Too much of a temper.
Too much partying.
Too many…
Diet Cokes?
It turns out that even superstar athletes can find reasons to get canned.
Stay tuned to see which sports stars got straight up fired.
In his prime, Michael Vick was one of the most exciting quarterbacks ever.
After becoming a college star at Virginia Tech, Vick joined the NFL and showed a new
aspect to the quarterback position never seen before.
As a dual-threat quarterback, able to either pass the ball or run, Vick caused havoc for
defenses with his quick speed.
All his impressive numbers came even with a relatively short career that ended up being
delayed by a massive scandal in 2007, when the football player pleaded guilty to operating
an illegal dog fighting ring at one of his properties in Virginia.
For the crime, courts sentenced Vick to nearly two years in jail.
"When that door slams that's when it becomes real.
There's no going home."
Vick was quickly dropped by the Atlanta Falcons, and was banned from the NFL in addition to
losing corporate endorsements like Nike.
Vick eventually found his way back to the field and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
He also re-signed with Nike, who said in a statement -
"​​We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made
to better himself off the field,"
In 2005, Vince Young competed for the Heisman Trophy — the yearly award gifted to the
best player in college football.
Reggie Bush walked away with the honor, but Young would later get his revenge when his
team went up against Bush's team, the USC Trojans, in the national championship.
Young led the Texas Longhorns to a comeback victory in a thrilling game, and with his
tremendous abilities, Young was the third pick in the 2006 NFL draft by the Tennessee
Titans.
While his potential was through the roof, he didn't fare so well in the pro league.
He eventually went to the Buffalo Bills, before they released him and he didn't play in the
2012 season.
Then, according to ESPN, after playing in all the 2013 preseason games as backup quarterback
for the Green Bay Packers, the team released him as well.
Young next went to the Cleveland Browns, who also released the former star in 2014, and
he would never play another NFL game.
Later, Young filed for bankruptcy, but went back to work for the University of Texas.
Unfortunately, as Sports Illustrated reported, his alumni status couldn't prevent him from
being fired from that job, too.
2010 was a riveting year for United States soccer fans, as the U.S. Men's National Team
went to South Africa to compete in that year's World Cup.
In their last game of the group stage, the U.S. was tie d 0-0 against Algeria.
As the seconds ticked down in stoppage time, the American side stormed down the field and
Landon Donovan, one of the team's leaders, scored the game winning goal.
Donovan also scored the team's only goal in their loss to Ghana in the round of 16.
After the exit from the tournament, fans eagerly awaited to see how the team would perform
at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
However, shocking news surfaced that Donovan would not be playing because coach Juergen
Klinsmann cut him from the roster.
Donovan spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the move, and clearly bitter from the decision,
he went on record saying he wouldn't mind seeing the U.S. team underperform without
him, saying -
"I'll be completely honest, watching them play Azerbaijan, inside, part of me was thinking,
I hope the game doesn't go very well today."
With a bleach blond mullet and a love of smoking, John Daly became somewhat of a bad boy on
the PGA Tour.
He claimed to smoke between two and three packs of cigarettes a day, estimating that
he smoked 18,000 cigarettes each year, while also explaining in an interview with Graham
Bensinger that he had no desire to stop.
For beverages, Daly said he drank about 515 gallons of Diet Coke a year because he would
consume about 12 to 20 Diet Cokes a day.
"I went to McDonald's three or four times a day.
To me, they always had the best fountain drink, fountain Diet Coke.
I don't know 'cuz I don't drink water.
I hate water."
But Daly enjoyed harder drinks, too.
In fact, his drinking became too much for some sponsors to handle.
Callaway Golf, one of the major brands in pro golf, dropped Daly for violating his sponsorship
contract, saying in a statement -
"Regrettably, we cannot continue to have John as a company representative when he is not
prepared to take the future steps that we feel are necessary to deal with the alcohol
and gambling problems facing him."
In what was once a heartwarming story, Oscar Pistorius overcame incredible odds to become
an Olympic athlete.
Both his legs were amputated when he was only 11 months old after being born without fibulas.
After switching from rugby to track, Pistorius won gold in his Paralympic Games debut at
the 2004 games in Athens, Greece.
Pistorius then competed at the games four years later in Beijing.
In 2012, Pistorius became one of the rare athletes to compete in both the Olympic Games
and the Paralympic Games at the competitions in London.
He was also the first ever Paralympian to compete in an Olympic track and field event.
Off the track, Time named Pistorius one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World
twice.
That ended, however, in 2013, when the runner went on trial for allegedly murdering his
girlfriend.
The Washington Post reported that his major sponsors all dropped the Olympic runner as
a result, and in the end, the court found Pistorius guilty of murder and sentenced him
to 15 years.
The Kansas City Chiefs had high hopes for their team after drafting running back Larry
Johnson in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft.
Quickly, Johnson showed that his activities off the field could be a nuisance to the team,
including being arrested twice for assaulting different women.
