The Sumter Item<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMost of that stems from Haynesworth’s disgusting 2006 stomp on Dallas Cowboys lineman Andre Gurode’s head. The attack badly injured Gurode, requiring 30 stitches and leaving him with badly impaired vision. Haynesworth was suspended five games for the despicable act, which still rates as the longest suspension for an on-field incident in NFL history. He promptly went on to become the biggest bust and earn a spot among the league’s most hated players of all-time.<\/p>\nThe New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n14. Ray Rice:<\/h3>\n Rice probably needs no introduction, as he’s been one of the poster boys for hated players in the NFL for the last five years. In February 2014, one year after his Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl, Rice was videotaped knocking out his then-fiancée in an elevator at New Jersey’s now-defunct Revel casino.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe incident earned him a silly two-game suspension at first. But the league came under immense scrutiny when video of the attack surfaced online. Rice was raked over the proverbial coals, although perhaps not as much as the NFL was. Either way, Rice has not played a single down in the NFL since. He admirably reverted to becoming an advocate for speaking out against domestic violence, but the damage to his reputation was done.<\/p>\nBleacher Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n13. Richard Sherman:<\/h3>\n Sherman was a vaunted member of the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning “Legion of Boom” defense, and he’s also one of the most hated players in the NFL. Never afraid to speak his mind, Sherman rarely held back on his true feelings in front of the media. Many were taken aback by his brutal honesty in the public eye.<\/p>\nSporting News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOf course, his infamous tirade on then-San Francisco 49er receiver Michael Crabtree certainly didn’t help matters, as it’s still pointed to as a reason Sherman isn’t as well-liked. He was one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL for quite some time, but injuries eventually caught up to Sherman. He now plays for the 49ers, of all teams, with effectiveness well below the level he maintained in Seattle. Many are probably happy to see that is the case.<\/p>\nUSA Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n12. Adrian Peterson:<\/h3>\n Now, you might find it hard to believe this entry on the list because Peterson is truly one of the best running backs in NFL history. He’s also a soft-spoken, respectful human in front of the camera.<\/p>\nInsideHook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHowever, his 2014 child abuse scandal where he was indicted on multiple charges sent his reputation into the dumpster. Peterson was found to have used a tree branch – what he called a “switch” on his son’s buttocks, genitals, ankles, back, and legs. He claimed he was disciplined in such a way when he was young. Peterson eventually reached a plea deal with prosecutors and ended up with probation and a fine. He’s now in the midst of another huge legal mess after his financial advisor mismanaged his money.<\/p>\nWVXU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n11. ‘Pacman’ Jones:<\/h3>\n Adam “Pacman” Jones is one of the most notorious criminals in NFL history. He’s naturally one of its most hated as a result. Indeed, he’s been the center of many a football-related controversy. Of course, he was suspended for the entire 2007 season after various off-the-field incidents. His strip club escapade where he ‘made it rain’ with $81,000 in one-dollar bills before a huge melee erupted comes to mind.<\/p>\nThe Denver Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBesides that, he’s been known to get a bit heated on the field as well, earning foolish penalties that cost his team in the most critical moments. His former Bengals teammate Vontaze Burfict was mentioned as having largely caused the team’s meltdown in the 2016 playoffs, but Jones had a role in it too. Overall ‘Pacman’ is just a controversial, troubled, and therefore hated player.<\/p>\nBleacher Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n10. Bill Romanowski:<\/h3>\n Romanowski was simply an all-out monster who failed to control his emotions on and off the field. It’s just not a surprise in any sense that he’s among the most hated players in the NFL.<\/p>\nSporting News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOnce, he took off Tennessee running back Eddie George’s helmet in 2002. He did things like kick opponents. He notoriously spat on San Francisco receiver J.J. Stokes. Romanowski also forced a teammate to retire when he broke his orbital bone with a punch during a locker room brawl. All of these things make Romanowski one of the dirtiest and most hated players in NFL history, and for good reason.<\/p>\nSporting News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n9. Ben Roethlisberger:<\/h3>\n Roethlisberger has found a ton of on-field success with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s won two Super Bowls and a host of other accolades. However, he also carries the added weight of some highly concerning sexual assault allegations. The charges reportedly went away when he reached a settlement with his alleged victim.<\/p>\nStill Curtain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRoethlisberger also seems like a high maintenance teammate at times. His public calling out of Antonio Brown last year led to one of the most overblown, messy splits in NFL history. Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders in the spring of 2019. Overall, not the most well-liked quarterback in the league despite his success.<\/p>\nTeen Vogue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n8. Colin Kaepernick:<\/h3>\n Obviously, most of the hate for Kaepernick is because of his highly controversial decision to kneel for the national anthem prior to NFL games in 2016. Some said it was an all-out insult to the United States Armed Forces and the country itself. Others argued that Kaepernick’s message of protesting police brutality in America was lost.<\/p>\nThe Washington Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nNo matter what the truth may be, we’re not here to debate politics as they pertain to football. Because of his protests, Kaepernick is largely hated by a huge portion of the NFL fanbase. He remains unsigned by any team. Kaepernick recently reached a settlement for the lawsuit he levied at the NFL accusing them of collusion to keep him out of football.<\/p>\nPennLive.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n7. Ray Lewis:<\/h3>\n Lewis is an all-time great linebacker who deserves a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame. That is if we’re going solely off his on-field body of work. But in terms of public fan perception, Lewis will always have the specter of his 2000 murder arrest hanging over his wide shoulders.