Notorious scandals that have rocked the NFL in years gone past
SEX cruises, drug houses, shootings, stabbings, beatings and spying — we take a look at some of the most infamous scandals to have rocked the NFL.
SEX cruises, drug houses, shootings, stabbings, beatings and spying — we take a look at some of the most infamous scandals to have rocked the NFL.
THE DALLAS COWBOYS ‘WHITE HOUSE’
SEVERAL Cowboys players used a rented house for illicit acts during the team’s 1990s Super Bowl heyday. The excesses caught up with wide receiver Michael Irvin. He served a five-game suspension in 1996 following a no-contest plea to a drug charge.
THE ‘LOVE BOAT’
A HOST of Minnesota players, including quarterback Daunte Culpepper, were on-board for what was essentially a sex cruise on Lake Minnetonka. The 2005 scandal was a major embarrassment for new Vikings owner Zigi Wilf, who fired head coach Miek Tice at season’s end.
BARRETT ROBBINS AT SUPER BOWL XXXVII
ROBBINS went AWOL the day before the Super Bowl, forcing the Raiders to replace their Pro Bowl centre against Tampa Bay. Oakland lost 48-21. Robbins who had reportedly stopped taking his medication and gone partying in Tijuana, Mexico, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He played one more season before being cut for failing a performance enhancing drug test.
PLAXICO BURRESS GUN SCANDAL
THE New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself inside a New York City nightclub, which led to him being charged with criminal possession of a handgun and a 20-month stint in prison. The 2008 Giants unravelled after the incident and lost in the second round of the playoffs without their star wide receiver, who was released before the 2009 season.
SPYGATE
THE New England Patriots were found guilty of illegally videotaping the New York Jets defensive signals during a 2007 game. Head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 the franchise was fined $250,000 and it lost a first-round draft pick. The incident gave Belichick and the Pats a reputation for using shady tactics.
BULLYGATE
JONATHAN Martin left the Miami Dolphins midway through the 2013 season due to locker room bullying from fellow offensive linemen led by Richie Icognito, who was subsequently suspended and not re-signed. The incident exposed a culture of locker room behaviour in the NFL that critics called unprofessional at best and abusive at worst. Incognito has since been signed by the Bills.
BOUNTYGATE
NEW Orleans coaches and players were accused of offering bounties to knock opposing players out of the games between 2009 and 2011. The scandal further damaged the league at the time when player safety was being called into question. Among the punishments that resulted from a league investigation, Saints head coach Sean Payton and defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams both were suspended for the entire 2012 season.
JOVAN BELCHER MURDER/SUICIDE
THE Kansas City Chiefs linebacker rocked the sports world in December 2012 when he killed his girlfriend, then drove to the Chiefs training facility and shot himself. The incident sparked national debate about gun laws, and Belcher’s family had his body exhumed to have his brain studied. In 2014, a report was released stating that Belcher had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease that has been linked to head trauma and diagnosed in former NFL players.
CONCUSSION SETTLEMENT
BEFORE former Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson killed himself with a gunshot to the chest in 2011, he texted family asking them to have his brain studied for the effects of concussions and head trauma. Research revealed Duerson indeed had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The league had long maintained that it provided for former players and denied it failed to protect their health. But following the suicide of former star Junior Seau in 2012 and the increasing number of lawsuits by former players, the NFL reached a $765 million concussion settlement in 2013. In 2014 a U.S. District judge refused the settlement on the grounds that it was inadequate.
RAY RICE SCANDAL
THE Baltimore Ravens running back was suspended for two games by the NFL in 2014 after he was arrested and charged with assaulting his then-fiancee; video showed him dragging her unconscious body out of a hotel elevator. When another video that showed Rice punching her was released, Rice was cut by the Ravens and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. The NFL botched its investigation and commissioner Roger Goodell was shamed into a public apology and forced to overhaul its domestic policy.
BEN ROETHLISBERGER SUSPENSION
HE was never charged with a crime, but Pittsburgh’s star quarterback was suspended for six games (reduced to four) in 2010 for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. Roethlisberger was investigated after being accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old female — the second such accusation against him in a two-year period, which led to him being nicknamed ‘Rapelisberger’ by critics. Big Ben was one of the league’s most high-profile QBs, coming off a second Super Bowl title, and the NFL was forced to address his pattern of troubling off-field behaviour.
RAY LEWIS ARREST
THE Baltimore Ravens linebacker pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the still-unsolved murder of two men who were stabbed to death during a fight involving Lewis and his friends in Atlanta after Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000. Lewis was fined $250,000 by the NFL but never suspended. Critics still call Lewis a tainted legend; some call him worse.
PAUL HORNUNG/ALEX KARRAS GAMBLING SUSPENSIONS
TWO of the NFL’s top players were suspended for the 1963 season after betting on NFL games and associating with gamblers. Both were reinstated the following season and continued their careers. Hornung was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, while Karras had a film and television career after football.
MICHAEL VICK DOG-FIGHTING RING
THE star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons pleaded guilty to felony charges in 2007, after being exposed as the head of a dog-fighting ring based in his Virginia hometown, and served 21 months in prison. Vick returned to the NFL in 2009 amid much public outcry from animal rights activists.
BYE-BYE BALTIMORE
WITHOUT fanfare in March 1984, Colts owner Robert Irsay moved his franchise to Indianapolis in the middle of the night after being unable to secure a stadium agreement. Baltimore didn’t land another NFL team for 12 seasons, until Art Modell took the Browns from Cleveland — another decision triggering anger from fans.
JOSH BRENT CASE
THE Dallas Cowboys nose tackle was driving under the influence when he crashed his Mercedes in December 2012, killing teammate Jerry Brown, It wasn’t the first case of DUI manslaughter to rock the league — see Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth — and the incident further damaged the NFL’s reputation for being unable to control its players’ behaviour. Brent was sentenced to 180 days in jail and rejoined the Cowboys in 2014.
ADAM ‘PACMAN’ JONES
FROM being involved in a strip-club shooting to other arrests, Jones became known as the NFL’s poster child for bad behaviour when he was suspended for the 2007 season and most of 2008. Jones has since reinvented himself and made his first Pro Bowl this season in Cincinnati.
Originally published as Notorious scandals that have rocked the NFL in years gone past
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