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NFL Players and Coaches Who Keep People Talking

These players are known for more than simply their football career stats. They may have been good on the field, but their decisions have made them some of the most polarizing players in the National Football League.

Terrell Owens is the king of touchdown celebrations (for good or for bad). Broadway Joe and O.J. were so popular that they were in commercials. After his playing career, Terry Bradshaw leaned hard into his comic persona for his new career as a football commentator. Johnny Manziel and Antonio Brown were great players, but they also couldn't seem to get out of their own way. Sometimes, actions off the field overshadowed the actions on the field.

Chad Johnson

Chad Johnson

If the name "Chad Johnson" doesn't ring a bell, then "Ocho Cinco" should. During Hispanic Heritage Month, he wanted to go by the name, but the NFL fined him because of its jersey rules. When the nickname became popular, he later legally changed his surname to Ochocinco so he could wear the jersey without a fine.

That's not the only thing Ochocinco has been fined for. During a touchdown celebration, he donned a poncho and sombrero ("props" are banned, so he was fined). He also offered a dollar bill to an official during one game, making reference to their game-calling decision. That obviously didn't go over well either. Because of these stunts, however, he was one of the most popular NFL players on social media.

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Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders

Deion had not one but two nicknames: "Prime Time" and "Neon Deion." He was known for often wearing a do-rag or bandana on his head. During his touchdown runs, typically, when the opposing team was too far away to reach him, he would exaggerate high steps on the way into the end zone. His bubbly personality was even large enough to host Saturday Night Live in 1995.

During his playing days, Deion was known for over-the-top suits and layers of conspicuous jewelry. Now as an analyst on the NFL Network, he's toned down his look. Besides his NFL career, he also had a nine-year part-time baseball career in the MLB. He's still the only person to ever appear in both the Super Bowl and the World Series.

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Dan Snyder

Dan Snyder

Dan Snyder is another non-player/non-coach. He's the owner of Washington’s football franchise. Since he bought the team, the team has had a losing record. The fanbase widely blames his leadership and managerial style as the reason.

Snyder is also known for his staunch opposition to changing the team nickname from "Redskins," a term some activists claim is derogatory toward Native Americans. He was quoted as telling USA Today, "We'll never change the name. It's that simple. NEVER—you can use caps." However, in 2020, the team announced plans to change the names from Redskins to a yet-to-be-determined mascot. 

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Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman

It might be an understatement to say that Richard Sherman is outspoken. After a 2014 game, Sherman gave an on-field interview in which he said that he was the best cornerback in the NFL. In doing so, he specifically called out Michael Crabtree.

His trash-talking persona is so pervasive that Sports Illustrated even put him on the cover with the caption "You happy, bro?" It was a reference to Sherman's question "You mad, bro?" directed at Tom Brady after the Seahawk's upset win. In 2021, Sherman was arrested on multiple charges after requiring a police dog to subdue him during the chase. 

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Joe Namath

Joe Namath

There's a reason "Broadway Joe" has embedded himself into American pop culture lore beyond simply his football career. With his lighthearted personality, he appeared in a number of commercials for such brands as Ovaltine and Noxzema. His Noxzema commercial, starring a then-unknown Farrah Fawcett, probably couldn't be shown on TV today.

While on the sidelines during games, he would wear a full-length fur coat. Now the NFL makes teams wear "approved apparel." One of his most notorious moments was probably in 2003, however. During live ESPN coverage of a Jets game, a clearly drunk Namath told the female reporter "I want to kiss you." He afterward apologized, entered rehab, and says he hasn't had alcohol since.

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Michael Irvin

Michael Irvin

The famed Dallas Cowboys player's most high-profile incident was Scissor Gate in 1998. When getting a haircut, a fellow teammate supposedly wouldn't get out of the barber's chair causing Irvin to have to wait for his haircut. In response, Irvin grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed him in the neck. And that was his teammate! Imagine if you were an opposing player!

Following his career as a player, somehow seemed dogged by interactions with the police while he was a broadcaster with ESPN. Now he works for the NFL Network. But Irvin has also been active in the entertainment industry, starring in two Adam Sandler films and participating in the TV series Dancing With the Stars.

