, apropos of nothing, indicated his joy at returning to Canada and his amazement that his NHL brethren have a habit of pursuing his former girlfriends. Because he used a somewhat derogatory term to refer to said girlfriend (in this case, Elisha Cuthbert, aka Jack Bauer’s daughter), Avery was suspended indefinitely from the NHL and was eventually waived by Dallas.
(Getting on the soap box: Why is it that in the NHL, you can get suspended indefinitely for taking a relatively harmless dig at a former girlfriend, but you can nearly permanently injure one of the game’s better players and get off without even two minutes in the box?)
Roger Clemens and his legacy
When we used to think of Roger Clemens, we — even those of us in Red Sox Nation — would do so with respect. Now, when we think of Roger Clemens, one of two things is likely to come to mind: Mindy McCready or steroids/Brian McNamee.
Clemens’ once-pristine legacy began to unravel in December 2007, when he had the unfortunate distinction of being the most high-profile name to grace the Mitchell Report. Former trainer McNamee insisted he injected Clemens with PEDs, igniting a war of sorts between himself and Clemens. When Clemens stood before Congress on Valentine’s Day to once again deny the allegations, he didn’t fare much better in the court of public opinion than Tiger Woods did with his public apology.
Shortly thereafter, news broke that Clemens had conducted a 15-year affair with country singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 and he was a Red Sox.
Presently, it is doubtful that any Red Sox Nation members are all too anxious to see Clemens don a Boston jersey when (if?) he is inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Rasheed Wallace and referees
There is Jacob versus the Man in Black. Similarly, there is Rasheed Wallace versus officiating crews.
The Celtics’ forward, despite his best intentions and his strict adherence to the guidelines of ubuntu, has consistently failed to check his technical-foul habit since entering the league in 1995. Since 2001, Wallace has led the NBA in technical fouls six times and has been among the top three technical foulers eight times in that span (meaning every single year).
Additionally, a player is suspended if he gets T’ed up more than 16 times in a season. Needless to say, coaches essentially have to assume that Sheed will be slapped with at least one suspension per year.
Adalius Thomas and Bill Belichick
Perhaps this should be amended to “anyone whose toe touches Bill Belichick’s bad side and Bill Belichick.” Crossing the formidable New England coach is not something you want to do — just ask Bethel Johnson or, more recently, Adalius Thomas. All seemed fine and dandy between the veteran linebacker and the veteran coach until an October matchup against then-winless Tennessee, for which Thomas was unceremoniously benched. Many astute minds in Patriots Nation suspected there was perhaps a difference of opinion hovering between player and coach, and now, it seems they were right.
Later, Thomas publicly criticized Belichick for sending home players who were late for a team meeting in December, and unsurprisingly, Thomas was scratched for that week’s game and saw minimal (severe understatement) playing time for the remainder of the season.
It has been recently been rumored that Thomas has his sights set on greener pastures for 2010, which makes sense — the relationship between him and Belichick does not appear to be one that either party has much interest in salvaging.
Oakland Raiders and players/personnel
Beginning with the infamous Snow Bowl game in 2002, has there been a time that the Raiders have been in the news for something positive? Amidst Oakland’s epic struggles in the last seven seasons — a period during which the Raiders have failed to post anything close to a winning record, going 29-83 — there have been countless falling-outs with key members of the roster and the coaching staff. Randy Moss was essentially dumped off to the Patriots during the 2007 NFL draft for the mere price of a fourth-round pick. Warren Sapp, a loyal Raider from 2004-07, even seems to be losing patience with the franchise, telling Inside the NFL in 2008, “Any person that calls me on the telephone, [I tell them] do not go anywhere near Oakland.” This, of course, came in the wake of Al Davis’ issues with then-head coach Lane Kiffin, concluding with Kiffin’s trainwreck of a dismissal from the team.
But still. JaMarcus Russell will save the franchise. Of course, he will.
Pete Rose and MLB
If you take the Chicago Black Sox, multiply them by Tim Donaghy and raise it to the 10th power, you get Pete Rose. Betting against your own team is commonly accepted as the most unforgivable offense in the history of sports. Rose didn’t bet against his team (or so he says), but the betting itself was enough to get the former Reds player and manager banned from MLB for life in 1989. Much later, in 2004, Rose admitted that he placed wagers on his team “every night.”
It’s hard to say whether Rose is telling the truth. After all, he did lie about the gambling itself for 14 years, so who’s to say he didn’t bet against his own team? And even if he didn’t, did he try to influence the outcomes of games in order to win bets and, in exchange, pay off outstanding debts?
Assaulting cab drivers and cameramen is bad. So is calling your girlfriend mean names on national TV, getting arrested, and publicly disrespecting your franchise and your coach. But betraying an entire legion of sports fans has to be the worst thing any athlete can do.
