The 25 Biggest Joke Athletes in Sports History

While the majority of athletes have relatively nondescript careers, a couple times in every generation there are players who exceed all expectations. They gain great fame and notoriety not for their skills in competition, but for being the butt of ridicule for the entire sports-watching community.

Some, like Travis Henry, had decent enough careers but couldn’t avoid trouble away from the game while guys like Ryan Leaf were a complete catastrophe from the moment they set foot on the field. Still others like Eddie Gaedel were more literal “jokes” played on fans by shrewd owners. Regardless of how they got there, these people will all live on in infamy for their exploits. We give you the 25 Biggest Joke Athletes in Sports History.

RELATED: Ryan Leaf Story

Sport: Baseball
Career Years: 1997-2004
Career Lowlight: Arrested for tapping/assaulting woman in sausage costume with a bat.

Simon's eight seasons in Major League Baseball were pretty unremarkable, and he petered out in Japan and lesser domestic leagues, as many do. However, one night in July of 2003, he became a legend when he used his bat to tap the top of one of the sausages during the Brewers' signature race, causing the woman wearing the suit to fall down and scrape her knee. A seemingly innocuous (if stupid) joke sustained the 24-hour sports news cycle for several days, and Simon was even questioned by police in the matter. It is one of the stranger legacies a baseball player has ever left upon the game.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 1986-1999
Career Lowlight: Arrested with 213 and 175 pounds of marijuana in two separate incidents.

Newton was an excellent player over the course of his 14-year NFL career, winning three Super Bowls and making six Pro Bowls. However, despite these accomplishments, his post-career activities have completely overshadowed everything he did on the field. The end of 2001 was an amazing time for Newton; after being busted with 213 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop in November, he was arrested just five weeks later after being stopped with an additional 175 pounds of green. It's hard to fathom what that much weed would even look like, never mind cost.

Sport: Soccer
Career Years: 2004-Present
Career Lowlight: Returns to MLS with his tail between his legs in 2011.

Some called Adu "the next Pele" when he became a national sensation in 2004. In April of that year at age 14, he made his MLS debut with DC United and instantly became one of the most talked-about athletes in the country, if not the entire world. After leaving MLS in 2007, Adu has played for numerous teams abroad, but has yet to live up to the promise he showed at such a young age. While he played well in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup with the senior US National Team, he has nevertheless become the poster child for the overhyped young player.

Sport: Baseball
Career Years: 1999-2001; 2004; 2007-Present
Career Lowlight: Third inning meltdown during 2000 NLDS Game 1.

Ankiel looked like he'd be a fixture in the NL Cy Young race for years to come, posting a 3.50 ERA in 30 starts during the 2000 regular season. On the mound for Game 1 of the National League Division Series, though, he suffered a complete meltdown that irreversibly ruined his pitching career. He threw five wild pitches and walked four batters, and from there his downfall continued to the point that in March of 2005 he actually switched to becoming an outfielder. While he has carved out a decent career for himself since returning to the big leagues in 2007, Ankiel will be most remembered as the guy who, for no apparent reason, couldn't throw strikes.

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 2007-Present
Career Lowlight: Has third microfracture surgery and is released by the Blazers in 2012.

The Oden vs. Kevin Durant debate was the dominant narrative leading up to the 2007 NBA Draft, with many (including the Trail Blazers, who were picking first overall) deciding that Oden's gifts as a center more than compensated for his dubious injury history. Those people were wrong. Oden was an unmitigated disaster in Portland, missing his entire rookie year and playing in just 82 games over the course of his first five seasons, and he is now sitting out the entire 2012-13 season in order to rehab his third microfracture surgery. At least we know he can do one thing well like send a cell phone picture message.

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 1992-2005
Career Lowlight: Chokes coach PJ Carlesimo in 1997.

