In honor of the latest controversy surrounding Brett Favre, here's our list of the five biggest traitors in sports.
1. Nick Saban: We all know that sports figures, and public figures for that matter, are capable of denying the truth at any given time. But none did it quite as brazenly as then-Dolphins coach Saban before jumping to a multi-million dollar offer at 'Bama, after five weeks of repeated denials. "I guess I have to say it. I'm not going to be the Alabama coach. ... I don't control what people say. I don't control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I'm just telling you there's no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here," he said on Dec. 21, 2006. Less than three weeks later, came this statement: "What I realized in the last two years is that we love college coaching because of the ability that it gives you to affect people, young people. ... If I knew that my heart was someplace else in what I wanted to do, I don't think it would be fair to the [Dolphins] organization if I stayed." Thus proving, Nick Saban's heart = his wallet.
2. Bobby Petrino: When the going got tough, this former Atlanta Falcons head coach got going. Coming off a blowout loss and strapped with a team that was reeling from the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, Petrino took off to become the head coach at Arkansas, piling onto the Falcons' woes. "He preached team and he preached family and then he quit on us. That's not what a man does. He lied to us," said then-quarterback Joey Harrington.
3. Robert Irsay: There might be no good way to move a football team, but no owner was more hated than Irsay when he packed up Mayflower vans in the middle of a snowy March night to move the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. Could the Baltimoreans at least get some warning to make a grab at all the memorabilia? "The Colts were one with the city. It's really quite amazing," wrote Frank Deford at the time. "A man who could screw up professional football in Baltimore would foul the water at Lourdes or flatten the beer in Munich." And nobody likes flat beer.
4. Johnny Damon: "It was a privilege and an honor," wrote the former Red Sox "idiot" in a full-page ad he took out in the Boston Globe after defecting to the rival Yankees in 2005. So did it help? Not really. Still booed in Boston, apparently the only thing Damon could have done was kept his word (and his hair) when he said, "I will never play for the New York Yankees."
5. Carlos Boozer: Looking for a raise? Try what's been deemed the Carlos Boozer negotiating tactics. After two years in Cleveland, Boozer was about to move up to the penthouse after reportedly making a verbal agreement to a $40 million deal. That's when the Utah Jazz suddenly announced they'd locked up Boozer for six years at $68 million. "We are both very surprised and very disappointed by what is now being reported," said the Cavaliers in a statement. Apparently the hatred spread worldwide. When one Cleveland Plain-Dealer reporter decided to revisit the betrayal at the Beijing Olympics, she found that Boozer was known as "Fan Gu Zai," which, loosely translated, means "Betrayal Skull Dude" in China
Which other Benedict Arnold figures did we overlook? Let us know below...
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Comments (192) Add A Comment
UHHHHH A-ROD??
HKEVO
Albertson , NY
Total Comments (5)
The Tuna
Cowdog88 in NH
Total Comments (105)
Ken Griffey Jr leaving to go to Cincy "to be near his family in Florida" not for the money
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (36492)
Where is Saban now? Where are the Dolphins? I think Saban is much better off.
In Petrino's defense, he left an organization that was in shambles before he got there. You have an incompetent owner and GM (who was later fired) and the franchise player was just shipped off to Federal Prison. He took a pay cut to get out of that mess. I don't agree with the way he left but you can't blame him for leaving.
Petrino left before the season was over but don't coaches get fired before the season is over as well? Didn't the Falcons owner fire Hall of Fame Coach Dan Reeves before the season was over? What is the difference?
KingFootball
Total Comments (2898)
Imagine Boozer and LeBron both playing together right now in Cleveland... ouch.
Hyped78
Lisbon, Portugal, EU
Total Comments (6891)
Hyped78...it is Boozer. The Cavs voided the last year of his contract so they could rengotiate and pay him more (at his request). He thanked them bailing on them...true traitor
Chief Fireballs
Beavercreek, OH
Total Comments (261)
Petrino is worse than Saban. Petrino bailed in the middle of a season and told his players via a note tied to their lockers. He is a traitor and a wuss.
Chief Fireballs
Beavercreek, OH
Total Comments (261)
I know what happened, Chief.
I was just saying: what if Boozer had decided to stay put? What would the Cleveland franchise be now? Would they have won a championship already?
Hyped78
Lisbon, Portugal, EU
Total Comments (6891)
Saban is by far the worst. He didn't just lie and bail on the Dolphins. He also glady accepted akk Don Shula's help and guidance. rhen he stole Shula's son's job..That my friends is cold.
Cruel But Fair
Chester , NJ
Total Comments (1)
Chris Pronger...
PokeyReddick
Total Comments (27)
Actually he is a great coach. I seriously doubt that he cares what someone from Beavercreek, Ohio thinks of him.
KingFootball
Total Comments (2898)
Spam X1...........OMG.....NINA.....go back to your closet job!
Circus Maximus
Total Comments (1253)
The first and most infamous of 'sports traitors': Jim Bouton (Ball Four). Nothing (except perhaps for Conceco) can compare to the industry-wide shock and hate that his book inspired.
Old Yankee
New Providence , NJ
Total Comments (1)
SPAM X5......and NINA, stay in the closet....I mean it.
Circus Maximus
Total Comments (1253)
Rich Rodriguez
Rand U Prez
Total Comments (6)
There is no loyalty in sports...I think you saw the last of it with players like Mario Leimuex, Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn and Kirby Puckett. I can remember Puckett being offered a boat load of money from the Red Sox and turning it done to stay with the Twins. Most people are all about the money and it doesn't help when the owners aren't that loyal either. Sports have changed greatly and I don't think for the better.
timewalker
Sauk Rapids, MN
Total Comments (582)
I dont know if you can call Favre a traitor for going to the Jets seeing as how the Packers didnt want him there anymore. Although he did make things really complicated with the whole "retirement" thing. but you still cant be a traitor if your team doesnt want you.
p.s. I'm a Bears fan and i am really glad to see Favre finally out of Green Bay.
chodanutz
Lemont , IL
Total Comments (73)
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