College Football: The 20 Most Controversial Players of the 2000s
College football provides great excitement, phenomenal story lines and...jaw-dropping controversies. With recruiting sagas, improper benefits and criminal records, players seem to make news for the wrong reasons as much as they do for the right ones.
Cam Newton added to the long list of controversial players in college football history with the pay-for-play allegations against him and his father. Reggie Bush returned his Heisman Trophy due to receiving improper benefits.
That's not where the controversies of the past decade end. There were point-shaving scandals, sexual assault charges and more.
Here are the 20 most controversial college players of the new millennium.
20. Mike Williams Gets Caught Between College and The Pros
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Mike Williams decided to test the system. After two spectacular seasons at Southern Cal that ended in more than 2,500 yards receiving and 30 receiving touchdowns, Williams opted to enter the 2004 NFL draft.
Williams' decision was predicated on the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Maurice Clarett's plea to allow him to enter the NFL draft after suspension. The rule stated that a player must be three years removed from high school.
After Williams opted for the draft, the court ruling was overturned in appeals court, leaving Williams unable to enter the draft and unable to be reinstated by the NCAA ,since he had hired an agent.
19. Adam "Pacman" Jones Gets His Rap Sheet Underway
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Most of Adam "Pacman" Jones' shenanigans has come in his NFL career. But he had a bed in the jailhouse at times while in college.
He was sentenced in 2003 for his involvement in a bar fight. The sentence ended up being suspended and Jones served two years of probation.
In other words, Jones was playing college football while on trial and then playing football even after being found guilty for his involvement in the bar fight.
18. Kellen Winslow, Jr. Believes He's a Soldier
3 of 20Kellen Winslow didn't gain a lot of support from current or veteran military members or their families with his comments. Comparing football to war has come under more and more scrutiny in recent years.
Winslow was known for his vocal manner in his time at Miami, as well as perpetrating the "U" attitude that became so prominent in the 80's. He took it too far with his comments after this game.
And why did he replace f-bombs twice in the rant with "freakin'" before dropping one at the end?
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17. Dez Bryant Lies Despite Not Violating NCAA Rules
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Dez Bryant had some workouts with Deion Sanders between his sophomore and junior seasons that were completely within the rules of the NCAA. The NCAA's investigation, however, found Bryant guilty of lying to them about the workouts.
He was scared and backed into the corner by a major institution that theoretically held his future in his hands. Bryant did what many 20-year-old kids do in that situation—he lied.
And for that, he was suspended for much of the 2009 season.
16. Ell Roberson Accused Of Sexual Assault Before Fiesta Bowl
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Ell Roberson had his Fiesta Bowl experience derailed in 2004 when he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on New Year's Day. He was never arrested and played in the game. Eventually, police determined that no crime was committed.
However, it was determined by the Kansas State athletic department that Roberson and some of his teammates violated unspecified team rules. His scholarship was revoked after the incident.
15. Jeremy Bloom Has Amateur Status Taken By NCAA
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Jeremy Bloom was a freshman All-American wide receiver and kick returner at Colorado. He just happened to also be one of the best skiers in the world.
He received endorsements for his skiing career and the NCAA ended up ruling him ineligible for amateur competition in football.
It was a long battle that left many scratching their heads. Bloom wasn't competing in NCAA skiing competition. If he's not receiving benefits for playing football, then what does it matter if he's making some money off of his skiing?
14. Adrian McPherson Tries To Cover Gambling Debts With Stolen Check
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Nobody knew it, but one of the greatest prep athletes in the history of Florida had fallen into an illegal gambling problem. In an attempt to get out of it, he stole a blank check that he tried to use to cover his gambling debts.
Some of the debt stemmed from bets made on the Florida State Seminoles football team for which he played.
The check incident got McPherson kicked off the team. McPherson managed to get drafted into the NFL in 2005 and is now in the Canadian Football League.
13. Adam James Videotapes Punishment While Injured
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In the fall of 2009, Adam James suffered a concussion. At ensuing practices, he was placed in a dark room. What was required of him after that is unclear.
James said that he was forced to stand the entire time—more than three hours—and was even relegated to an electrical closet. James took video with his cell phone, which ESPN would later broadcast. Coaches claimed that James was never forced to sit down or to stand in an electrical closet and said that he even slept for part of the time.
