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(#1) Dock Ellis
- Dec. at 63 (1945-2008)
Dock Ellis, pitcher for the Pittsburg Pirates, threw a no-hitter on June 12, 1970. Spectators were unaware at the time that he was actually high on LSD during the game. Ellis was no stranger to drugs, as he'd been pitching on pills since he played in the minor leagues. The day of the no-hitter, however, caught even Ellis himself off-guard.
Ellis took a substantial amount of LSD on his day off, which resulted in him almost missing the infamous game. Ellis said of his time on the mound,
"I really didn’t see the hitters. All I could tell was if they were on the right side, or the left side. As far as seeing the target, the catcher put tape on his fingers so I could see the signals. The opposing team and my teammates, they knew I was high. But they didn’t know what I was high on. They didn’t really see it, but I had the acid in me, and I didn’t know what I looked like with that acid. I had lost all concept of time."
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(#2) Sally McNeil Shot Her Second Husband
Bodybuilder Sally McNeil had a volatile relationship with her first husband, Anthony Lowden. The pair split in1986 after four years of marriage when McNeil reportedly pulled a revolver on Lowden and dropped a 70-pound weight onto his car from a balcony.
Her second marriage to fellow bodybuilder Ray McNeil was equally dysfunctional, involving incidents such as Sally attacking a woman with whom she believed her husband was cheating. After seven years of marriage, the Mcneils' relationship reached a climax when Ray began choking Sally during a fight, after which she shot him twice.
Though Ray was conscious when the police arrived, he passed several hours after the incident. In 1995, Sally McNeil was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. McNeil maintained that she was acting in self-defense.
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(#3) Darryl Strawberry
- 56
In 2016, former MLB outfielder Darryl Strawberry told a radio talk show host that he used to sleep with fans in between innings, as well as drink and smoke in the dugout.
Strawberry also had a long history of drug abuse and arrests. His first run-in with the law took place in Tampa, Florida, after he was found in possession of cocaine and tried to solicit sex from an undercover cop in 1999. Following these incidents, he was suspended from baseball and received probation and community service from the court.
The following year, he passed out while driving, high on pain killers prescribed for his cancer treatments. After colliding with another car, he tried to flee the scene but was later arrested and taken to jail. In 2001, Strawberry was arrested once again when he arrived at a Tampa hospital after being missing from his court-ordered rehab for several days. He was in and out of rehab throughout 2001 and 2002.
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(#4) Clifford Etienne
- 48
In 2005, boxer Clifford Etienne robbed a check-cashing facility in Baton Rouge, LA. After taking $1,900, he attempted to hijack a car with two children inside. He then attempted to hijack a second car also containing two children but wrecked the second vehicle. When police responded to the incidents, Etienne tried to fire at the two officers, but his weapon jammed.
In court, his lawyer tried to argue both that he was high during the offenses, and that he had suffered brain damage from his years of fighting, but the jury rejected these excuses. Etienne was sentenced to 150 years with no chance of parole.
His claim to fame prior to his arrest was being knocked out by Mike Tyson in only 49 seconds.
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(#5) Sam Hurd
- 33
In 2013, former Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on federal drug charges. Hurd played for the Dallas Cowboys for five years and signed with the Bears in 2011, but the latter quickly cut ties when it was revealed that Hurd had tried to organize a drug ring in Chicago.
Hurd met with three undercover FBI agents posing as drug dealers and arranged to have 50 kilograms of cocaine brought to Chicago each week. After walking out of the meeting carrying a brick of cocaine, Hurd was arrested.
While awaiting trial in 2012, he was arrested for failing drug tests and attempting to buy illegal substnaces in Texas. At his November, 2013, trial, he plead guilty to conspiracy charges. In 2015, he asked for a sentence reduction but was unsuccessful.
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(#6) Tonya Harding
- 48
Figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding were two of the biggest names in the 1994 Winter Olympics. Drama and speculation erupted, however, when Kerrigan, slated to win the Norway competition, was struck in the knee with a police baton, wounding her and limiting her skating mobility. Fingers immediately pointed towards Harding, the underdog of the competition and Kerrigan's most-publicized competitor. Later investigations revealed that Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, had hired a hit man, Shane Stant, to attack Kerrigan.
Despite her injury, Kerrigan won silver in the Lillehammer competition. Shane Stant, as well as his driver, Derrick Smith, and Shawn Eckhardt, Harding's occasional bodyguard, were indicted, each receiving 18-month terms. Gillooly received two years.
While popular misconception often casts Harding herself as Kerrigan's attacker, no evidence exists that Harding was directly involved. She did, however, receive three years' probation for conspiring to hinder the prosecution.
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(#7) Steve Durbano
- Dec. at 51 (1951-2002)
NHL player Steve Durbano was infamous for his hot temper and violent tendencies on the ice, even earning him the nickname "Mental Case." After he left hockey in the late 1970s, Durbano made visits to Bolivia and Peru where he set up ties with drug dealers and often brought drugs back to his native Canada.
