Celebrities Blamed for Ruining Athletes
Since there have been famous athletes and celebrities, famous athletes have been dating celebrities—Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were perhaps the most famous historical example.
Athletes naturally have ups and downs in their performance and careers. And when an athlete’s performance dips, people always want to know why. The fans and media speculate about what could be distracting the athlete. Is it a nagging injury, trouble in the locker room or even, yes, a personal problem?
When the Justin Verlander only wins 15 games instead of 24, it must be due to his model girlfriend, right? Or if Tony Romo takes a Mexican vacation before a playoff game, then it must be his girlfriend’s fault that they lost the game, right?
Or sometimes it’s all preemptive. An athlete starts dating or hanging out with a celebrity, and people just assume his performance will decline.
It’s not as if we can get into the minds of these players ourselves, but to use a celebrity significant other as a sole explanation of poor play seems a little convenient. And to assume poor play will occur simply by association is just downright irresponsible.
Here are 12 examples in which a player’s association with a celebrity resulted in performance-related criticism, whether preemptive or not.
Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler
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All the, “She might distract him,” talk has certainly mellowed out now that Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari are married with two children.
But it wasn’t always that way.
In 2011, when the couple reportedly called off their engagement for a time, some folks were happy he wouldn’t have her as a distraction in the upcoming football season.
Well, turns out they got back together approximately five seconds later, and his numbers remained very Cutler-esque.
Jessie James and Eric Decker
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NFL wide receiver Eric Decker is married to Jessie James Decker, a country singer.
Like so many before him, Decker (for some reason) agreed to be a part of a reality TV show with his wife—Eric & Jessie: Game On first aired in 2013.
Speculation arose that Decker’s show would take away from his career. However, prior to the show’s launch, Decker proactively tweeted that the show would not compromise his priority to win a championship and assured John Elway that the show would not cause a distraction.
Madonna and Alex Rodriguez
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Alex Rodriguez has dated his fair share of celebrities and caused his own fair share of distractions. Rumors of infidelity, divorce proceedings, PED suspicion, suspension, injuries, life in New York—the list of things that could have distracted this guy goes on and on.
But back in 2008, rumors began to swirl about a possible affair between the New York Yankees slugger and Madonna. Around this same time, A-Rod’s wife filed for divorce.
Those who follow baseball know that A-Rod’s time with the Yankees began a slow decline in 2008. He won the AL MVP in 2007 and had a great 2009 postseason, but injury and other distractions plagued him from then on.
Of the Madonna situation, Jake Coyle of the Associated Press (via USA Today) reported that Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said, “It's no distraction to the team. Whether it is to Alex I don't know.”
Ozzie Guillen even weighed in on Twitter (years later, after A-Rod was suspended for PED use), saying “its all madonnas fault”.
Justin Bieber and Floyd Mayweather
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It would be hard to argue that hanging out with Justin Bieber has actually diminished the performance of Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather hasn’t lost a professional fight, after all. True, his last win (a decision against Marcos Maidana) was less resounding than some of his other fights.
And it’s true that Mayweather’s friendship with the pop star is highly publicized. In fact, Bieber was ringside at the Maidana fight, and Jenny Depper of Yahoo suggested that perhaps the “A-list entourage” caused some distraction.
The two also enjoyed a spa day together just days before the fight, and Mayweather was in attendance at a raucous party Bieber threw in July 2014.
Despite all the "distractions," it does seem that Mayweather is doing just fine in the ring.
Mandy Moore and Andy Roddick
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This one is more a case of, “She could’ve ruined him,” than, “She actually did ruin him.”
Tennis star Andy Roddick is now married to model/actress Brooklyn Decker, but in the early 2000s, he did a relationship stint with Mandy Moore.
Back then, Roddick was seen as a promising young tennis star, having not even scratched the surface of his potential.
In 2003, Roddick won the U.S. Open (his only singles Grand Slam title) and rose to the world’s No. 1 ranking.
Around this same time, the Interwebs started to have a lot of issues with his relationship, with many calling Moore a distraction. The general consensus is that their breakup was a result of this.
Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady
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Tom Brady married supermodel Gisele Bundchen in 2009, and by all accounts, he’s been a good football player ever since.