Sprewell was an All-Star who was also the poster child for the selfish, borderline-insane NBA of the late 1990s that drove away numerous fans and made many games nearly unwatchable in the post-Jordan era. In 1997, Sprewell decided that the best way to settle a disagreement at practice with coach PJ Carlesimo was to throttle the life out of him. When that didn't work, he threatened to kill him. In 2004, Sprewell would spurn a three-year, $21 million contract offer from the Minnesota Timberwolves by declaring that "I have a family to feed," which begs the question: what was he feeding them that $21 million couldn't take care of? Now he's broke. #karmasthebaddestbitch

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 1999-2007
Career Lowlight: Pleads guilty to attempted rape of his children's nanny in 2001.

Of all the early-2000s "Jail Blazers," Patterson probably had the most diverse arrest record. He also got punched in the face by teammate Zach Randolph and refused to come back into a game because "the devil hit me and told me to get it out." He was arrested for attempted rape in 2000, misdemeanor assault in 2001, felony domestic abuse in 2002 and most recently a DUI in 2010. He also proved to be just as erratic when it came to basketball-related matters as well, nicknaming himself "The Kobe Stopper" because he thought he could play better defense than anyone else in the league on the Lakers' star. That claim was, at best, inaccurate.

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 1998-2007
Career Lowlight: Averaged just 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds during 2005-06 season.

When a guy has only been playing the game for a couple years, logic says that maybe it isn't a good idea to use the No. 1 overall pick on him. The Los Angeles Clippers, however, have never really been ones to feel constrained by the bounds of logic. In making the Kandi Man the No. 1 overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, the Clippers put their future in the hands of a guy who played exactly one full college season. Not surprisingly, it didn't go well. He battled injury problems for most of his career, ultimately retiring after the 2006-07 season with career averages of 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 1984-1995
Career Lowlight: Breaks leg walking around during shootaround prior to a 1987-88 preseason game.

Poor Sam Bowie. He was actually really good at Kentucky, and today his No. 31 hangs in the rafters at Rupp Arena. Unfortunately, when you're drafted ahead of Michael Jordan, "really good" isn't going to cut it. This former No. 2 overall pick had a decent go of it in the NBA (he was on the All-Rookie Team in 1984) until his career was ruined by health problems. In his final three seasons playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, Bowie played in just 63 of a possible 328 games. Unfortunately for the Blazers, this would not be their last dalliance with a promising center who would instead become a punch line in raps.

Sport: Golf
Career Years: 1987-Present
Career Lowlight: Passes out in front of a Hooters in 2008.

The colorful Daly is beloved by many for his antics on and off the course, but these antics are also likely the reason he has failed to become the star it looked like he surely would be after winning the 1991 PGA Championship. He has since waged very public battles with alcoholism and gambling addiction, and has also been married four times. These distractions have given him an almost larger than life persona. Although he does not have full playing privileges on the PGA Tour, Daly still gets invited to many tournaments because of how much the crowd loves his long drives, garish attire, and general belligerence on the course.

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 2003-Present
Career Lowlight: Traded by Detroit for journeyman Kelvin Cato.

Another draft day disaster, Darko was taken by the Pistons in 2003 ahead of the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. It was thought that he had the ball skills of a guard with the size of an elite center, and would revolutionize the position. As it turns out, the only thing he revolutionized was benchwarming; he played in just 96 games during his three seasons with the Pistons, and has never averaged more than 8.8 points per game in his NBA career.

Sport: Hockey
Career Years: 2001-2012
Career Lowlight: Infamous "sloppy seconds" comment about Elisha Cuthbert.

Avery has been quite eccentric throughout his time in the NHL, and is seemingly always at the center of some off-ice controversy. Over the course of a 12-year career, he has had a rule named after him, called another player's girlfriend his "sloppy seconds," been accused of hurling racial slurs at players, and has been an intern at Vogue. He couldn't even retire like a normal person; he was sent home from his AHL team in March of 2012 and has yet to formally announce his future plans.

