From Fame to Infamy: 27 NFL Stars with Careers Shadowed by Controversy
Talent makes up for many faults, especially if you want to play for the National Football League. Scouts and executives have a long history of overlooking major red flags about a person's character if they demonstrate serious skills on the field.
1. Darrell Russell
An Oakland Raider defensive tackle, Darrell Russell, videotaped himself and two friends as they sexually assaulted a woman who had been drugged. The tape was discovered after police raided Russell's home. Prosecutors then arrested and charged Russell but later dropped the charges. Russell later died in a fatal car accident.
2. Eric Naposki
Eric Naposki, a New England Patriot from 1988-1997, was charged with murder in the 1994 death of Nanette Johnston's boyfriend, Bill McLaughlin, so Johnston could get McLaughlin's life insurance payout. Naposki was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
3. Randall Woodfield
While he never played, the “I-5 Killer” was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, Sports Illustrated reports. He was also a serial killer who murdered up to 44 people. He signed a contract with the Packers but was cut during training camp, failing to make the final roster. He played the 1974 season with the semi-pro Manitowoc Chiefs. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1981.
4. Rae Carruth
Speedster Rae Carruth was virtually unguardable as a wide receiver at the University of Colorado, amassing a resume that would make him a first-round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers. Sadly, Carruth's unwillingness to pay child support for a second child was also unstoppable. According to PEOPLE, he spent thought it would be cheaper to hire a hitman.
Unfortunately, Cherica Adams, a beautiful real-estate agent carrying Carruth's unborn child, was killed by the hitman. Her son, Chancellor Lee Adams would miraculously live, though with extensive brain damage from the event.
Carruth was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and other charges, receiving a sentence of up to 24 years and four months in prison—cold-blooded Carruth.
5. Aaron Hernandez
Most everybody knows the story of Aaron Hernandez, a high school and college football star who took a hard left-turn towards criminality in college and only pressed harder on the accelerator once drafted by the New England Patriots.
Paranoid, allegedly closeted and implicated in multiple murders, Aaron Hernandez led the kind of life that reminds NFL fans never to conflate athletic feats with good character. Hernandez reportedly committed suicide in a Massachusetts prison at the age of 27, nearly two years to the day after being convicted of the murder of Odin Lloyd, per The Guardian.
6. OJ Simpson
O.J. Simpson was a rising star on and off the field. But today, no one can think of Simpson without also thinking about his murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown. Between the Ryan Murphy series starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Simpson's commenting on the Alex Murdaugh murder trial, it's hard to remember this guy was even a football player.
Simpson's spot was cemented on this list the date he published If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.
7. Ray Lewis
Ray Lewis (of blood-stained suit fame) is living proof that “not guilty” does not translate to “innocent.” Despite Lewis' 12 Pro Bowls, two Defensive Player of the Year Awards, two Super Bowls, and Hall of Fame induction, Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker are still dead from multiple stab wounds. Lewis had blood all over his suit on the night of the murders, and he testified against his two friends to save his skin — and NFL career, per The New York Times.
If you say it with a twang, “Ray Lewis” rhymes with “two-tiered justice system.”
8. Kellen Winslow, Jr.
Kellen Winslow, Jr. was the son of a Hall of Fame father, a star in how own right at the University of Miami, and a quality starter across 10 NFL seasons.
Now, Winslow is a convicted sexual offender who took advantage of the elderly and the homeless, Forbes reports. Since his stunning charges hit the headlines, revelations have emerged that Winslow was known to watch adult videos as a leisure activity and exhibited other red-flag behaviors throughout his playing career.
Is there something about freakishly talented tight ends that makes them prone to commit heinous crimes? Between Kellen Winslow, Jr. and Aaron Hernandez, you have to wonder.
9. Thomas ‘Hollywood' Henderson
Thomas Henderson's criminal allegations, to which he pleaded no contest, could shake your faith in humanity's inherent goodness. The allegations involve forcing a paraplegic minor to conduct acts against her will while issuing credible threats to her life. While a history of substance abuse may help explain the former Dallas Cowboys linebackers' despicable behavior, there is only so much abhorrent behavior that you can blame on your addiction.