However, according to a 2010 article in People, criticism arose after his marriage that his play had diminished as a result of happenings in his personal life—Brady obviously denied this.
True, he hasn’t won a Super Bowl since the pre-Gisele days, but that’s not necessarily related.
More recently, his individual stats have dropped a bit, but some might argue that the drop-off in completions and passing TDs in 2013 had way more to do with his lack of weapons than his model wife.
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom
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At first, it didn’t seem like this Kardashian was going to have any ill-effect on her husband, basketball player Lamar Odom.
The two were married in 2009, and Odom went on to with the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2011 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Also in 2011, the first season of the couple’s reality show, Khloe and Lamar, aired.
After the 2011 NBA season, the Lakers traded Odom to Dallas, and his career began to derail. Some have speculated that the launch of his reality show could have contributed to the decline (although drugs and cheating were also apparently in play).
Of his reality show, Odom told US Magazine, “I won a sixth Man of the Year award while I shot [our reality] show -- people forget that.” Also, “I think we prejudge a little bit too much these days because there's so much access to everything about the world.”
Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann
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Kim Zolciak is best (only?) known for her role on the Real Housewives of Atlanta, although her website describes her as “a well known tv personality, singer & performer, and most importantly mother & wife.” Aww.
Anyway, Zolciak married NFL linebacker Kroy Biermann in 2011, and he has appeared on Real Housewives as well as her other reality show, Don't Be Tardy.
The question of whether or not Biermann has been distracted by the shows has certainly been posed.
Vaughn McClure of ESPN reported that Biermann’s thoughts on the matter were, "Like I've told people in the past, that's her deal. That's her job. That's something that she really enjoys to do. And, I don't mind.”
Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
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Kim Kardashian has dated her share of athletes—Reggie Bush, Miles Austin and Kris Humphries come to mind.
Humphries was her most recent athlete beau, and in fact he became her husband for a whopping 72 days.
Following a promising 2011-12 NBA season, Humphries signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets.
But the very next year, Humphries’ play began to sputter, and, oh yeah, he was immersed in a very public divorce battle with the reality TV queen at the same time.
Humphries himself admitted to being distracted. He told Stephen A. Smith on First Take (via ESPN New York), “I think there’s always a little bit of distraction with any situation like that. Sometimes it’s a tougher situation within the team, as well.”
Olivia Munn and Aaron Rodgers
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers started dating actress Olivia Munn in May 2014.
A couple of months later, his football team got off to a slow start.
Following a Week 3 loss to the Detroit Lions, fans took to Twitter to blame Munn for the Packers’ woes.
They called for her removal as girlfriend and even dissed her TV show, Newsroom. That’s cold.
Kate Upton and Justin Verlander
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In 2011, Justin Verlander won 24 games and took home both the AL Cy Young and AL MVP Awards. In 2012, he finished second in the Cy Young voting with 17 wins and a 2.64 ERA. In the next two seasons, he won 13 and 15 games and recorded 3.46 and 4.54 ERAs, respectively.
Some might argue that Verlander’s decline is a natural inevitability for a fastball pitcher who regularly tosses over 200 innings, and that obviously a 24-win, 2.4-ERA season cannot realistically be a consistent expectation.
Some others argue that it’s his girlfriend’s fault.
Verlander and model Kate Upton started dating publicly early in 2014, which, incidentally, led up to his worst baseball season in years.
Upton has also been accused in the media of “distracting” Mark Sanchez and Blake Griffin.
Come on. Mark Sanchez didn’t need a distraction to look bad.
Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo
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Perhaps the best example of all comes to us courtesy of Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo.
The pop princess and Dallas Cowboys quarterback dated for a year-and-a-half back in 2007-09.
The criticism came early for Romo. Shortly after the pair began dating, he had a bad game against the Philadelphia Eagles, as Simpson famously cheered him on in a pink No. 9 jersey.
And it wasn’t just that one game. The question of whether Simpson distracted Romo over the course of their relationship was always a hot-button issue with fans.
Also, his decision to go to Mexico with her during the Cowboys playoff bye week didn’t sit well with a lot of folks in Dallas.
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