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Jay Cutler

Jay Cutler

One of Jay's most high-profile moments was the 2010 NFC Championship game. He sprained his MCL and had to sit the bench. He did so quietly and unengaged, seemingly offering no support or advice to his backup replacement. During a particularly poor offensive performance in another game, Cutler shoved his offensive lineman J'Marcus Webb.

His laisse-fare attitude has contributed to an internet meme known as "Smokin' Jay" in which images of his expressionless face have cigarettes photoshopped into his mouth. His overall attitude (at least to an outsider's perspective) can be summed up as "I just don't care."

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Cam Newton

Cam Newton

Cam Newton has set all kinds of records during his time in the NFL, and he’ll make sure you know about it. If you can back up your talk with performance, that’s one thing. But at the same time that he talks about how great he is, Cam also complains that he needs to be protected more by his offensive line.

Then, there was that infamous moment during the Super Bowl when he didn’t jump onto a fumble. He’ll talk a big game, but when it comes time to sacrifice for the team...

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Dez Bryant

Dez Bryant

Dez Bryant has recently become more known for his sideline antics that his on-field accomplishments. While injured and on the sideline for Dallas, it wouldn't be unusual to see Brant throwing a little tirade. In 2015 during a game the Cowboys would end up losing to the giants, Bryant and teammate Greg Hardy had a heated exchange on the sidelines.

It's not just when he's hurt that he throws fits. When things don't seemingly go his way, Bryant has been known to throw helmets and get up in the faces of teammates and coaches while screaming. It makes for TV drama but isn't a great personal look for Dez.

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Bum Phillips

Bum Phillips

Bum was famous for wearing his trademark cowboy hat, but he never wore it during games played indoors, such as the Astrodome. It’s not proper manners, and his mom raised him right!

Quotes attributed to him were just as colorful as his fashion style. One of our favorites was “The harder we played, the behinder we got.” Another funny quote of his (regarding Earl Campbell) was, "I don't know if he's in a class by himself, but I do know that when that class gets together, it sure don't take long to call the roll."

(Image via Wikipedia)

Steve Smith Sr.

Steve Smith Sr.

Steve Smith Sr. was one of the most productive NFL players ever. And he wasn't afraid of letting you know it. During an on-air segment, Michael Irvin said Joe Flacco hasn’t had a WR he can trust since Anquan Boldin. Smith Sr. quickly let Irvin know that “I got a doctorate in route running. You got an associate’s degree, playa. That’s community college.”

Even Steve says that he "always played with a chip on my shoulder." He was a tough player, but sometimes that's what it takes to get results!

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Randy Moss

Randy Moss

Randy Moss is one of the best wide receivers of all time, but he's definitely not one of the best team players of all time. He was routinely criticized for only playing when he wanted to play. While in the NFL he routinely tested positive for marijuana and had multiple alleged battery allegations against him. He was even fined for simulating mooning Packer fans during a game.

Moss's behavioral problems, however, preceded both his college and professional careers. He was recruited by a then-Division I-A (now FBS) school. But even then he had a jail stint for drugs and a battery charge that eventually lost him scholarship offers. He ended up attending Marshall (at the time a Division I-AA [now called FCS] school).

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Chris Carter

Chris Carter

Chris Carter may have been one of the best wide receivers of all time (and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame), but he is definitely not known as a team player. Former Vikings teammate Qadry Ismail called Carter "a bona fide diva." Selfishness and his attitude toward coaches and teammates were the main reasons, according to Ismail.

Early on in his career, Carter had major substance abuse problems. Those aren't the kinds of things that should be in your diet when you're trying to play at peak performance. It led to his being released from the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Johnny Manziel

Johnny Manziel

As the QB for Texas A&M, Manziel was at the top of his game in 2012. He even won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman (the 1st to ever do so). He was just as potent during his sophomore year. Off the field, however, Johnny Football struggled with his new-found fame. He was arrested in June 2012 after a late-night fight.