Sport: Running
Career Years: 1980
Career Lowlight: Stripped of Boston Marathon title.

To be honest, we find Ruiz's incredible two race career to be one of the most remarkably impressive grifts in history. Not only did she cheat to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but she successfully pulled it off again in winning the 1980 women's race with a 2:31:56 time that would have made her the fastest woman in Boston history. Her decision to hang out in the crowd before bursting onto the course was probably not the best idea for someone trying to be sneaky, though, and her victory was quite short-lived. Nevertheless, we can't blame her for trying.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 2005-Present
Career Lowlight: Suspended from the NFL for a year following 2007 strip club incident.

Pacman Jones has actually been a pretty good player over the course of his career, especially on special teams. However, all he will be remembered for is his remarkable arrest record and inability to stay out of trouble. In particular, the shooting he incited after "making it rain" in a Las Vegas strip club at NBA All-Star Weekend 2007 will probably be his lasting NFL legacy, and his suspension for the entire 2007 season and part of 2008 was the longest of its kind for a non-drug related offense.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 1991-1992
Career Lowlight: Arrested for cocaine possession his senior year of college.

In the pantheon of overbearing sports parents, Marv Marinovich will forever be the standard bearer. In a quest to make his son Todd the greatest quarterback of all time, he began strength training him from the time he was in the crib. Not shockingly, Todd started acting out as a teenager, smoking weed on a daily basis and occasionally eating the fast food his father expressly forbade. The "Robo Quarterback" eventually ended up at USC, where he was arrested for cocaine possession before declaring for the 1991 NFL Draft. He was nevertheless drafted in the first round by (who else?) the Oakland Raiders, but washed out of the league by 1992.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 1985-2000
Career Lowlight: Arrested for soliciting a prostitute night prior to Super Bowl.

Every year, the Christian group Athletes in Action gives out the Bart Starr award the day before the Super Bowl to a football player who exhibits the type of high moral character that its namesake personified throughout his legendary career. In 1999, that award went to Robinson. So how did he celebrate, you may ask? Eschewing the typical "friends and family" style of celebration, Robinson went out and offered a prostitute $40 for oral sex. The only problem was that she also happened to be a cop. After getting out of jail early the next morning Robinson gave up an 80-yard touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, ensuring that nobody would ever remember him for his otherwise solid career.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 2007-2009
Career Lowlight: Arrested for having codeine syrup without a prescription.

JaMarcus Russell looked like he was going to be a star during his time at LSU. He was the size of a linebacker with the arm of Brett Favre. But he didn't have it where it counts, between the ears. Getting drafted by the Raiders didn't help matter either. Russell was more fixated with bling and sizzurp than he was with being an NFL quarterback, even testing postive for codeine after he was drafted. In his three NFL season, Russell was out of shape and frequently stunk up the joint with career numbers so disappointing we dare not speak of them. After he washed out of the league, he was arrested for codeine possesion without a prescription, derailing his comeback attempt until the offseason.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 2001-2007
Career Lowlight: Sent to prison for three years for financing a cocaine trafficking operation.

Henry had a pretty good run for the Bills, Titans, and Broncos, reaching the Pro Bowl in 2002. More notably, here's a stat that would make even Shawn Kemp blush: Henry has also fathered 11 children by 10 different women and is on the hook for $170,000 in child support payments every year. He's going to have a hard time paying that out, though; he only recently was released from jail after serving three years for his role in a cocaine-distribution ring. Let's hope for the entire planet's sake that he avoids spreading his seed any more than he already has.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 1989-1998
Career Lowlight: Sent to rehab in 1995.

Dubbed "the best offensive line prospect ever" by a 1989 Sports Illustrated cover story, Mandarich should probably have been called "the biggest juicer ever." He has freely admitted to using steroids throughout college to boost his draft status, although it was alcohol and narcotics that derailed his pro career after he was drafted No. 2 overall by the Green Bay Packers ahead of Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders. After falling out of the league by 1991, then going to rehab in 1995, Mandarich actually returned to the NFL and had three decent if unspectacular years for the Colts before retiring due to a shoulder injury.

