Month: September 2010

With great power comes great responsibility. Well, unless you’re an NFL player.

Sure, the majority of professional football players behave responsibly. But just like any broad swath of the population, especially those who regularly slam their heads into each other, there are sure to be some who cannot keep their act together. We’ve compiled some of the biggest sex scandals of the NFL. While all of these stories made national headlines, are they true or not? You decide.

Ben Roethlisberger: The Tiger Woods of Football

When you’re a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, you can probably get away with one accusation of sexual assault, even if it results in a protracted legal battle covered heavily by the press. But when you get accused a second time, most people will assume you’re guilty – especially if you’re also incredibly arrogant.

“Throw your hands in the air, if you a true player” – Biggie Smalls

It makes you wonder if getting sacked by opposing defenses an average of forty times a season affects the old brain box.

It also doesn’t help when you crash the fastest production motorcycle on the market, without wearing a helmet. We’re not doctors, but extreme head trauma seems like it might result in some poor personal decisions down the line.

Fact or Fiction? Fact.

Brett Favre – Will He or Won’t He?

Gotta love ol’ Favre. He’s always in the news, a surprising fact since he supposedly “hates drama.” Right. Apparently, he has been very interested in sideline reporter Jenn Sterger. He’s even been sending her explicit photos via cell phone (allegedly).

“Somebody Wrangle me up some hot lovin’.”

 Could there be some truth to this? Well, when you’re the all-time leader in interceptions thrown, you’ve got to be a pretty persistent person. Hell he is online sports betting gold.

On the other hand, Jenn Sterger has posed for Playboy, so she’s not exactly innocent.

Fact or Fiction? Who knows.

Lawrence Taylor and an Underage Hooker

Taylor used to be the Billy Badass of football. Now it appears that he is the Pistol Pete of prostitution. He’s being tried for a smorgasbord of crimes, including rape and criminal sex, for paying a sixteen-year-old $300 to have sex with him.

“I figured if I paid for it, I wasn’t breaking the law. Plus, I’m Lawrence Taylor.”

The girl supposedly lied to Taylor, telling him she was nineteen years old. Despite this, paying for sex is still illegal. Unless you live in Nevada.

Fact or Fiction? Likely Fact (Taylor doesn’t live in Nevada).

Minnesota Vikings “Love Boat”

What do you get when you allegedly put some boats on a lake with some NFL player and strippers? A great news story, that’s what you get. This is probably the granddaddy of NFL sex scandals because it involved not just one NFL player, but ten of them, including ringleader Fred Smoot.

Smooty Spice plots to publicly embarrass both himself and his teammates.

It seems hard to fathom why NFL players would think that they could get away with ordering up a couple of boats and a gaggle of strippers without anyone noticing. Come on, a boat? You could’ve rented something a little more private like a house! Even a limo would have been smarter.

Fact or Fiction? How could it not be Fact?

Brandon Spikes Makes a Rookie Mistake

Sure, NFL rookies make mistakes. That includes making a homemade sex tape, if you’re Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes. Maybe sex tape production is allowable at the ol’ University of Florida where Spikes went to school, but as a professional football player, it’s generally frowned upon. It could be one highlight video you wouldn’t want to see replayed on TV.

Hmm.

Maybe in a high-profile job other than the NFL this wouldn’t be a bad thing, but this kind of stuff usually gets players suspended without pay for a few games.

Fact or Fiction? Fact (it’s available on the internet).

There is no professional sport with greater stories than football. The NFL fosters some of the greatest stories of success, both on individual and team levels. The following seven most valuable moments, or MVM’s, have significantly altered the way we view the game, and are all incredibly important for the game of football.

1. The Ice Bowl

YEAR: 1967
MVM: Packers earn Super Bowl II spot in -16˚ weather

The championship game played between the Packers and the Cowboys on December 31st, 1967 was historic for many reasons. For starters, it would determine which NFL team would challenge the AFL in Super Bowl II. It would determine which team would have the bragging rights for the decade to come. It also determined which body parts of certain players would need to be amputated, as the game time temperature was 16 degrees BELOW zero.

The Ice Bowl still holds the record after 43 years as the coldest game ever played, with the Packers going on to beat the Cowboys on the “Frozen Tundra” of Green Bay. This game would mark the Packers as one of the most fabled franchises in NFL history, and ensure that nobody, ever, could complain about it being too cold to play football.