During the 2013 off-season, he would routinely oversleep practices (for allegedly partying the night before). He was accused of accepting payment for autographs as an NCAA player. Even during his short time in the NFL, he was fined for obscene hand gestures, had videos released of him partying the nights before NFL games, and had repeated domestic violence charges. The Browns quickly dropped him.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Howard Cosell

Howard Cosell

Broadcasting personality Howard Cosell was known for his over-the-top demeanor. He says so himself! "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. There's no question that I'm all of those things."

His blunt questioning and ability to play off his co-anchor made Monday Night Football enjoyable, even if the game wasn't. But that blunt style also got him into trouble with the top brass at ABC. They grew tired of him using his sports journalism to delve into larger issues of the day. They also didn't like his drinking on the job.

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Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown

2019 was a whirlwind for Antonio Brown...and not in a good way. In March, he was traded from the Steelers to the Raiders. In July, he got frostbite during a cryotherapy session. In August, he loudly protested the new NFL helmet policy.

Then in early September, he feuded publicly with the Raiders organization and its general manager, culminating with his begging to be released from the team (over Instagram). The Raiders did so, and the Patriots picked him up. But they released him about a week later over new sexual assault allegations. He still gives live updates on Instagram. In 2021, Brown walked off the field during a game and was quickly fired by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. 

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Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens is the touchdown celebration king. His flamboyant celebrations included sprinting to midfield after scoring, taking a sharpie out of his sock and signing the football, and dunking the football into a super-sized Salvation Army Red Kettle. Some saw it as fun. Others saw it as gloating.

When he became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he wasn't voted in during his first two years of eligibility. This seemed odd as his player stats put him at the top of potential classes. Many assumed it was because of his antics that it wasn't until 2018 that he was successfully voted in. Instead of attending the induction ceremony, he held his own at his college alma mater. He remains the only player to skip and host a separate induction ceremony.

 

(Image via Wikipedia)

Jim McMahon

Jim McMahon

McMahon was known to fans for both his on-field performance and off-field antics. He was one of the first players to wear a helmet fitted with a tinted visor over the eyes, and he regularly wore sunglasses all the time. He wasn't trying to act "too cool for school;" it was actually a medical sensitivity to light because of a damaged cornea. However, it earned him the nickname Darth Vader.

McMahon would also regularly be fined for the headbands that he wore (which seems ridiculous in hindsight). One of them had an Adidas logo on it, so he was fined because it was an "unauthorized" corporate logo. In response to the fine, McMahon wore a headband the next week that said "Rozelle," the name of the NFL commissioner.

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Clinton Portis

Clinton Portis

Portis was known for donning costumes during interviews and giving some pretty incredible soundbites. During one interview he dressed up as a Napolean Dynamite-like character he named Dolemite Jenkins. He kept the Napolean Dynamite schtick up throughout the interview. Other characters include Choo-Choo, Coach Janky Spanky, and Dolla Bill.

Besides dressing up as crazy "personalities," Portis also has a habit of speaking his opinions to the media a little too freely. He has admitted to thinking about taking out his former financial advisors who took advantage of him, and he basically said that whatever Michael Vick wanted to do with his own dogs was his business. People may think those things, sure. But they don't tell them to the press out loud.

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John Randle

John Randle

Defensive tackle John Randle was well-known for the dramatic and often outlandish face painting that he would wear during games. These included blacked-out eyes (like a mask) and black that came very far down on his cheeks in the shape of a batwing. He would also engage in regular trash-talking with opponents.

John Randle had a strong rivalry with Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Favre was sacked Randle the most times of any other player. In line with his trash-talking personality, Randle starred in a commercial showing him sewing a jersey with Favre's number. He then put the jersey on a chicken and chased it around the backyard. At the end of the commercial, Randle is shown cooking chicken on the grill.

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Lyle Alzado

Lyle Alzado

Lyle Alzado was one of the NFL's fiercest competitors. Opponents remember him as an imposing player who was known to have a short and explosive temper. The NFL against throwing your helmet was almost certainly enacted because of Alzado.

