On March 21, 2006, the sports world changed forever. For the better. For the worse. Twitter was born. Who knew 140 characters could have such a profound impact. All of sudden athletes were closer to us mortals than ever before. Instant unfiltered access to the biggest stars in the world. It may be pessimistic to think this was a doomed recipe from the start, and there have been some amazing moments to come from this mixture, but more often than not we've seen total mayhem. Athletes threatening fans, media, and other athletes, or expressing something they immediately regret in the heat of the moment. The craziness is not always negative, and the wackiness athletes have been able to show is pure entertainment.
It was no surprise to see college athletes struggle with their reactions when replying to insulting tweets, but it was startling to see the pros, adults who have been in the spotlight for years, make such poor decisions on Twitter. Teams have had to implement Twitter rules, some college teams not allowing their player to use Twitter at all. Recently LeBron James made headlines when he unfollowed the Cleveland Cavaliers. It seemed crazy that this could make headlines in the first place, but at the same time, when you're an athlete, every move you make is magnified and picked apart.
Not every athlete is that perfect role model we all imagine them to be when we grow up idolizing them. Twitter sets a stage for these athletes to show their actual personas. True colors that can be beautiful, peculiar, or just plain ugly. Twitter has provided the world with outrageous moments, ranging from mystifying strangeness, to incredible ignorance. This list is ever expanding, it knows no bounds, it has no ceiling to contain the craziness. Here are 15 of the most outrageous tweets from professional athletes.
15 15. Metta World Peace
That name looks even more ridiculous in writing. The man formerly known as Ron Artest was a mere four months early with these well intentioned wishes. With a name like Metta World Peace you would have expected him to know that it was indeed Memorial Day; a day to remember all those who have dedicated their lives protecting their country. This will go down as around the 137th craziest thing he's ever done, a toenail on the footnote of a page in an autobiography that needs to be written.
14 14. Richie Incognito
FACT: Broadcasting to the world that someone mentioned they thought about killing themselves is not the most intelligent approach. But hey, at what point has Incognito ever exhibited an intellect to match his football skill? The Miami Dolphins bullying scandal was a disgrace, though no more embarrassing than their on-field performance post Dan Marino. Incognito was expelled from the team, and Martin never played another snap for Ace Ventura's favorite squad.
13 13. Natalie Gulbis
http://twitpic.com/xtkxz - Michelle and I with Lincoln Memorial in background
— Natalie Gulbis (@natalie_gulbis) January 12, 2010
I'm no American history expert, but I can honestly say that's not Abe. It's not my intention to ignite a stereotype, but when you're beautiful with luscious blonde locks like Gulbis, recovering from this is as tough a challenge as a round at Augusta National Golf Course. In reality, Gulbis has probably never golfed at Augusta, thanks to their 18th century draconian rules in regards to women on the golf course. Donald Trump, the man who thinks he'll be a better president than Lincoln and Washington combined, would be proud.
12 12. Nick Young
What the hell is this incomprehensible nonsense? This tweet from the man with the worst nickname in sports was the first time Young broke his silence since video of him talking about his side chick surfaced. A video recorded by his own teammate D'Angelo Russell. You guys are really going to do Kobe like this in his last NBA season? Also, is it some sort of metaphor or does McDonald's sell breakfast bowls now? If so, count me and my soon to be high cholesterol in.
11 11. Mo Williams
Pls don't trade me, I'm not ready to go. I'm begging. My work ain't done yet. I'm on both knees....pls. I'm serious
— Mo Williams (@mowilliams) June 23, 2010
Only on Twitter can you find a professional athlete begging their team not to trade them. He claims to be on both knees, but have you ever tried to type from your knees? Unlikely. This tweet was sent the summer of 2010, just before LeBron James spurned Cleveland during the infamous decision. Williams clearly wasn't expecting LeBron to leave, because the Cavaliers without LeBron would be, well, the Cavaliers. Williams would be begging to change addresses.
10 10. Paraskevi Papachristou
In a list filled with well known names, Papachristou sticks out like Peter Dinklage at a pick up basketball game. She earns a spot with the most foolish, short-sighted, collection of words I have ever seen. The timing of this tweet was just as tragic. The Greek triple jumper was removed from the Olympic team just weeks before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. This would have been the up-and-comers first chance at competing for Olympic glory. A true Greek tragedy.
9 9. Dan Ellis
At the time of this tweet Ellis had been playing professional hockey for several seasons collecting weekly paycheques higher than the yearly salary of most. People were a little hard on him though, as professional sports can be grueling. Ellis had to wake up early for practices, sometimes as early as 10 am. To get to practice he had to choose between the sports car or the SVU. For 82 nights of the year he was busy (usually being a backup goalie with the best seat in the house). That's a lot of missed episodes of Survivor. The cherry on top of this excruciating life? Once all that was done, he had to go home to his smokin' wife.