Speculation posits that in 1983, he attempted to take over $500,000 of cocaine into the country and served more than two years of a seven-year sentence in prison as a result. Similarly, theories persist that in 1995, he was once again arrested, in this instance for trying to recruit an undercover police officer into a prostitution ring, though neither of the latter two incidents can be corroborated.
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(#8) Ryan Lochte
- 34
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, US swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed that he and several other US athletes were robbed at gunpoint while walking around Rio:
"We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over...they pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground – they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn't do anything wrong, so – I'm not getting down on the ground. And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, 'Get down,' and I put my hands up, I was like 'whatever.' He took our money, he took my wallet—he left my cell phone, he left my credentials."
The robbery was later called into question due to inconsistencies, though Lochte continued to claim that his story was true.
When a video revealed that Lochte and the other athletes broke down a door at a gas station and fought with the attendant, the story fell apart. Lochte, already back in the US, was charged with filing a false police report while the other athletes were fined and ordered to leave the country. Brazilian authorities threw out the charges against Lochte.
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(#10) Clay Buchholz
- 34
When MLB pitcher Clay Buchholz was playing college baseball for McNeese State in 2004, Buchholz stole 29 laptops from a nearby middle school. After getting arrested and thrown off of his college baseball team, Buchholz played junior college baseball and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox, bouncing back from the incident relatively unscathed.
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(#11) Peter Storey
- 73
Peter Storey, who played midfielder for the Manchester Arsenal F.C. in the '70s, needed money in the beginning of the decade due to poor investments. After becoming involved with counterfeiters, getting arrested, and eventually being released on bail, Storey founded a brothel called the Calypso Massage Parlour.
He was arrested again in 1979, received a suspended sentence, and was fined £700. He was sentenced to three years in jail for counterfeiting scheme and, ten years later, was arrested for smuggling pornographic videos from Europe to England in the spare tire of his car. He served over two years in jail for the crime.
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(#12) Olden Polynice
- 54
Utah Jazz player Olden Polynice was arrested for impersonating a police officer in November of 2000. Polynice reportedly chased another motorist down who had cut him off and flashed a badge on October 28, 2000. In December of that year, Polynice was arrested again for flashing his badge, a gift from the LAPD which was nothing more than honorific. In this second offense, he again chased another motorist and yelled, "I'm with the California Sheriff's Office and I can have you arrested!" He was sentenced to community service rather than the potential nine-month prison sentence.
Polynice was in trouble with the law as early as 1986, when he was charged with stealing headphones from a Virginia store. He was arrested yet again in 2001 when he hit and spit on a golfer at a Salt Lake City golf course.
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(#13) Plaxico Burress
- 41
While visiting a nightclub in New York, former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress's weapon – for which he didn't have a permit – discharged, shooting him in the thigh and almost injuring a security guard. He was arrested on gun charges, as per the law in New York State, and was sentenced to two years in prison. Burress explained his version of events:
"I had a drink in my left hand and I was walking right behind the security guard. The music was loud and I could feel the bass thumping the stairs under my feet. But I could barely see and I guess I missed a step and my foot slipped. My gun came unhooked from my belt and went sliding down my right pant leg. My instant reaction was to catch it before it hit the floor, and I reached down with my right hand to grab it. And I guess my finger hit right on the trigger, because it went off."
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(#14) Ed Belfour
- 53
Professional hockey goalie Ed Belfour was arrested at a Dallas-area hotel in 2000 due to drunken, belligerent behavior. His female companion called the authorities out of fear for her own safety. The police, upon arrival, were able to subdue him and place him in the back of a patrol car, despite Belfour's progressively combative behavior. According to the police report,
"[Belfour] was placed in the rear seat of the vehicle and was seatbelted when he began attempting to lay down in the seat and putting his cowboy boots on the radio console...[he then] threw up all over his chest."
En route to the police station, Belfour began begging the police not to arrest him. He first offered them $100,000 and then $1 billion, but to no avail. He eventually agreed to a plea deal, received two years probation, and paid a $3,000 fine.
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(#15) Chris Perez
- 33
The postal service that delivered to Chris Perez, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, detected an unusual scent in several of the packages they were transporting to his house. The packages were addressed to Brody Baum. Brody was the name of the Perez's dog, Baum was the maiden name of Chris's wife, Melanie.
Police dogs confirmed that the packages contained marijuana, which prompted the police to obtain a warrant. In the house, police found more marijuana and other drug paraphernalia. When Perez and his wife were questioned, Melanie Perez told the police the drugs belonged to her husband. Both were charged with a misdemeanor drug possession in 2013; however, Perez was suspended from his team when he again violated the MLB drug policy in 2015.
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About This Tool
It is undeniable that many outstanding athletes have performed well in different sports they participated in, they won many championships, broke world records with incredible results, or surpassed many batsmen or scorers. However, their heinous behavior will completely redefine their reputation, sometimes these can be very stupid behaviors, and sometimes they made irreparable mistakes for fame or money.
Whether it is a moment of madness or a long-term mistake, it is possible to make them be a spurned athlete, even if they are champions, geniuses, or great people. Here are 15 of history's greatest athletes who had outrageous tales of bad behavior, the random tool has a short description for each one.
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