Alzado also had troubles off the field. He was one of the first professional sports players to acknowledge his use of anabolic steroids. His life came to an untimely end due to brain cancer at the age of 43.

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Rex Ryan

Rex Ryan

Rex Ryan was a coach in the NFL (formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills who was known for being outspoken and raucous. For example, when he was a coach at Buffalo, he drove a large Ford truck that had a custom Bills Logo paint job. He was also known to use the media to try and get into opposing players' heads.

Rex Ryan was basically a master in throwing shade. As an example, during an interview, he praised Payton Manning by saying "Nobody studies like him. I know Brady thinks he does" in an effort psyche out Brady. In 2017, an assault complaint was filed against Rex, and a video surfaced on social media showing him having an altercation with another individual at a bar in Nashville.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Keyshawn Johnson

Keyshawn Johnson

At one time, Keyshawn Johnson was the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. Halfway through his 4 seasons at Tampa Bay, the Bucs got a new head coach (Jon Gruden). Johnson had a contentious relationship with Gruden, to say the least.

A video clip of Johnson screaming at Gruden on the sidelines led to Johnson’s deactivation for the final games of the ’03 season. It wasn’t the first time he threw “tantrums” on the sidelines. He was then traded to Dallas at the conclusion of the season.

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Don Meredith

Don Meredith

Don Meredith was a favorite of Dallas Cowboys fans and non-fans alike thanks to his folksy Texan attitude. That's why it didn't come as a surprise that he transitioned to colorful commentary after his playing career ended.

During his commentating career, he was known to sing "Turn out the lights; the party's over" during blowout games. And once before a game began in Denver, he stated that he was "mile-high," a minor controversy. Besides commentating, he also acted, most notably in the TV series Police Story.

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Mike Singletary

Mike Singletary

Mike Singletary played for the Chicago Bears in the '80s, but you might remember him for his colorful antics while coaching the San Francisco 49ers. During a halftime speech, he dropped his pants to make a point of how bad they were getting their tails whipped.

As a coach, he was known to be hard-nosed and no-nonsense. Sometimes you have to be like that, especially because he never shied away from, and regularly took chances, on players who were deemed by others to have “problematic” personalities.

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John Madden

John Madden

John Madden's bubbly and verbose personality earned him a legion of fans over the course of his nearly 30 years in color commentary. He was known to use an array of interjections when talking about plays, particularly when things got exciting. These included "Boom!" and "Bang!" among others.

Madden also popularized the use of the telestrator (aka: television illustrator; the drawing feature common on instant replay).  He was frequently parodied in media for overusing the device. Unfortunately, Madden passed away in his home at 85 in December of 2021. 

Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones is one of few non-player/non-coaches on this list. The billionaire has funded much of his fortune into the Dallas Cowboys and, in the process, made them "America's Team." Has any single person been so indelibly tied to one team than Jones and the Cowboys? Even their new stadium goes by the nickname "Jerry World."

He's not just Owner; Jerry is also the president and general manager of the team. So that means it's either Jerry's way or the highway. Just ask his former good friend Jimmy Johnson. When Jones bought the team, he brought in former college teammate and roommate Johnson to coach. Their working relationship became so heated that Jones fired Johnson, and the two didn't speak for years. Things have somewhat thawed recently.

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Jon Gruden

Jon Gruden

Jon Gruden's coaching career was marked by innumerable videos of him running up and down the sidelines screaming, either in excitement or in frustration. He was the kind of guy who wore his emotions on his sleeve, and it made for good TV. But that kind of personality could also have a drawback. When you had a player like Keyshawn Johnson, who similarly spoke his mind regardless, the resulting verbal fireworks seemed more at home on an episode of reality television than a Monday Night Football broadcast.

Gruden was forced to resign from his job with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after old emails he had written were leaked to the media. The emails contained numerous colorful and inflammatory statements, and Gruden announced that he would be suing both the NFL and its commissioner for making these public.  

