15 Biggest Hypocrites In the Sports World

By Christopher Gamble

Athletes are human being just like the rest of us. They make mistakes and all, but when it comes to being called out on those mistakes they receive a lot more negative attention than a typical person. Still, some of these athletes bring it upon themselves and add onto their woes by opening their mouths and offering their opinion when they don’t need to. All too often that opinion doesn’t match up to actions.

15 Biggest Hypocrites In the Sports World

← Tip: Use keyboard arrows to navigate →

Alex Rodriguez — We all know A-Rod has a history of lying and using PEDs. He lied repeatedly about it and even threatened to sue people over it until finally admitting it. Then, during the World Series this year Rodriguez the hypocritical analyst showed up. He spoke about Noah Syndergaard having a “responsibility” when throwing up and in with a fastball to Alcides Escobar. Maybe it was Fox Sports’ fault for putting him in that situation. Rodriguez is a fairly decent analyst when he isn’t preaching about other players having to show responsibility for their actions.

David Ortiz — Ortiz has made a habit about speaking out about athletes and steroids while his name is on a positive test from 2003. He even wrote about it on a website where he claims he never “knowingly” took steroids. But maybe he did unknowingly? He then states that nobody ever told him about the positive test in 2003 but forgot he already said a union rep told him about it in a 2004 interview and the Mitchell Report stated all athletes were informed. He should have just stayed quiet and enjoyed the love of the city of Boston instead of going back down that dark alley.

Pete Rose — He signed a deal with the commissioner of baseball that resulted in his lifetime ban from the game with the potential for reinstatement. He denied for years and years that he gambled on baseball then one day he finally admitted it. He has even turned his pariah status into a moneymaker for himself and to this day still gambles on baseball and other sports. He recently reapplied for reinstatement to baseball but hasn’t changed a single thing in his life.

Curt Schilling — He railed time and time again about government spending. His company, 38 Studios, went belly up and the taxpayers were on the hook for over $100 million. So, what were you saying about fiscal responsibility, Curt?

Michael Sam — Sam came out as a gay before the NFL Draft a couple of years ago but stated time and again he wanted to be treated as just another football player. Makes sense. Then he started saying he was cut from several teams because of his sexual orientation. The truth is Michael Sam the football player isn’t good enough to play in the NFL. It has nothing to do with his sexual orientation. But he is making it all about that and made himself a huge hypocrite in the process.

Jeff Gordon — He claims to read the Bible before each race and tapes some scripture onto his steering wheel so he can read it at various points throughout the race. I guess he never got to the part about staying faithful to one’s spouse because he cheated on his first wife and ended up having a fairly messy divorce where it was revealed he had a girlfriend during race weekends.

Jim Boeheim — The Syracuse basketball coach has been pretty outspoken in the past of players not needing to be compensated. He pointed to a $50,000 education, a chance to play basketball and a chance to start life debt free as compensation enough. Then news leaked that certain Syracuse basketball players were being paid by boosters with Boeheim’s knowledge. Of course he didn’t say anything and now the NCAA has suspended Boeheim and hit the school with penalties.

Baseball Writers Association of America — These writers are some of the finest in the world so how are they hypocrites? Well, how about voting for steroid users and suspected steroid users for MVP, Cy Young and every other award in the game then turning around and saying these guys can’t get in the Hall of Fame because they used steroids.

Floyd Mayweather — In 2001 he went into a tirade directed towards Manny Pacquiao that included a slew of racial stereotypes that don’t need to be repeated here. He would also describe a contract he was offered which would pay him $15.5 million for seven fights as a “slave contract.” Floyd might need some help when it comes to racial equality.

Lance Armstrong — For years Armstrong denied allegations that he was doping. He even made himself into a sympathetic figure for a while. Then came the admission that he used performance enhancing drugs. During the time before the admission he made a lot of money, and raised a lot of money, using his comeback from cancer as the selling point. It turned out to be one huge lie.

Cris Carter — Carter is a Hall of Famer on the field. Off of it he is a hypocrite. At an NFL event he informed rookies about the importance of having a fall guy when things go wrong. Then he goes on air and talks about integrity. Nothing says integrity like blaming someone else in your crew when you get busted.

Carl Everett — Everett claims to be pretty religious. He even made headlines for his public statements regarding dinosaurs and how they couldn’t possibly exist because they aren’t in the bible. Then he and his wife were charged with child abuse in 1997. The charges would be dropped but the judge ordered the kids to live with their grandmother because of the danger that existed in the home. Child abuse isn’t in the bible either, huh?

Ray Lewis — Lewis loves to go on and on about how NFL players should handle themselves. He has an answer for every ill that ails them. What he doesn’t have are good answers as to what happened in 2001 when he was out partying after the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl. He was indicted on murder charges but brokered a deal to avoid prison.

The NCAA — Nothing in sports is quite in the NCAA’s class when it comes to hypocrisy. They make a lot of money on the backs of their student athletes, especially in football and basketball. However, if a player goes out and sells his autograph they can face suspension. But the NCAA can profit from selling a jersey with that player’s number on it, even if it doesn’t have a name on the back.

The NFL — So Josh Gordon can be suspended for an entire year for having trace amounts of marijuana in his system, so small that it isn’t even considered a positive test by law enforcement, but Greg Hardy can hop right back on the field after a four-game suspension for beating his girlfriend to a pulp. From the looks of it it was way worse than what Ray Rice did to his wife. Then again, it wasn’t on video. The whole NFL system for suspending athletes is bonkers and governed on the whim of the commissioner.

Share On Facebook

Share