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The past quarter century has provided sports fans with many unforgettable moments, both on and off the court/field. We’ve seen the rise, dominance, and retirement of Michael Jordan, the OJ Simpson trial, and even saw Mike Tyson try to bite off someone’s ear. It’s been a wild 25 years, with a lot of ups and downs to match one of the most eventful periods in sports history.
Whether it’s been grotesque, sad, or just downright weird, sports always find a way to surprise us. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, there’s a Manti Te’o story just lurking around the corner, waiting to give you something you never expected. While there were several tough omissions such as the Tiger Woods scandal and the World Series earthquake, these are the 25 Most Shocking Sports Moments of the Past 25 Years.
25. Kevin Ware's Leg Shatters on National TV
Date: 3/31/2013
March Madness has become one of the go-to events on the sports calendar, and by the time the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rolls around the entire nation is watching. So when Louisville's Kevin Ware landed awkwardly attempting a blocked shot, the whole country looked on in horror as his tibia shot out his leg in high definition. Ware recovered remarkably quickly from surgery and was present when they cut down the nets as they won the National championship, and coach Rick Pitino recently said that Ware has already been cleared to practice by team doctors.
24. Drazen Petrovic Killed in Car Accident
Date: 6/7/1993
Before the NBA could have Dirk Nowitzki or even Toni Kukoc, there was Drazen Petrovic. A Serbian national who achieved great success in Europe before coming over to the NBA—Petrovic made the All-NBA Third Team with the 1993 New Jersey Nets and appeared poised to become a star. Tragically, while driving back to Croatia with his girlfriend and another friend on the autobahn, a semi-truck veered across the median and directly into the path of Petrovic's car, killing the emerging star. It was a horrifying, abrupt end to a promising career that prompted an outpouring of support from across the league and was a national tragedy for Croatia.
23. Clint Malarchuk Has Coratid Artery Severed on the Ice
Date: 2/11/1990
If a coach tells you to "go for the jugular," he hopefully doesn't mean it literally. Clint Malarchuk can attest as to what happens when you do hit the jugular, as a wayward skate nicked the Sabres' goaltender's neck and caused an absolute cascade of blood to pour out onto the ice. It took the incredible awareness and composure of the Sabres' trainer (a former medic from the Vietnam War) to save Malarchuk's life, as he put enough pressure on the severed artery to slow the bleeding until paramedics could get him to the hospital. Nevertheless, Malarchuk lost a third of the blood in his body and when he came back was never quite the same player.
22. Latrell Sprewell Chokes Coach P.J. Carlesimo
Date: 12/1/1997
It's no secret that players and coaches don't always get along, but Latrell Sprewell took it to another level following a dispute at practice with coach P.J. Carlesimo. Sprewell throttled his coach for over 15 seconds, then followed that up with an elbow to the ribs and threatening to murder him. This incident (obviously) led to Sprewell being suspended for a total of 68 games and never putting on a Warriors uniform again, and touched off a series of unpleasant incidents throughout his career. It all culminated in his infamous "I have a family to feed" comment when he declined a three-year, $21 million contract extension, and soon thereafter he was out of the league entirely.
21. The BALCO Scandal
Date: 9/3/2003
Major League Baseball has held up remarkably well since it began to take an active interest in performance enhancing drug use, handing down bans and generally trying to clean up the game. It really all began in earnest with the BALCO investigation, which brought big names like Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds to the forefront with their usage of PEDs with cool names like "The Cream" and "The Clear." While the investigation itself brought down track star Marion Jones and a few others, baseball was the sport most largely impacted; the very public humiliation forced Bud Selig to make MLB the last major sports league to finally implement a policy prohibiting the use of PEDs.
20. Andres Escobar Killed for Scoring Own Goal in World Cup
Date: 3/22/1989
Andres Escobar was a beloved figure in Colombia headed into the 1994 World Cup. The captain of the squad, he was to become the first Colombian to play in Italy and anchored the defense of a team that went into the tournament as one of the favorites to win the entire thing. After a tough opening loss to Romania, though, Colombia needed to beat USA to remain in contention to advance. With ten minutes until halftime, Escobar tried to block a cross and inadvertently sent it into his own net, giving the Americans a lead they would not relinquish and ensuring Colombia would go home early. After returning to his hometown of Medellin, Escobar was shot and killed outside a nightclub by drug lords who had allegedly lost a significant amount of money on the match.