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Michael Strahan

Michael Strahan

Michael Strahan has had a bit of a turnaround when it comes to his "diva" personality. Early on in his career, he was on the wrong side of some of his teammates. He was especially vocal at the offensive linesmen, with video showing him yelling at them from the sideline. Giants coach Tom Coughlin said that when he first arrived, Strahan "wanted to challenge me on everything."

After retirement, Strahan is now more known for his talkative and bubbly personality. He went on to co-host Live with Kelly and Michael! with Kelly Rippa. After six years, he moved over to host a talk show as part of Good Morning America. He also hosts the reboot of primetime game show $100,000 Pyramid.

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Al Davis

Al Davis

If you know Al Davis, it's probably from his time as the owner of the Raiders, or even possible his time as commissioner of the now-defunct AFL. He was also a couch, however, and you could spot him easily as the guy with the white tracksuit on the sidelines.

Throughout his career, he had a fiery personality and high demands. For example, he and player Marcus Allen didn't so much disagree as had an all-out war with each other. Allen would go on to be a Pro Football Hall of Famer (something everyone anticipated during his playing days). Yet, Davis said that the running back was "lacking quickness" and would say so to the media. His aggressive player poaching of the NFL, while he was commissioner of the AFL, is probably what helped the two leagues unite.

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Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski

"Gronk," as he is affectionately known, was one of the most popular players in the NFL. His infectiously goofy personality made him a favorite of the media and fans alike. And his spike touchdown celebration has become iconic.

Even though he's goofy, sometimes it's not actually funny. He once responded to a media question, "What’s 6 times 9 plus 6 plus 9? Figure it out. It’s a good answer!" It's one thing to be funny; it's another to be childish. Though Gronk could be fun, he rarely acted his age.

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Dennis Green

Dennis Green

Green was best-known as the coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Following a loss, he delivered an impassioned tirade stating, "[...]they are who we thought they were! And we let 'em off the hook!" It has become of the most famous press conferences ever and may have contributed to his firing at the end of the season with one year left on his contract.

Green was noted for his no-nonsense approach to coaching, though this would sometimes lead to a butting of heads when criticism was lobbed his way. Though his stubbornness could be an asset on certain occasions, it probably did him no good near the end of his tenure with the Vikings.

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Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw is a former four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who is now an analyst on Fox. He's known for his ridiculous sense of humor and his lack of filter. He'll say pretty much anything that comes to his mind.

One of his more controversial statements was calling Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin a "great cheerleader guy," but "not a great coach at all." It's worth noting that Tomlin has coached the Steelers since 2007, led them to two Super Bowls, and won one of them. That's no small feat.

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Bill Parcells

Bill Parcells

Parcells is a tough coach, but he gets results. He's let four franchises to the playoffs and has come out of retirement once to coach another team. One of his former players once said that you could hear Parcells "chewing guys out from half-mile away."

Parcells says that he got his blunt and brusque personality after his first year of coaching the Giants. In his first season, the team went 3-12-1, and he nearly lost his job. He also lost his mother and father during that time. From then on, he decided he was going to do things his way. "Normally, I'm a good listener. But I wasn't listening to too many people after that," he told USA Today.

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Josh Norman

Josh Norman

In what was a very 2018 NFL moment, Josh Norman and Michael Thomas had a Twitter feud. That's right. Trash-talking has moved from in-person to online. Maybe it would have been more effective had they had their exchanges on the field. Instead, they looked like two angsty tweens.

There are also some pictures of Josh Norman and Cam Newton getting into a fight at training camp. And yes, you read that right. The same training camp, as in they were teammates. If you're that intense with your teammate, imagine what Norman would do to opponents.

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Odell Beckham Jr.

Odell Beckham Jr.

Odell Beckham Jr. had a successful college career at Lousiana State University and was a top NFL player with the Giants when they drafted him. So it was surprising that the Giants traded him to the Cleveland Browns. The alleged reason for that trade was Beckham Jr.'s poor interpersonal relationships with teammates and coaches.