Sport: Basketball
Career Years: 2001-Present
Career Lowlight: Averages 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds after being drafted No. 1 overall.

When Michael Jordan moved into the Washington Wizards' front office, he was expected to use his incredible success in the league to bring equal glory to the beleaguered franchise. Instead, he used the team's No. 1 overall pick on Brown. With rookie averages of 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, it was clear from the beginning that this was not a franchise player. Somehow, though, the Wizards decided to offer Brown a five-year, $30 million extension after his third season; perhaps even more remarkably, Brown declined the offer because he thought he could do better on the open market. Now playing for his seventh team, he was clearly incorrect.

Sport: Baseball
Career Years: 1998-2003
Career Lowlight: His 1999 Sports Illustrated interview.

While there is no scientific way to measure it, Rocker might just be the biggest asshole ever to play a major professional sport. The 'roided up relief pitcher's December 1999 Sports Illustrated profile remains the standard for ignorant, horrible comments both in terms of their level of vitriol and sheer volume. Probably the only good thing he did was serve as the inspiration for Kenny Powers of HBO's Eastbound and Down. In a bit of karmic payback, Rocker's career completely fell apart after less than three years as the Braves' closer, and by 2004 he was out of Major League Baseball entirely.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 1987-1989
Career Lowlight: Getting trucked by Bo Jackson on Monday Night Football.

When "The Boz" was drafted by the Seahawks in the supplemental round of the 1987 NFL Draft, he received the largest contract in team history and the largest rookie contract in NFL history. The Oklahoma Sooner standout was supposed to be a stud, and considering he is still the only player in NCAA history to win the Butkus Award for top linebacker in the nation multiple times, it's hard to argue the reasoning behind that lofty projection. However, a banishment for steroids in his final college game and subsequent abysmal NFL performance led this once-heralded player to fall completely out of the NFL by 1989.

Sport: Baseball
Career Years: 1951
Career Lowlight: Contract voided by Major League Baseball.

Some might call it exploitation. Some might call it genius. Wherever you land, the St. Louis Browns' use of 3'7" Eddie Gaedel in the second game of a double-header is something that will never be seen again in sports. Sporting the jersey number "1/8" Gaedel led off the game for the Browns and (not shockingly) drew a four pitch walk. He was pinch run for, and never again appeared in a Major League game. His 1.000 OBP remains tied for the best in baseball history, and Gaedel's autograph is more valuable than Babe Ruth's. No, seriously.

Sport: Baseball
Career Years: 1985
Career Lowlight: Proven to not be a real person, crushing hopeful Mets fans.

This one takes the term "joke" a bit literally; Finch was created out of thin air by Sports Illustrated writer George Plimpton in 1985, with the scribe claiming that Finch could throw a fastball 168 MPH, was a yoga enthusiast and only wore one shoe while pitching. When they heard he was in their team's farm system, the poor Mets fans bombarded the front office with calls about this phenom who was going to help their team dominate for years to come. Unfortunately for these fans, the Mets held a press conference on April 2 to announce Finch's retirement, ending the ruse before it could go any further and make the fans seem more pathetic.

Sport: Football
Career Years: 1998-2002
Career Lowlight: Having to be restrained from attacking a reporter in the locker room.

Any conversations about the biggest busts in the history of professional sports has to include Leaf. Remember when the Colts were trying to decide between him and Peyton Manning? We'd say they made the right choice; Leaf sucked from the start, throwing two touchdowns and 15 interceptions as a rookie in 1998. After missing 1999 with an injury, he didn't fare much better in 2000 as he threw 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His follies off the field are even more legendary than his abysmal playing career, with arrests and numerous destroyed relationships with teammates making him one of the biggest jokes in NFL history.