8 8. Matt Hasselbeck & Antonio Cromartie
This was Cromartie's response to Hasselbeck's tweet "Somebody ask Cromartie if he knows what CBA stands for". Two grown men arguing over Twitter during a lockout is not a good look, especially when it involves the words "smash ur face in". Considering Cromartie has 12 kids with 9 baby mamas, you can't blame Hasselbeck for doubting his intelligence, but you can blame him for deleting the tweet. If you are going to call someone out, you have to stand by your words and face the consequences.
7 7. Mike Wallace
There are so many things wrong with the thought process from this butter fingered wide receiver. Let's start with the pure science of the subject, and since he sounds like a 10-year-old, I'll explain it to him as so. Mike, if a man is gay, he is attracted to other men. All the beautiful women in the world could be dancing around naked and it would make no difference. The worst part about this was that it was in response to Jason Collins becoming the first professional athlete in a major American sport to come out as gay. Wallace deleted the tweet about a half hour later, claiming he didn't mean to offend anybody.
6 6. Jose Canseco
Ok well I might as well tell you .I was playing in a poker tournament last night and my finger fell off .someone took a video of it.
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) November 14, 2014
My finger should have been amputated from the beginning. It was very loose with no bone to connect it.it was also smelling really bad.
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) November 14, 2014
One of the craziest plays in sports history occurred when Canseco lost a ball in the sun, the ball struck him in the dome and headed over the fence for a home run. Maybe he lost a few screws that day, or maybe it was the years of steroid abuse, but his post baseball life has been as crazy as that play. Twitter turned out to be the perfect platform for Canseco to display his outrageous thoughts. He developed a cult following even among folks who had no idea he was ever a professional athlete. The tweets about his finger are as ridiculous and unexpected as they come.
5 5. Rashard Mendenhall
Ah, the classic 9/11 conspiracy theory. It's always a good idea to doubt the legitimacy of a terrorist attack that killed thousands. Even smarter if you're somebody in the spotlight, a role model whose words carry influence. Well in one fell swoop all that influence was gone for Mendenhall. Yes Rashard, we've only heard one side, and that one side was that a man orchestrated the most deadly terrorist attack ever. teelers President Art Rooney II said, “It is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments."
4 4. Stevie Johnson
This tweet was a result of one of the worst dropped passes you will ever see. The Bills had a chance to pull off a major upset, but Johnson dropped a can of corn in the end zone. Usually athletes will thank God after a big victory, but Johnson did the opposite, blaming the big man in the sky. The big man who in Johnson's mind should be busy helping him catch footballs. Praising God 24/7 takes up a lot of time, in fact it's every hour of every day. Maybe spend a little more time practicing the art of pigskin receiving.
3 3. Tyler Seguin
A solid start to Seguin's stint with the Stars after being shipped from Boston for their concerns over his immaturity. This poorly tasting tweet was in reference to the classic 'Full Metal Jacket' quote, "Holy dogs***! Texas, only steers and queers come from Texas, private Cowboy! And you don't much look like a steer to me, so that kinda narrows it down!" Seguin used the classic Twitter excuse for this one, "Twitter hacking has to stop. My apologies". An excuse from the book of five year olds, an absolute insult to our intelligence.
2 2. Mike Tyson & Evander Holyfield
My http://t.co/aiK26S0s will make u wanna take a bite out of someone's ear! Ask @MikeTyson - Luv ya bro!
— Evander Holyfield (@holyfield) June 29, 2012
.@holyfield's ear would've been much better with his new BBQ sauce. check it out http://t.co/e5Gp3RUs #TGIF
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) June 29, 2012
When the aliens invade, we can show them this conversation to explain Twitter. First we'll have to explain the sport of bashing each others heads in, and the time this sport featured a grown man try to bite another grown man's ear off. The fight had been hyped as the biggest ever, making this incident all the more insane. But hey, thanks to Twitter these two grown men can joke about that surreal moment, all in the name of marketing. I just don't think I could ever forgive someone for trying to bite my ear off. Not a huge believer in cannibalism.
1 1. Paul George
The video of Ray Rice knocking out his fiancée in the elevator was just terrible to watch. It was truly damning evidence against Rice, there possibly couldn't be anyone who would try to defend that. Errrr. Paul George was exactly right when he said "I don't condone hittin women or think it's coo." Unfortunately there was a big hairy but lurking. So Mr. George, what you're saying is that if a grown ass professional football player is slapped by a female half his size, then he is being attacked and has to defend himself. It doesn't look like Rice is ever going to get a second chance to play in the NFL, and George should have never got a second chance at Twitter.