Beckham Jr.'s personality off the field was also problematic. In one example, a video of Beckham Jr. was released showing him in bed with a model in a Paris hotel with numerous drug paraphernalia. Even more recently, he landed in hot water after a video leaked of him "swatting a security officer's backside", per KATV.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Jimmy Johnson

Jimmy Johnson

Jimmy Johnson is one of the few coaches to have won both a college national championship and a Super Bowl championship. He was a teammate at Arkansas with Jerry Jones, and Jerry brought him in to coach the Cowboys when Jones bought the team.

Even though it was a successful arrangement in terms of Super Bowl championships (back-to-back titles), Johnson and Jones had a legendary falling out in their working relationship. It was so bad that they refused to talk to one another for years afterward and would avoid each other and NFL functions.

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Jalen Ramsey

Jalen Ramsey

Jalen Ramsey is known for his trash-talking and for offering unfiltered opinions of fellow players across the league. One of the most notorious incidents was against the Bangels. He shoved A.J. Green to the ground. Apparently he had been in Green's head all day because the otherwise reserved Green popped up, placed Ramsey in a chokehold, and brought him down to the ground. Both players were ejected for the incident.

When NFL.com posed a fun off-season question about who would be on his football version of Mount Rushmore, he said, "My Mount Rushmore is me with four different expressions.”

(Image via Wikipedia)

Dexter Manley

Dexter Manley

Dexter Manley is one of the more colorful stories of the NFL. He's still the Washington franchise leader in sacks (though Ryan Kerrington is closing in). Even though he was a successful player, however, drug addiction led to his downfall and he retired after a fourth failed drug test in 1991.

But there's even more to his story. At a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities hearing, Manley revealed that he was functionally illiterate, despite having a college degree from Oklahoma State. He has since overcome this, thanks to The Lab School of Washington and increased his reading skill from a 2nd-grade to 10th-grade level.

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Lawrence Taylor

Lawrence Taylor

Lawrence Taylor had a troubled time as a player, though he also won awards. As soon as his second year in the NFL, Taylor admitted to using illicit drugs. He was suspended multiple times for repeatedly failing drug tests. He also had problems with alcohol.

His personal problems didn't stop after his retirement. He was placed in jail on three separate occasions for trying to procure drugs. In 2011, he also pled guilty to and was sentenced to six years of probation for sexual misconduct with a minor.

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Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka

Ditka has always been known to tell it like it is, and he is unabashed in his conservative beliefs. While that's not necessarily a problem, Ditka has recently gotten into trouble with the NFL regarding broader statements he made when describing his disagreement with Colin Kapernick's protesting.

Ditka knows he has a blunt, tell-it-like-it-is personality. And he's unashamed by it. He once said, "I always tell people I want to live to be 150 and they say why would you want to do that. I say, well there's a few people I haven't made mad yet, I want to get them."

(Image via Wikipedia)

LeSean McCoy

LeSean McCoy

LeSean McCoy was the Eagles' leading rusher when he was traded away in the off-season. Why would you trade away one of your best players? Well, his antics with the Eagles met the Bills (McCoy's new team) showed why. During the coin toss, he knelt down to kiss the Eagles logo at midfield. He refused to shake his former coach's hand, and he trash-talked and gave the middle finger to some of his former teammates during the game.

His personality problems also extend off the field. McCoy has had repeated domestic violence allegations against him or even just instances of disparaging remarks against women. Once, he left a $0.20 tip at a restaurant for a waitress. Classy.

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Adam Jones

Adam Jones

It is Adam Jones's off-field antics that mostly overshadow his playing career. But after the Bengals lost a playoff game to the Steelers in 2016, Jones turned to Instagram after the game and posted an expletive-filled video bashing the referees for what he perceived to be a poor job of officiating. He later deleted the video.

Off the field, things get even more controversial. Jones has had multiple run-ins with the law for alleged assault (including numerous allegations of hitting dancers at strip clubs). The most high-profile even was probably a Las Vegas case where a member of Jones's party shot into a crowd following a dispute and hit 3 people, permanently paralyzing former pro-wrestler Tommy Urbanski.

