The Biggest Confessions in Sports History

As Lance Armstrong proved last week when he admitted to Oprah about using PEDs throughout his career, some athletes have secrets that they've hidden from people for a very, very long time.

But since Armstrong is hardly the first or last in the sporting world to talk about something that no one had ever thought they would, we're taking a look back at some other famous athletes who had a couple skeletons in their closet.

Floyd Landis

Landis is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.

After years of denying PED use of his own—and consequently tossing every single person he ever trained with under the bus—the 2006 Tour de France winner finally spoke the truth in 2010 about his drug use.

His title was stripped from him, but who knows, maybe his admission helped anti-doping officials crack Armstrong's case?

Marion Jones

Like most athletes whose names were associated with BALCO, Jones tearfully admitted to using PEDs throughout her track career.

The move not only ended her endorsement deals with Nike and Gatorade, but most importantly, she was stripped of her three Olympic gold medals.

Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson

When you play in a Super Bowl, you're expected to be a little tight and nerve-filled.

For Cowboys linebacker Thomas Henderson, though, he was probably on cloud nine after snorting coke during the 1979 Super Bowl against the Steelers.

After his playing days, "Hollywood" told about the escapades in his book, Out of Control, and he later actually won $28 million in the Texas lottery.

A Super Bowl is usually the winning lotto ticket for every NFL player, but Henderson proved that some guys just have all the luck.

Marcel Schuon

Thanks to the refusal of progressing the game of soccer by utilizing technology to help referees, it's had its fair share of controversy over the years.

One of the biggest was when German Marcel Schuon became the first player to admit to a match-fixing scandal.

His confession led police to raid houses across Europe in hopes of smashing a bond of 200-plus players, refs and coaches who were involved.

Bets may not have taken place on major matches, but any time a player admits to gambling on games he's involved in, it's a black eye.

John Daly

Stories of Daly are legendary.

In fact, we have some of our own, where our parents have said they saw the guy toss down hands of $5,000 on a gambling boat while in Memphis on occasion.

It was that little betting problem that Daly admitted would "ruin" him back in 2006.

Though he's not quite the player he was when he won a couple majors early in his career, he's maintained his Tour card and is still a crowd favorite if in contention come the weekend at tourneys.

Rick Pitino

One of the great college basketball coaches over the past 15 to 20 years, Pitino admitted to having an extramarital affair back in 2009, which led to extortion charges against the woman.

Some wondered how he kept his job following the confession, but he's been able to overcome things to lead U of L to a nationally contending squad the past several years.

New England Patriots: Spygate

Remember when this was a huge deal for the NFL?

When the Pats were found to be taping opponents' offensive and defensive signals, earning them heavy fines, there was talk of them tarnishing the legacy of their Super Bowl teams.

With another season that failed to produce a Super Bowl win, the chatter has begun to pick up once again.

Tim Donaghy

We have no idea what Kobe's talking to former NBA official Tim Donaghy about in this picture, but if history serves as any indication, it probably led to Donaghy favoring the Lakers.

At least that's what happened when he pled guilty in a gambling scandal, with the biggest effect coming during 2002 Western Conference Finals between L.A. and the Sacramento Kings.

Andre Agassi

Just look at that picture and tell us how Agassi wasn't using meth...

Kidding, sort of. Especially considering the eight-time Grand Slam champ admitted to using the hard drug throughout 1997 in his autobiography.

Pete Rose

Baseball's all-time hits leader was blackballed from the game thanks to the allegations that he bet on baseball while still managing the Reds back in the mid-'80s.

"Charlie Hustle" finally admitted in his book that he did indeed bet on the baseball and that he even put odds on his team, though only to win.

Who knows if he's ever reinstated by MLB, but with everything going on these days with steroids, we say let the guy into Cooperstown with a mention of his gambling.

For his playing career, he deserves a spot in the hallowed halls.

John Amaechi

Most professional athletes try to distance themselves from any talk about homosexuality in sports—except if your name's Chris Kluwe.

So when former NBA big man John Amaechi came out and said he was gay in 2007, it caused a major stir in the sports world and yielded some serious opinions from other athletes.

Regardless of opinion, Amaechi's admission was bold and looked at as groundbreaking.

Dock Ellis

You know we just had to add Dock.

Pitching a no-hitter is tough on its own.

Pitching a no-no while tripping on LSD? We'd imagine it was nearly impossible.

But the former Pirates hurler did just that. He admitted to dropping acid before a game in 1970 and then going out to record one of the single most difficult feats in baseball.

Mark McGwire

The man who, along with Sammy Sosa, helped bring the sport of baseball back following the strike that affected both the '94 and '95 baseball seasons broke his denials of steroids in 2010.

Big Mac is famous for saying, "I’m not here to talk about the past," while in front of Congress in 2005, but when he wanted to get back into the game as hitting coach of the Cardinals in 2010, he changed his tune a little bit.

Bobby Petrino

Petrino has never exactly been the most honest guy—remember his little stint in the NFL when he bailed on the Falcons after just 13 games in his first season?

Well, the former Louisville and Arkansas head coach came clean about his relationship with former Razorback volleyball player Jessica Dorrell, whom the coach hired to assist the football program.

The dude was fired for lying about the details but was snatched up by the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky this past offseason, proving everyone should be given a second chance.

No, make that a third chance.

Manti Te'o

Everyone's cracking on Te'o for his alleged Catfish-like girlfriend that was reported by Deadspin last week.

But as it stands right now, it looks like he's just been the victim of the hoax.

Time will only tell if last season's Heisman runner-up was somehow involved, but for now the admission that he "developed an emotional relationship with a woman" whom he met online is his biggest confession regarding the story.

Alex Rodriguez

Thanks to Rodriguez's announcement that he truly did use the needle after signing his then-record 10-year $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers, it was only a matter of time before his nickname was mocked to "A-Roid."

The slugger had denied use for years but broke his silence in 2009, though he never went into great detail about what he actually took.

Why do we smell a post-career bio brewing to put the cherry on top of this story?

Kobe Bryant

During the 2004 season, Bryant was forced to fly back and forth between L.A. and Colorado multiple times for hearings involving a sexual assault case that included a 19-year-old employee of the hotel where he was staying.

Though he denied any wrongdoing—which proved to be right, as he was proven innocent—he did admit to having sex with the employee, forcing the apology, admission of adultery and a fat $4 million rare purple diamond for his wife Vanessa to help forget about what he did.

Jose Canseco

Canseco doesn't come this late on our list because he was a huge star—though he did enjoy a "tarnished" (but successful) playing career.

He's up here because he ratted out pretty much all of Major League Baseball in his book Juiced, in which he tossed basically everyone he ever played with under the bus.

"The Chemist" has since apologized, stating that his book was a regret, but the damage has clearly already been done.

Magic Johnson

If you would have asked any L.A. sports fan in the early '90s who the most beloved athlete in the city was, you'd get this former Lakers point guard more often than anyone else.

Magic shocked everyone when he abruptly called it quits in 1991 due to being HIV positive.

Regardless of his early retirement, he's built a major business career and in 2012 acquired ownership in the Dodgers.

Tiger Woods

Tiger proved that he didn't just know how to bang a ball off a tee.

Woods' admission to having a sex addiction cost the star about $23 million worth in endorsements, and it had golf fans stunned that the always classy and well-spoken golfer would ever do the things he admitted to.

He hasn't been able to put the ball in the hole much since, though he did make a mini comeback last year and has gained back some of the popularity he had before all the sexcapades.

Now if he can only get that next major to help chase down Jack Nicklaus.