10. Robert Rozier
An Alaska native, Robert Rozier became known more as a by-any-means enforcer for the Nation of Yahweh Hebrew Israelite cult than a professional football player. Rozier, The Daily Beast reports, admits to several felonious crimes, including taking lives, that he committed as a member of the Nation of Yahweh.
11. Tommy Kane
Former Seahawks wide receiver Tommy Kane is yet another case study proving that one's ability to run with a football does not translate into good character. According to CBC Sports, Kane pled guilty to taking his estranged wife's life in front of his mother, displaying a level of callousness that few can fathom.
12. Dave Meggett
Dave Meggett wasn't just some also-rand in the NFL. The former New England Patriots running back was a two-time All-Pro selection, but it's tough to see Meggett's on-field accomplishments with his considerable rap sheet dangling in the way.
At the top of the list is failure to pay child support, like many other members of this group, Sports Illustrated reported in their “Where's Daddy?” issue. But Meggett's crimes don't stop there. According to CBS News, Meggett was sentenced 30-years jail time for sexual assault and burglary charges.
13. Barret Robbins
Barrett Robbins would have lived in infamy if his bizarre disappearance the night before Super Bowl XXXVII was the worst thing he ever did. However, Robbins would go on to engage in arrest-worthy physical altercations and struggle with drug use as his arrest record grew and grew following his playing days. Highlights of Robbins post-NFL career include an alleged attack on a mother and daughter) and being shot multiple times.
14. Henry Ruggs III
Henry Ruggs III may not be a man with bad intentions, as there were no signs of poor character before being drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. However, Henry Ruggs III is a testament to the devastating consequences of poor decision-making.
In 2021, ESPN reports Ruggs got behind the wheel of his Corvette while intoxicated, eventually reaching speeds of 156 mph before striking a Toyota RAV4. Tina Tintor and her dog were in that RAV4, and they burned to death after the vehicle caught fire.
15. Gene Atkins
New Orleans Saints safety Gene Atkins became a fan favorite in the Big Easy as a seventh-round draft pick out of Florida A&M, but his post-playing life was anything but easy. In 2004, Atkins sparked an altercation that would lead to 20 criminal counts, The Sun-Sentinel reports.
Atkins' wife called authorities for help, claiming that her husband had cornered her in a bedroom before physically striking her numerous times and preventing her from leaving the home. When police arrived, Atkins was wielding multiple knives, overcame a taser strike, and physically assaulted an officer before eventually surrendering.
16. Darren Sharper
Darren Sharper was the last guy you would suspect of being a serial predator. The Hall of Fame-worthy talent was a tall, suave, smooth-talking professional athlete, but his public persona belied a preference that would eventually land him in prison.
Multiple women shared accounts of falling unconscious after sharing drinks with Sharper, feeling that they had been taken advantage of while incoherent. But, as Newsweek reports, a shocking pattern emerged as victim after victim came forth with similar allegations. Sharper pled guilty to numerous charges in multiple states, forever dismissing the possibility that these were merely baseless allegations.
17. Leonard Little
Leonard Little was an accomplished defensive end for the St. Louis Rams across twelve NFL seasons but succumbed to the impulsive, reckless decisions that we see in so many retired football players with a decade-plus of head injuries to their name.
According to ESPN, Little drove drunk and took the life of a woman who was on her way to pick up her son from a concert. Little was again arrested for DWI in 2004 but was acquitted despite admitting to drinking alcohol (presumably because he refused breath or blood tests).
18. Darryl Henley
A second-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1989, cornerback Darryl Henley would intercept 12 passes across 76 games played in his NFL career (about five seasons' worth of action). However, his 41-year prison sentence for trafficking illegal narcotics and trying to resolve his legal issue homicidally will, unfortunately, be Henley's lasting legacy, per Sports Illustrated.
19. Michael Vick
The right to second chances is practically the 28th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Americans understand our own capacity to mess up, but “messing up” hardly describes Michael Vick's felonious dogfighting ring. Vick has rehabbed his image to the extent that he's employed as a T.V. analyst on a major network, but people (especially Pitbull owners) don't forget.
