3. Michael Vick – Prior to 2007 Vick was one of the most electrifying QBs in sports. With a huge arm and some of the most dynamic running in NFL history, Vick made three Pro Bowls with the Atlanta Falcons. But everyone who knows pro football knows about Michael Vick and his hideous hobby of bankrolling illegal dogfighting. He also electrocuted, tortured and killed many pitbulls that did not perform well enough. He pleaded guilty to numerous federal felonies and served 21 months in prison. He was released from prison in 2009 and got a job with the Philadelphia Eagles, making the Pro Bowl in 2010 and helping the team with the NFC East division title. But more than his success on the field after his conviction was what he did off the field: becoming an advocate for the Humane Society, a role model from troubled youth and one of the greatest image revivals ever done in NFL history. But to this day there are protesters at almost every game Vick plays, and it is unlikely that anything he ever does will completely restore his reputation.
2. O.J. Simpson – The Hall of Fame running back was the first player to record over 2,000 yards (and the only player to do so in a 14-game season) and won just about every NFL award imaginable. He became a pop-culture icon in the years following his retirement by appearing in numerous movies and TV shows. But the entire NFL world was turned upside down in 1994 when Simpson was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. In “The Trial of the Century” Simpson was acquitted by a California jury thanks to poor evidence by the prosecutors and a great defense led by defender Johnnie Cochran who famously said “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit!”
Justice would eventually be served in another way when Simpson was convicted in 2008 of kidnapping and armed robbery in Las Vegas. He will be paroled in 2017 – he will be 70 by then.
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