Despite the charges, Johnson continued to play well and showed that he was a star on
the field, racking up 3,539 yards on the ground between the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Once again, Johnson found himself in hot water for his activities away from the team, and
even admitted to The Washington Post that his bad behavior was, quote, "a switch I couldn't
shut off."
Johnson proceeded to post homophobic slurs directed at fans on Twitter and criticized
the Chiefs' head coach, which caused the team to suspend him for two weeks.
During his suspension, many fans united to see that Johnson would never again put on
a Chiefs uniform, producing a petition signed by over 32,000 people expressing their desire
to get rid of him.
Johnson was released in 2009, only 74 yards shy of becoming the all-time leading rusher
for the team.
Later in life, Johnson said he was diagnosed with type-1 bipolar disorder, according to
The Washington Post.
He's also alleged that he's suffering from CTE, brought on by his playing career.
Regardless, Johnson was still making news in 2020 with Insider reporting on anti-Semitic
comments he made on Twitter.
In the mid-'90s, Lance Armstrong was beginning to become a star cyclist for the United States
after winning events and competing in the 1996 Olympics.
Sadly, that same year, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Vowing to return to racing, he made an incredible comeback and won the 1999 Tour de France — the
biggest competition in cycling.
He won the Tour de France again in 2000, and would go on to win it for the next five years.
His 2005 victory cemented him as the winningest Tour de France cyclist ever.
As it turned out, the performances were indeed too good to be true.
Some suspected Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs while racing in the prestigious
event.
Though the racer denied all allegations, he was eventually caught after teammates claimed
Armstrong doped.
In 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded Armstrong cheated.
"UCI will ban Lance Armstrong from cycling and UCI will strip him of his seven Tour de
France titles."
The man who was once an inspiration for millions became a disgrace.
According to the AP, Nike dropped Armstrong and his Livestrong foundation, famous for
its yellow rubber wristbands, and said in a statement -
"Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping
and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated
our contract with him."
A young Kurt Warner was hopeful to join the Green Bay Packers as a quarterback.
The only problem was, he was competing against the legendary Brett Favre and other established
veterans during the team's training camp.
According to coach Mike Holmgren, he once asked Warner to go in, but the player refused
and said he wasn't ready.
Holmgren noted the moment and ultimately cut him.
Not only could Warner not find another team to play on, but he almost gave up playing
football forever.
He then went to bag groceries in Cedar Falls, Iowa at a Hy-Vee supermarket, before eventually
finding a home in the Arena Football League for the Iowa Barnstormers.
However, this is one story of an athlete who made a comeback after his firing.
According to Sports Illustrated, Warner missed a tryout with the Chicago Bears because he
was recovering from a spider bite that he got on his honeymoon.
Warner finally earned his spot in the NFL as the starting quarterback for the St. Louis
Rams.
The former shelf stocker twice won the league's MVP award and led his team to an incredible
Super Bowl XXXIV victory in 2000.
In 2017, Warner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Johnny Unitas wasn't initially appreciated for his football skills.
'He came out of the blue.
Nobody knew him, didn't look like a football player.
Didn't act like a star."
Later in his life, he spoke about being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the ninth round
in 1955, saying -
"Most of the time they acted like I wasn't there."
He didn't play in any preseason games, and on top of that, the Steelers' coach Walt Kiesling
almost ruined his career.
He kept Unitas on the team's roster for the entire tryout session before cutting the quarterback
prior to the regular season.
The timing was terrible because it meant Unitas couldn't play for another team.
Even worse, according to Steeler Nation, coach Kiesling allegedly made the decision to cut
Unitas earlier in the preseason.
Unitas then picked up various jobs to support his wife and kid.
According to ESPN, he worked in the Pittsburgh steel mills and played semi-professional football
with the Bloomfield Rams, earning $6 a game.
This caught the attention of the Baltimore Colts, who signed Unitas as a backup quarterback.
After the starting QB was injured, Unitas got his chance and made the most of it, eventually
getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 for his incredible 18-year
career.
Summing up the end of his career, Unitas said -
"There's no difference I can see in retiring from pro football, or quitting a job at the
Pennsy Railroad.
I did something I wanted to do and went as far as I could go."
In the 2000s and 2010s, one of the greatest rivalries in sports was between two star NFL
quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
Both future hall of famers often found themselves in championship games against one another.
Manning was drafted as the first overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1998 NFL
Draft.
With the team, he won the Most Valuable Player award four times and led the Colts to a Super
Bowl win in 2007.
Injuries caught up with Manning and he required multiple neck surgeries, missing the entire
2011 season as a result.
Instead of welcoming Manning back with open arms, the Colts released their quarterback
of 14 seasons.
Manning showed that he still had all the skills to be an elite athlete when he signed with
the Denver Broncos and led the team to win the 2016 Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers.
Following the victory, the 40-year-old retired from the NFL, and Manning was then inducted
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
Even more special, he accepted the award alongside his longtime Colts teammate, Edgerrin James,
who had his ceremony delayed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bob Knight, who was a basketball coach for an incredible 47 years, was especially known
for being vocal on the sidelines.