19. Rae Carruth Arrested, Charged, and Convicted for Murdering Pregnant Girlfriend
Date: 11/26/1999
Rae Carruth had a promising rookie season in 1997, catching 44 passes for 545 yards and four touchdowns after being selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the draft. After sitting out injured for all but a few snaps of 1998, he came back in 1999 and got off to a decent start through the season's first six weeks. However, he was then arrested after hiring a friend to murder his girlfriend, who was eight months pregnant with Carruth's child. While his girlfriend died from the gunshot wounds, Carruth's son was saved and is now 13 years old despite suffering numerous disabilities as a result of his father's actions. Rae was sentenced to 18-24 years for conspiracy to commit murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and using an instrument to destroy an unborn child.
18. Buster Douglas Knocks Out Mike Tyson
Date: 4/30/1993
It would be difficult to overstate how big an underdog Buster Douglas was going into his fight against Mike Tyson. Tyson was the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and he had been stampeding over every single opponent he had gotten in the ring with. While Douglas was certainly no slouch (he was ranked No. 7 in the world at the time), it was seemingly unfathomable that Tyson could lose. It seems Iron Mike certainly thought that, and the aggressive Douglas kept coming after him through the first nine rounds. In the tenth, Douglas tagged Tyson with an uppercut followed by a series of jabs to put him down for the count and secure one of boxing's biggest upsets.
17. A Crazed Fan Stabs Monica Seles During a Match
Date: 7/2/1994
As a male sports fan, you'd be forgiven if you didn't invest all your time and energy into rooting for women's tennis. It is certainly a very compelling event and worthy of the attention it receives, but for whatever reason guys just don't tend to gravitate towards it. Don't tell that to Gunter Parche, though; this German nut job was such a diehard Steffi Graf fan that he sprinted out of the stands at a tournament in Hamburg and stabbed Monica Seles (who had just beaten Graf in the finals of the Australian Open) in between the shoulders. While Seles had a quick physical recovery, it would be over two years before she would return to the court.
16. Steve McNair Murdered by His Mistress
Date: 7/4/2009
Steve McNair was as tough a player as has ever set foot on an NFL field. One story goes that he got a root canal but refused all painkillers, including Novocain. His history of playing through injury was well documented, and he retired having won one co-MVP award and having come within one Mike Jones tackle of winning a Super Bowl. But he also got involved with the wrong woman, a 20-year-old waitress who apparently did not like it when McNair may have had a mistress for his mistress. She retaliated by shooting McNair to death while he slept and killing herself, stunning an NFL universe that was only just getting used to life without the Titans great.
15. Hank Gathers Collapses and Dies During Game
Date: 3/4/1990
With Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble running the most uptempo offense in the nation, Loyola Marymount became a national phenomenon during the 1988-89 season, when Gathers led the nation in both scoring and rebounding. His senior year saw him solidify his status as an NBA lottery pick, even after an abnormal heartbeat caused him to collapse during a December game. What people didn't know leading into the WCC tournament was that Gathers had dramatically reduced (or possibly altogether stopped) taking his medication, and during the tournament quarterfinal collapsed seconds after throwing down a tomahawk dunk. Moments later, he was dead and the basketball world was left completely saddened and shocked.
14. Zinedine Zidane Headbutts Marco Materazzi in World Cup Finals
Date: 7/9/2006
The 2006 World Cup also functioned as Zinedine Zidane's farewell tour, as the French captain had announced before the tournament that he would be retiring after the competition's conclusion. France rode the wily midfielder's still-stunning play into the Final, and Zizou managed to put home a penalty kick in the first half as his side finished the opening 90 minutes level with Italy at 1-1. In extra time, an off-color remark about Zidane's sister from Italy's Marco Materazzi clearly set the Frenchman off, and with the entire world watching he delivered a headbutt to the chest of his Italian foe and was summarily dismissed from the game. France would go on to lose in penalty kicks, and everyone was left to ponder how things might have gone differently if Zidane had kept his composure.