20. Lawrence Phillips
Cornhuskers running back Lawrence Phillips was, once upon a time, a household name whose stature and talent for football loomed larger than the corn stalks in York County, Nebraska. Even in his collegiate days, Phillips was accused of heinous crimes, including dragging his ex-girlfriend down a flight of stairs, per The Los Angeles Times.
Sadly, Phillips would continue his descent after being disappointed in the NFL. His life would become defined by legal issues. He allegedly drove a car into teenagers who he was beefing with because of a pickup basketball game. Phillips was also accused of domestic abuse, assault, false imprisonment, and other allegations (most of which led to convictions).
When Phillips' cellmate lost his life, there was only one person to point the finger at, and that was the only other person in the cell (Phillips). While awaiting trial in that case in January 2016, Phillips appeared to take his own life, CBS Sports reports, ending a tragic life that had spiraled far out of control since his collegiate heyday as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
21. Alonzo Spellman
Alonzo Spellman was a 6'4″ goliath who played defensive end for multiple NFL franchises. Yet, Spellman was also one of multiple NFL players eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a string of behaviors that many would consider bizarre, The Burlington County Times reports.
From a blow-up in a doctor's office to an outburst on a plane flight and a high-speed chase with police, Spellman continually endangered others while refusing to take medication and instead relying on drugs and alcohol. While there must be sympathy for serious mental disorders, Spellman's behavior is beyond excuse.
22. Antonio Brown
Few people (let alone athletes) have slid from the top of their craft to destructive pariah quicker than Antonio Brown. With one massive hit, CBS Sports reports Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict seemingly rewired Brown's brain.
Since that fateful game in 2015, Brown has burned multiple franchises with erratic on- and off-field antics, been the subject of police standoffs, and reportedly refused to pay personal chefs and football players for services rendered and has been generally incoherent at every step along the way.
From the undisputed best receiver in the NFL to out of the league, Brown's tragic fall from grace is not for lack of talent. While Brown has not hurt anyone physically (to my knowledge), his willingness to publicly trash and financially thrash those close to him speaks to Brown's poor character.
23. Cecil Collins
Former Cowboys and Dolphins running back Cecil Collins claims one of the most bizarre arrests in NFL history.
According to NBC Sports, Collins broke into the home of a woman he knew from his claim, claiming he only wanted to watch her sleep. That excuse was not enough to prevent the judge from sentencing Collins to 15 years in prison for the offense.
24. Jerramy Stevens
If you didn't already have sufficient reason to dislike Hope Solo, meet her husband, Jerramy Stevens. The immensely talented tight end is accused of many offenses that CBS Sports reports happened before and during his time in the NFL.
Allegations against Stevens include multiple physical beatings, an assault of an unconscious woman, and domestic violence involving Hope Solo, who has her own history of similar allegations, per ESPN.
If there's fire where you see smoke, Jerramy Stevens belongs nowhere near you or your loved ones.
25. Jim Brown
Most know Jim Brown as arguably the best professional running back of all time, while others note his acting career and civil rights efforts. Yet, Brown has faced multiple allegations of violence and unwanted advances against women, though, as Deadspin reports, he was acquitted in multiple cases.
Still, many believe there was enough evidence to convict Brown in the court of public opinion.
26. Bill Romanowski
Former Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski is the poster child for unhinged antics on the football field. Admittedly taking pride in injuring other players, Romanowski thought nothing of ending a career if it meant an advantage to his team. Yet, Romo would even injure his own teammates, forcing Raiders teammate Marcus Williams to retire after punching him and breaking his eye socket, SF Gate reports.
From spitting in players' faces to being generally psychotic, Bill Romanowski more than earns the distinction of a bad guy.
27. Greg Hardy
Greg Hardy has a well-documented record of treating female companions, let's say, less than well. Many have cheered Hardy's downfall from All-Pro caliber defensive end to desperate for an NFL job, to a flash in the pan in the UFC, then cut from the UFC. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.
