10 biggest scandals the NFL wants you to forget
The NFL offseason has produced plenty of scandals in 2022. This is par for the course of the league's general behavior throughout its history.
Tom Brady's attempted coup to get himself to the Miami Dolphins appears light compared to Dan Snyder's embezzled money from season ticket holders.
Throughout the last century and the first 22 years of this one, the NFL has established itself as a cutting-edge product. That's because of both the on-field violence and the off-field controversies that have gripped the sport.
Here, we look at the 10 Biggest scandals the NFL wants you to forget from its history.
#10 - The Henry Ruggs III DUI car crash case
Back on November 2, this past year, former Alabama Crimson Tide and Las Vegas Raiders wideout Henry Ruggs III got into a fiery crash. He was allegedly driving over 150 mph, and killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog instantly.
Nick Saban on the Henry Ruggs DWI situation which resulted in a death @abc3340 https://t.co/PvUHzr05Ka
Ruggs has been blackballed from media circles and is not discussed in the same sentence as an NFL return. Given the charges associated with DUI cases, we may not see Ruggs free for a long while.
#9 - Deshaun Watson and his 22 sex crime accusers
The NFL definitely wants you to focus on the on-field aspect of Deshaun Watson's career right now. That's because the Browns just gave him $230 million in guaranteed money after trading several future picks for him.
This is all despite the fact that he has lawsuits against him, filed by 22 women, all accusing him of crimes related to sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Watson won't face criminal charges in connection with these sexual misconduct allegations. But the timing of his contract relative to these off-the-field developments has led to a lot of talk.
#8 - Allegations of Tyreek Hill's domestic and child abuse
Tyreek Hill was kicked out of the Oklahoma State Cowboys football program (and track team) back in 2014 for punching and kicking his girlfriend, who was eight weeks pregnant at the time. He later went to West Alabama before becoming draft eligible and being chosen in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Technically, Hill's off-field issues didn't become an NFL issue until he lost custody of his son due to repeated calls from police to the home of Hill and his fiancee in 2019. Stil, he somehow didn't get suspended despite the evidence Hill likely put his hands on his young son.
#7 - Kareem Hunt caught on camera assaulting a woman
The Chiefs somehow won the title in 2020 despite dealing with a ton of issues off the field during the years preceding Pat Mahomes outdueling Jimmy Garropolo in Super Bowl LIV.
Before Tyreek Hill's troubles almost got Kansas City involved, Kareem Hunt bent the franchise over a barrel. He essentially forced the Chiefs to cut him in November 2018 when a video came out of the RB assaulting a woman in a hotel.
He somehow got a job with the Browns not long after, meaning the NFL didn't think it was too big of a deal despite Hunt being caught as redhanded as you could possibly get.
#6 - Colin Kaepernick being blackballed from the NFL
Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid jointly settled a complaint of collusion. The complaint claimed that football team owners blackballed the pair because they had protested police brutality by kneeling during the playing of the USA's national anthem.
Of course, Kaepernick is the true face of the movement, with many using him as a martyr or scapegoat for whatever side of the argument they fall on. The former 49ers QB has not played a single snap since the conclusion of the 2016 season.
While he did recently have a workout at the Michigan Wolverines spring game for his former coach Jim Harbaugh, it's still not terribly likely he'll land an NFL contract.
#5 - Deflategate
Tom Brady and the Patriots were accused of flattening footballs during the 2014 NFL season. This was after the Indianapolis Colts equipment manager came into contact with footballs that felt different during two different games that season, including the AFC Championship.
Interesting Q. Would Tom Brady weigh in on behalf of Brian Flores to say when it comes to the NFL and arbitration, unfair outcomes happen? My guess is Brady wouldn't want to get involved. Deflategate was unfair, but didn't hurt his career & his union agreed to arbitration system. twitter.com/mikeinwpb7307/…
That resulted in a back-and-forth battle between the league and the player's union (and the US Supreme Court). Roger Goodell overruled all in order to deliver Brady a four-game suspension at the beginning of the 2015 season.
#4 - Ray Rice's career-ending domestic violence charges
The NFL made an example out of Ray Rice in a way that it didn't attempt to when Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill had similar issues arise. It's not clear what that says about the Chiefs. It is even less clear what is to be thought about the Browns, who brought back two men on this very list as 'reclamation projects'.
Rice was suspended indefinitely by the league after brutal video footage was released of the Ravens RB assaulting his girlfriend. He never found another home even after pledging in 2016 to donate his salary to charities supporting domestic violence victims.
#3 - Bountygate
You know an NFL scandal is serious when they release a feature-length film recounting its events. The head of the 'Bountygate' snake, Sean Payton, was even played by Kevin James.
As the story goes, Payton incentivized his players to show excessive violence towards certain opponents in the form of payments and other behind-closed-door rewards. The NFL dropped the hammer on Payton via an entire-season suspension in 2012.
#2 - Mike Vick's dogfighting charges
Mike Vick still ended up having a pretty fulfilling career via a stellar second act with the Eagles. But his legacy could have been so much more had he not missed two years of his career due to a violation of the league's personal conduct policy.
The reason? Vick was reportedly running a dog-fighting ring that resulted in the deaths of dozens of canines. The Falcons felt the burn the most, but it was a disappointing discovery for most fans to find out about one of the league's most exciting prospects ever at the time.
#1 - Ben Roethlisberger's sexual assault charges
Back in 2009, Andrea McNully came out with an accusation against Ben Roethlisberger. She claimed the Steelers QB had sexually assaulted her the prior summer in Harrah's Lake Tahoe in Nevada.
McNully was senior shift manager in charge of VIP relations and claimed Roethlisberger held her against her will and raped her during his stay at the casino resort.
Roethlisberger also had a run-in with the law in Milledgeville, Georgia, where police investigated him after a college student said he sexually assaulted her in a bar bathroom.
Roethlisberger was largely treated like a hero when he retired this past season, but many will never look past these charges.