13. Pete Rose Banned from Baseball for Life
Date: 8/24/1989
It's a shame that nobody really remembers how good a baseball player Pete Rose was. He has more hits than anyone ever to play the game, won three World Series, and made the All-Star team a remarkable 17 times while playing five different positions. However, all we'll remember him for is when he was banned from baseball by Commissioner Bart Giamatti after it was revealed in a report by special investigator John Dowd that Rose placed bets on baseball games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds. While Bud Selig his flirted with lifting Rose's ban so that he can take his place in the Hall of Fame, it will likely be up to Selig's successor to decide Rose's fate.
12. One Baylor Basketball Player Murders Another
Date: 7/21/2003
Another story of a twisted person gone horribly astray, Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson shot and killed his friend and teammate Patrick Dennehy after the two had an argument while shooting guns just outside of campus in Waco, Texas. This tragedy launched an NCAA investigation into the program and coach Dave Bliss, and the findings were not good for Baylor. Among other things, they were found to have paid players and allowed them to do whatever drugs they pleased. The cumulative punishments were the harshest ever given out by the NCAA short of the "Death Penalty."
11. Dale Earnhardt Dies in Crash at Daytona 500
Date: 2/18/2001
"The Intimidator" Dale Earnhardt is one of the single biggest legends of auto racing, and he was once again in contention on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. However, when he crashed into the wall, it seemed that he would have to wait another year to get his shot at winning at Daytona. What appeared to be a relatively pedestrian event turned serious very quickly, and Earnhardt was pronounced dead from a skull fracture as soon as he reached the hospital.
10. The First Michael Jordan Retirement
Date: 10/6/1993
At age 29, Michael Jordan was at the peak of his career: he had just won his third NBA title, was the undisputed best player in the league, and was the most famous athlete in the entire world thanks to his exploits at the 1992 Olympics. However, following the July murder of his father, Jordan decided to retire just before training camp and throw the entire sporting world into chaos. The worldwide headlines generated and ink spilled over this decision, as well as his subsequent baseball venture, were an outpouring unlike anything ever seen before for an athlete.
9. Tonya Harding Orders Attack on Nancy Kerrigan
Date: 1/6/1994
If you can't beat 'em, beat 'em. Literally. Thus goes the mantra of Tonya Harding, who on the night prior to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships had her ex-boyfriend and body guard hire a goon to break the leg of Harding's skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. In the short term, it worked; while Kerrigan's leg was just bruised, she was unable to compete and Harding won the event and went on to be selected for the Olympic team.
Unfortunately, the media coverage was so comprehensive that Harding's role in the attack quickly became apparent, and after an eighth place finish at the Olympics Harding pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution of the attackers. She received a sentence of three years probation. As for Kerrigan, she won a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
8. Manti Te'o Gets "Catfished"
Date: 1/16/2013
This is one of those stories that is almost too strange to be real. Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o grabbed the nation's heart when he told the world about the death of his cancer-stricken girlfriend in September of 2012, but it seems as if every reporter was afraid to ask simple questions like: why didn't you go to the funeral? Why don't you have any pictures together? Why is there no record of her at Stanford, her alleged school?
In January 2013 Deadspin revealed that there was no dead girflriend named Lennay Kekua. Te'o later said that he had been the victim of a hoax and we all waited for the other shoe to drop. What was Te'o hiding? Was this just a publicity stunt to boost his profile and draft stock? We may never get all the answers, but what we know is that this was one of the all-time weirdest things to happen in sports.
7. Aaron Hernandez Arrested and Charged with First Degree Murder
Date: 6/26/2013
From 2010 through 2012, Aaron Hernandez hauled in 175 passes for nearly 2000 yards and 18 touchdowns, placing him in the NFL's top 10 for tight ends in all three categories. In 2013, he decided to follow up his outstanding opening three seasons by (allegedly) murdering a friend who had disrespected him, first being named a person of interest in the case before ultimately being charged with murder. The details have only gotten more salacious in the subsequent weeks and months (destroyed evidence, possible other murders, etc.), and with a trial date still not set the final chapter in this saga has yet to be written.
