Forbes poll: Most disliked players in America

We have a love-hate relationship with athletes. They take us from victory to defeat and back again. In today’s world with social media, athletes are a little closer to us–sometimes a bit too close for comfort. We start to see their humanity and suddenly we realize that superb athletic talent and skill on the field or court does not always translate to superb character.

Once again, Forbes has completed its poll and released the list of the most disliked athletes. Drumroll please:

 

1. Lance Armstrong: He tops the list for obvious reasons. He lied about using performance enhancing drugs for years. He devastated and exacted revenge on anyone who spoke the truth about or eluded to his use and then when he finally came clean  (pun intended) in his interview with Oprah,  he seemed arrogant and guarded in his apology. Lance Armstrong has many of fences to mend. In the meantime, he won’t be on anybody’s Christmas list.

 

2.  Manti Te’o: The truth about his non-girlfriend-catfish scenario was just weird. As he was ramping up to possibly receive the Heisman trophy, this Notre Dame football star talked about the death of his beloved grandmother with the devastation of the death of his girlfriend just days later. The truth was this “girlfriend” wasn’t real.  He never met this girl and he lied about her trips to meet him and his family in Hawaii and meeting her at all. It turns out Te’o was the victim of a hoax from a friend who was reportedly “in love” with him,  but by the time it was revealed, we were just over him. Once again he was a victim. Unfortunately, he told one too many lies and we just want him to go away.

 

3.  Tiger Woods: I was a bit surprised by his placement on this list, but then again–his scandal was quite egregious.  This past year Tiger has been working to get his groove back so he can get his swing back. I guess people are still mad at him.

 

4. Jay Cutler: The Chicago Bears quarterback made headlines recently when he out his fiancee’s engagement ring in the mail. It was quite un-romantic, but mostly typical of the Cutler who may regard as arrogant towards teammates and opponents.

 

5. Metta World Peace: While most people remember him as Ron Artest, the crazed maniac when he punched a crazed fan in 2004. When he changed he changed his named. Unfortunately, most people didn’t change their opinion of him. 

 

6. Alex Rodriguez: He mentally checked out of the game last year and after being benched, he was caught texting a woman for a post game romp. I don’t care how much talent you have, this ridiculous behavior is just inexcusable.

 

7. Michael Vick: This was another one whose appearance on the list puzzled me. People are still mad about the dog fighting scandal with Michael Vick. In good news, he’s now placed below scandals committed against people. It’s nice to see people valuing human beings over animals.

 

8. Kurt Busch: He was quite aggressive this past NASCAR season with several altercations with fellow drivers. He has now been the target of contempt for many NASCAR fans.

 

9. Kobe Bryant: I’m not really shocked that Kobe’s on the list. If you’re a Lakers fan, you love him. If not you probably don’t like him too much. Add to that his personal problems and it gives some sports fans enough reason to help him make this list.

 

10.  Tony Romo: I think most of this dislike is coming from actual Dallas Cowboys fans. They are over Romo. He is a decent quarterback, but can’t seem to deliver under pressure. “America’s team” gets embarrassed every year with Romo and most just want him (and the owner) to go.

Well, that rounds out the top ten list of the most disliked athletes. Some athletes like LeBron James, Terrell Owens and Brett Favre moved out of the top ten–so I guess people are “coming around”.  Interestingly, while these athletes may be the most disliked, they are also perhaps, the most watched in their respective fields. 

It seems we love to hate them.

What do you think?

Your Jersey Girlfriend,

~Angela Davis