2. Joe Namath and the Guarantee

YEAR: 1969
MVM: MVP Joe Namath delivers on a promise to win Super Bowl III

Broadway Joe was known for many things, including his prowess as a quarterback, his ability to sell pantyhose, and his confident attitude. In fact, he was so confident, that in 1969, he guaranteed a Super Bowl win.

Not only did Joe deliver, but he delivered in grand fashion. Beating the Baltimore Colts by two possessions, Joe made good on his promise and was awarded Super Bowl MVP. Need more proof that Joe is never more confident than when he is on a football field wearing a Jets jersey? Check out this clip from some 40 years later:

Oh Joe. I want to kiss you.

3. The Immaculate Reception

YEAR: 1972
MVM: Harris begins a decade of triumph for the Steelers

In what can only be described as the Will of the Gods, Franco Harris enjoyed football history’s best-known case of being in the right place at the right time.

Ending 40 years of futility, this catch and subsequent touchdown resulted in the first playoff win for the Steelers in decades. Not only that, but it marked the beginning of the Steelers 1970’s dominance, as the Steelers would win four of the next eight Super Bowls played. Not a bad aftermath for a play that was designed completely around luck.

4. The Catch

YEAR: 1982
MVM: Montana’s catch places 49ers in history as a dominator

A play so important it is referred to simply as “The Catch,” this play from the 1982 NFC championship game echoed through the league for the better part of a decade:

Hailed as one of Joe Montana’s defining plays, this touchdown lead to the victory that dethroned the Steelers, Cowboys and Packers as the dominant NFL teams, and introduced America to the San Francisco 49ers. Montana would go on to win the Super Bowl four times over the next ten years, making the 49ers the team of the 80’s.

5. The NFL’s new Rushing Leaders

YEAR: 1984
MVM: Payton crushes Brown’s rushing record

No record was as untouchable or hallowed as Jim Brown’s career rushing record, until Walter Payton, a scrappy kid from Mississippi known as “Sweetness,” made his mark on the league in 1984:

This record would be improved upon by some 4,000 yards before Walter Payton was finished with football, and was widely deemed to be the new untouchable record. It stood for 18 years before Emmitt Smith had his say:

These records are not only important moments in the history of these men, but they are important moments in the history of the game. Chasing, breaking and setting records redefines the limits of human achievement as we know them. Smith is no fool, acknowledging that his record will also be fleeting. Nevertheless, his time at the top is in no immediate danger, and his record should stand for several years to come.

6. Manning over Leaf

YEAR: 1998
MVM: Colts selected Manning over NFL favorite, Leaf

In what can be viewed as the greatest number one draft pick of all-time, the Indianapolis Colts went against the consensus and picked the 2nd best quarterback available at the time. The online sports betting world went nuts after this.

For many, there was no greater college prospect than Ryan Leaf. Leaf and Manning were bound to be selected to the NFL, and were thought to go first and second respectively. However, the Indianapolis Colts saw something in Peyton that Ryan Leaf didn’t offer. By going with their gut and choosing the number two quarterback with the number one pick, the Colts rewrote team history and ensured their place among the most dominant teams of the modern era.

7. Bledsoe Hit by Mo Lewis

YEAR: 2001
MVM: Tom Brady takes the stage as QB

In a less famous, but equally important Wally Pip/Lou Gehrig scenario, Mo Lewis single-handedly changed the landscape of the NFL. Bledsoe was hurt on this play, leaving the Patriots no other choice but to put in their back-up, 200th overall pick—a quarterback by the name of Tom Brady:

Not only did this play usher in the Tom Brady era, but it also ushered in a new era of football. The Patriots became the dominant team of the 2000’s, the Colts vs. Patriots games became more about Manning vs. Brady than the teams or cities they played for, and the world got to meet Giselle. Although this play seemed like a standard, run-of-the-mill injury, it ended up being one of the most influential plays of the last 10 years.

Conclusion:

Although the NFL is filled with stories and moments that could fill volumes, these were just a few of the best and brightest. While the stories change every year, the one thing that stays the same is America’s love of hearing them. Through this country’s love affair with sports, we can forget about our problems for a few hours each week and believe in heroes once more.