The longtime coach of Indiana University's men's basketball team, Knight led the Hoosiers
from 1971 to 2000, before ending his career as the head coach for Texas Tech in 2008.
He also won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games after leading the USA Men's Basketball
team to victory.
Along the way, Knight didn't hide his temper and became as well known for winning as he
was for screaming at his players, other coaches, or really anyone.
He was also fiery during practice and was once caught on video choking one of his players.
Eventually, Indiana University put pressure on the coach to cool it and gave him a zero
tolerance ultimatum.
This didn't last long, however.
As the story allegedly goes, according to Sports Illustrated, a university freshman
named Kent Harvey passed the coach on campus and gave him a greeting that Knight felt didn't
show enough respect.
"'Hey Knight - what's going on?'
That kid made a dumb mistake."
Furious by the perceived lack of respect, Knight reportedly grabbed Kent and said -
"Son, my name isn't Knight for you.
It's Mr. Knight or Coach Knight."
This was the last straw for the Hoosiers, who promptly fired Knight from the program
in 2000.
Even as arguably the greatest player ever in the NBA, Michael Jordan's legendary status
didn't help him keep a job.
In 1998, he retired from basketball after an illustrious career with the Chicago Bulls.
Then in 2000, Jordan joined the Washington Wizards franchise as a part owner and as the
president of basketball operations.
Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Jordan decided to dust off his sneakers
and play again, telling Sports Illustrated -
"There is no better way of teaching young players than to be on the court with them
as a fellow player, not just in practice, but in NBA games."
After two seasons as a player again, he decided to retire for good.
Though his days on the court were over, The New York Times reported that he wanted to
stay with the Wizards and hop back into his previous management role, with Jordan saying
that he and the team had an understood agreement.
However when it came time for him to take his old job back, the Wizards ownership had
apparently changed their minds.
Understandably, Jordan was livid at the decision by the franchise's executive team, saying
-
"I am shocked by this decision, and by the callous refusal to offer me any justification
for it,"
Johnny Manziel didn't exactly fit the stereotypical mold of a star college quarterback.
Considered small for his under-six-foot height, Manziel excelled at Texas A&M, becoming the
first freshman ever to win the Heisman Trophy.
After returning to the A&M as a sophomore, Manziel once again was nominated for the award.
He was eventually drafted by the Cleveland Browns, but he only lasted two seasons because
of numerous issues, like when he was charged for assault and struggled to stay sober.
ESPN reported that even his dad was worried about his safety because of his off the field
lifestyle.
The Cleveland Browns dropped the QB, who was then suspended for four games by the NFL.
He never played in the league again and has expressed regret at how his behavior destroyed
his career.
"It's probably one of the only things that I haven't looked back on and been able to
be like super super okay with what happened."
Manziel joined the Fan Controlled Football League in 2021.The indoor league held in Atlanta
blends video games and real life in a 7-on-7 format that allows fans to choose the plays.
Rick Pitino earned his reputation as one of the best coaches in basketball as the leader
of multiple teams.
He spent some time in the NBA as a coach for the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks,
though his biggest successes came in the college game as the head coach for the University
of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.
Pitino became the first coach ever to win the NCAA championship twice with different
teams.
In 2014, he was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Despite a glittery resume, this legendary college basketball coach couldn't avoid controversy.
As the head coach for Louisville, a scandal broke out involving his assistant coach, Andre
McGee, who threw campus parties for the players from 2010 to 2014 and paid for strippers to
attend.
Pitino denied any involvement or knowledge of the schemes by McGee.
However, as ESPN reported, one of the escorts who was allegedly hired, Katina Powell, came
forward with her side of the story.
Though she had no evidence, Powell told ESPN that she found it hard to believe that Pitino
had no idea about the parties over four years.
Pitino emerged unscathed, but a few years later, allegations surfaced that Louisville
illegally paid recruits to come play for the basketball team.
The university promptly parted ways with its longtime coach, who told WFAN Radio -
"Looking back on it now, I deserved to be fired by Louisville."
One of the fiercest batters ever in the MLB, Pete Rose earned his title as the hit king
during his impressive career, retiring with 4,256 total hits, still the most ever as of
2022.
Clearly, Rose would have entered the Hall of Fame, but he was involved in a scandal
that may have forever jeopardized his chances.
After retiring, he became the manager for his former team, the Cincinnati Reds.
At the time, Rose was a well-known gambler and he allegedly bet on baseball games, which
resulted in A. Bartlett Giamatti, the MLB commissioner at the time, launching an investigation
into the matter.
Rose initially denied the allegations, though he accepted Giamatti's settlement, which included
a lifetime ban from the MLB.
More than preventing Rose from having a job with the league, the ban also meant he could
never be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Years later, he confessed to betting, but explained it was only ever for his own Reds
team to win.
Though Rose was officially left out of the league, he at least stayed close to the game
as a postseason reporter for Fox Sports.
Unfortunately, Rose couldn't even keep this job.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, after reports surfaced that he was involved in a
sexual relationship with an underage girl back in the '70s, Fox Sports fired the former
player.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite sports stars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.