6. Kobe Bryant Is Accused of Sexual Assault
Date: 7/18/2003
With three rings and a reputation as one of the NBA's top players, Kobe Bryant had every right the feel on top of the world when he traveled to Colorado in the 2003 offseason to have a procedure done on his knee. What exactly transpired at that point we may never know, but we do know that Bryant was accused of (and arrested for) sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee. He admitted only to committing adultery, which absolutely destroyed his reputation and cost him millions in endorsements when brands like Nike immediately dropped him. And let's not even mention the money he had to spend on that ring he gave Vanessa.
The charges were dropped in September 2004 and Kobe settled a civil suit with his accuser for an undisclosed amount.
5. The Malice at the Palace
Date: 11/19/2004
No matter how insulting or rude fans get when heckling players, they do so knowing that the players would never actually retaliate. Well, for Jeff Green, that didn't prove to be the case when he decided to throw his Diet Coke at Ron Artest. After what started as a testy exchange on the court between Artest and Ben Wallace led to the two being separated, it looked like the situation would eventually diffuse. Instead, mayhem ensued when the fans got involved, and the NBA devolved into what can only be described as a nationally televised riot.
4. Mike Tyson Bites Off a Piece of Evander Holyfield's Ear
Date: 6/28/1997
While Mike Tyson had shown signs of being crazy prior to his rematch with Evander Holyfield, it's safe to say nobody was expecting this. Well, with the exception of Teddy Atlas. The former heavyweight champion actually bit Holyfield twice, and what many forget is that the first bite was actually the one in which Tyson chomped off a piece of his opponent's ear. Somehow, referee Mills Lane allowed the fight to continue even with Holyfield missing a chunk of his left ear, and naturally Iron Mike took this as an opportunity to chow down again, this time on Holyfield's right ear. After the fighters had finished the third round he was at last disqualified.
3. The OJ Simpson Chase
Date: 6/17/1994
Before we had the ubiquitous Peyton Manning commercials, the distinction of athlete media maven belonged to OJ Simpson. The man was everywhere: in commercials, in the broadcast booth, and even in movies. The affable Simpson seemed like a good guy who had parlayed his Hall of Fame exploits on the field into a successful career off it. That is, until his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman turned up dead outside Brown's house. When Simpson failed to turn himself in and left lawyer Rob Kardashian (side note: this is was the Kardashian's first taste of fame) a letter that sounded functionally like a suicide note, all eyes turned to L.A. as everyone wondered just where OJ was. When he finally emerged as a passenger in the infamous white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings, the ensuing hour and a half chase gripped the nation and became one of the most talked about live television events in history.
2. The Penn State Scandal
Date: 11/5/2011
Prior to November of 2011, Jerry Sandusky was widely regarded as a legendary coach who had deserved his 1999 induction into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame following a 30 season run as the Defensive Coordinator at Penn State. Seemingly overnight, though, everything unraveled. Sandusky was revealed to be the worst kind of person imaginable, allegations of sexual abuse of several children over a 15-year period sparked a media firestorm and immediately tarnished the legacy of Penn State football and legendary coach Joe Paterno. The deserved furor over the willful ignorance to the heinous crimes being committed on campus continues to dog Penn State, though fortunately the school has taken dramatic measures to ensure to such horror happens again.
1. Magic Johnson Announces He Has HIV
Date: 11/7/1991
In 1991, announcing that you had HIV was the equivalent of saying that you were going to die in the near future. Coming off a season in which he posted very typical numbers (19/7/13 per game average), it seemed inconceivable that anything could be wrong with Magic Johnson, one of the game's greatest and most famous players. His HIV diagnosis was a deeply sad moment that didnt just shock the sporting world, but put a face to the struggle that millions had been enduring since the epidemic began in the early 1980s.