(Image via Wikipedia)

Deacon Jones

Deacon Jones

Jones was probably the best defensive end the NFL has ever seen. He basically invented the quarterback sack, as well as the terminology behind it. He would probably hold NFL sack records, but the league didn't keep those stats at the time. His trash-talking was as colorful as his playing. Describing how he came up with the term "sack," he stated, "It's like putting all the offensive players in one bag, and I'd just take a baseball bat and beat on the bag."

He was also a little controversial for using the head slap to turn away blockers. It may seem like a cheap tactic to some, but it was only after Jones retired that the move was banned by the league.

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Jim Mora

Jim Mora

Mora was known for coaching the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. Even though he had a fairly positive winning record, he never won a post-season game. He was most famous for his emotional speeches and outbursts, particularly at press conferences.

His most noteworthy incident was probably after a Colts loss to the 49ers. After a sports reporter asked about the Colts' chances at making the playoffs, Mora incredulously responded, "Playoffs? Don't talk about—playoffs?! You kidding me? Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game!" It became an instantly famous football moment and has been parodied by many people and used in TV commercials.

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Warren Sapp

Warren Sapp

As is the case with many other players on this list, Warren Sapp was a great player on the field but a troublemaker off it. His 96.5 sacs for Tampa Bay is no small feat. In 2015, though, he was arrested for allegedly soliciting a sex worker and assaulting women.

Even on the field, Sapp would toe the line between trash-talking and just being plain disruptive. He would skip around the field among the opposing team (and throughout their sideline). He was also ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct and regularly called for unnecessary roughness during games.

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Richie Incognito

Richie Incognito

Richie Incognito is famous for his "tough-as-nails" aggressive attitude. During the 2013 season, Miami suspended him when he went beyond even bullying a fellow teammate (which is bad enough) into the realm of straight-up harassment. He would leave death threats on the teammate's voicemail to "toughen him up."

Incognito has been less than incognito off the football field. He underwent involuntary medical treatment after an altercation at a public gym. Even stranger, he was arrested at a funeral home for threatening to shoot employees. He was demanding they decapitate his deceased father's body for medical research.

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John Riggins

John Riggins

John Riggins was a hard-nosed player who had a boisterous personality and wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He had a contract dispute during his time at Washington and sat out the 1980 season. Upon returning in 1981, he stated, "I'm bored, I'm broke, and I'm back."

Other colorful quotes from Riggins include his attendance at a Washington Press Club even in which he drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner to "loosen up, Sandy baby" because he believed she was too uptight. Later he fell asleep under the table.

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OJ Simpson

OJ Simpson

Even non-football fans know the story of O.J. Simpson. He became so popular as a player that he embarked on an acting career even before his retirement. He appeared in films such as Roots, The Towering Inferno, and The Naked Gun Trilogy. He also tried his hand at TV. In addition, he was the popular spokesman for brands like Hertz, Pioneer Chicken, HoneyBaked Ham, and Napa Naturals soft drinks.

O.J. is now most notorious for the "Trial of the Century" in which he was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. He was eventually acquitted by the jury, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he remains guilty in the public consciousness at large.

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Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis is a walking contradiction. He was one of the best players in the entire league during his time in the NFL. But his intimidating on-field personality may have carried over into other aspects of his life. He may be most controversial for the murder trial surrounding him in 2000.

After a fight broke out between Lewis, his comrades, and another group of people, two people ended up stabbed to death. He was only ever charged with obstruction of justice. Shockingly, he was the MVP of the very next Super Bowl in January 2001.

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Brett Favre

Brett Favre

Brett Favre is a history maker in the NFL. He currently has the honor of most consecutive starts in the league with a whopping 321 from 1992 until his retirement in 2010. And that just scratches the surface of records that this football great managed to smash during his highly successful career. 

His personal life off the field has also got people talking. In 1996, Favre spent almost 50 days in rehab for his Vicodin addiction, and he was prohibited by the NFL from drinking alcohol. Later, in 2010, he was investigated by the NFL for allegedly sexting with Jets host Jenn Sterger. However, the NFL failed to prove that he actually sent the texts. 

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