<\/p>\nRotoworld<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe story went that a man was murdered in cold blood. Lewis, along with two friends, was accused of the heinous crime. Evidence seemed to abound, as the victim’s blood was allegedly found in Lewis’ limousine from that fight. Police still haven’t found the suit Lewis was wearing that evening. But ultimately he agreed to testify against his two friends of that night in order for his own freedom. A stand-up act. Lewis became a Super Bowl champion the following year. Yet the events of the same night a year before will keep him among the most hated players in the NFL. Of course, his dominant, brash style of play on the field didn’t help his popularity either.<\/p>\nNBC News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n6. Tom Brady:<\/h3>\n People just love to hate Brady. Sure, his New England Patriots haven’t exactly done anything to shake their controversial reputation as cheaters. If anything, they’ve actively inflated it. The Spygate and Deflategate scandals all come to mind, and Brady was suspended for four games for the latter.<\/p>\nThe Denver Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBut the major reason most people hate Brady is because he wins, pretty much all of the time. He’s far and away the greatest quarterback in NFL history after winning a record sixth Super Bowl in February 2019. He’s still an elite competitor and the player you’d want most when it mattered. He maintains all of that at the age of 42. To top it off, he’s married to a supermodel. Love him or hate him – and most seem to hate him – Brady just keeps on winning.<\/p>\nCNN.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n5. Greg Hardy:<\/h3>\n Hardy is no longer in the NFL but he remains one of its most controversial and hated former members. He was arrested during his prime with the Carolina Panthers. Hardy was accused of a truly unsettling list of crimes involving some frightening domestic violence. However, his conviction was tossed when his accuser somehow failed to show up in the courtroom. He was later arrested for cocaine possession.<\/p>\nThe New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHardy flamed out of the NFL and is now a promising mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter in the UFC. Many of his opponents claim they want to beat him up in the cage for what he allegedly did to a woman. Ultimately, you can see why he’s still hated to this day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nBleacher Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n4. Ndamukong Suh:<\/h3>\n Suh is an unrelenting force on the field, to the point where he often takes his aggression to unnecessary levels that endanger his opponents. He’s arguably the dirtiest player in the NFL today. Of course, he’s been witnessed stomping on other players and starting fights with them.<\/p>\nThe Pewter Plank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPerhaps that’s part of why he fails to stay with one team for too long anymore. He’s bounced around the league on a host of lucrative one-year deals. You can’t deny Suh’s size and speed in the trenches. But he’s also just difficult to like thanks to his many on-field extracurriculars.<\/p>\nSFGate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n3. Terrell Owens:<\/h3>\n If we were going purely on natural athletic talent alone, Owens would rank near the top if not at the top in terms of NFL wide receivers. His combination of size, speed, and receiving skills was clearly a sight to behold in his prime.<\/p>\nBleacher Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBut he just failed to make it worth with nearly every place he played. And oftentimes, the distractions just became too much. His feud with Donovan McNabb when they played for the Philadelphia Eagles came to mind. So does his strange, ‘That’s my quarterback’ crying scene in front of the media. And we can’t forget his cheesed-out reality show, ‘The T.O Show’ on VH1. Like Ndamukong Suh, Owens bounced around the NFL in his later years. He should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But it took him three tries to get in because of his perception by the league and public.<\/p>\nChat Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n2. OJ Simpson:<\/h3>\n We’ve all seen this one before. Yes, Simpson was an all-time great running back who was the first to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. He then found some success in some incredibly poorly-acted roles in Hollywood.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Second String<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThen, he became the defendant in arguably the most infamous murder trial in Los Angeles history. We don’t need to rehash the details. To this day, most believe Simpson murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend, Ronald Goldman. But “The Juice” was acquitted. The families of the deceased filed and won a civil suit against him. He turned to crime later in life and just recently got released from jail for robbery charges. It’s not hard to see why Simpson is among the most hated players in NFL history. He always will be.<\/p>\nTheSportster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n1. Michael Vick:<\/h3>\n It takes a truly despicable rep to top Simpson on the list of the NFL’s most hated players of all-time. Unfortunately, Vick is able to do that for his oft-discussed dog-fighting rings. The things he did to animals were outright disgusting. He was jailed for the offense and later returned to the NFL to have some good seasons.<\/p>\nSB Nation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt doesn’t matter, however, as the damage to his reputation was done. Most people, regardless if they’re football fans or not, love dogs. Vick’s willingness to do what he did to pets makes him public enemy number one in terms of NFL athletes. He’ll never be able to wash away the fallout of that one.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Football League (NFL) is undoubtedly full of colorful, over-the-top personalities. In fact, those personalities are a big part of what makes the league so much fun for its millions of fans. However, while many top-level stars are beloved for their own unique traits, there are just as many (or maybe even more) who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":52644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[974,148,926,882,982,884,354,984,978,448,108,532,530,976,980,244,642,972],"class_list":["post-52590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lists","category-nfl","tag-adam-pacman-jones","tag-adrian-peterson","tag-ben-roethlisberger","tag-bill-romanowski","tag-chad-johnson","tag-conrad-dobler","tag-frank-robinson","tag-greg-hardy","tag-hines-ward","tag-marshawn-lynch","tag-michael-vick","tag-oj-simpson","tag-ray-lewis","tag-ray-rice","tag-rob-gronkowski","tag-terrell-owens","tag-tom-brady","tag-vontze-burfict"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":52590},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52590"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66901,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52590\/revisions\/66901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.sportscroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}