Things got more complicated when coach Mike Leach was suspended over the allegations and, eventually, fired. Leach claimed that it was all a plan between James' father and ESPN personality, Craig James, and the Texas Tech athletic department to get Leach fired.
What happened or didn't happen is unknown by the public to this day. Adam James is still at Texas Tech.
12. Jeremiah Masoli Steals From Frat House
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Primed to lead one of the nation's most explosive offenses after just leading Oregon to the Rose Bowl, Jeremiah Masoli made a bad decision. He and a teammate were involved in a theft at a frat house at the University of Oregon. In March, he pleaded guilty and was subsequently suspended for the 2010 season.
In June, however, Masoli was cited for possession of marijuana. He was then dismissed from the team.
Masoli wasn't done drumming up controversy, however. He transferred to Ole Miss, expecting to play immediately by enrolling in a graduate program not offered by Oregon. The NCAA initially denied his request, but Ole Miss won an appeal. Masoli was Ole Miss' starting quarterback in 2010.
11. LeGarrette Blount Decks Byron Hout
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LeGarrette Blount took offense to some post game chatter from Boise State's Byron Hout and delivered a right hand to his jaw.
The punch was act one. Act two was Blount not simply retreating to the locker room, aware of his mistake, but instead, needing to be held back and dragged toward the locker room. Act three, as all good plays have, was Blount lunging at taunting fans before being restrained again.
Blount was suspended indefinitely, before being reinstated later in the season, after he had met a list of demands set by coach Chip Kelly.
10. Rhett Bomar Gets Paid For Not Working
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Rhett Bomar found something that most of us have looked for our whole lives: a job that pays us not to work.
Bomar was paid by a car dealership owned by a major Oklahoma donor, but never completed any work. That's shockingly an NCAA violation.
The star quarterback was promptly dismissed from the team. He found refuge at Sam Houston State and made his way to the NFL.
9. Tim Tebow Makes His Beliefs Known
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The spotlight is always going to follow Tim Tebow. He lives loudly and with conviction. It doesn't rub everyone the right way.
Tebow made his Christian beliefs known in many ways, one of those being to inscribe his eye black with bible verses. He wasn't the first to do it—Reggie Bush's 619 area code appears to be the first—but he made it a popular thing to do.
Eventually, the NCAA banned personal messages from eye black. It has been dubbed "The Tim Tebow Rule."
Tebow's most controversial decision came after college and before the NFL draft when he appeared in two Super Bowl commercials with his mother with pro-life themes. Tebow and CBS came under great scrutiny for the ads.
8. Harvey McDougle Jr. Carries Out Point Shaving Scheme
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One of the biggest stories in college football in 2007 came out of one of the smallest programs. Toledo's running back, Harvey "Scooter" McDougle, came under charges of taking bribes to alter the outcome of football games and recruiting teammates and Toledo basketball players to do the same.
In all, six Toledo athletes were charged. All six plead guilty in Dec. 2010.
The players would often sit out with phantom injuries. They received cash, gifts and groceries in return for their services. They often had bets placed for them in their own games.
7. Bryce Brown's Unorthodox Recruitment
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Bryce Brown had a handler for his recruitment. Brian Butler, a cell phone salesmen, took over Brown's recruitment, selling updates of the process online.
After Butler stated that Brown considered going to the Canadian Football League to forgo amateur play while he waited for his NFL eligibility to commence, Brown verbally committed to Miami. Then, he failed to sign a letter of intent. The letter of intent expired and Miami opted to not issue another. Eventually, Brown signed with Tennessee.
Then, Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin left for USC and Brown announced on the first day of 2010 spring practices that he would be transferring. He is now at Kansas State.
Sounds a bit like an NBA star, doesn't he?
6. Reggie Bush Gives Back His Heisman Trophy
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Reggie Bush was exhilarating. At times, he was superhuman. He was the most exciting college football player in the game... and was maybe one of the best of all time.
He was also corrupt.
Just before the 2006 draft, reports arose that Bush's family had received lavish gifts from an agent while he was at USC. Eventually, Bush and his family were sued by the agent for not repaying more than $290,000 in gifts. Use of a house was believed to be a part of the deal.
The NCAA's investigations ended in USC being put on probation. The Heisman Trust never requested that Bush return his Trophy, but he forfeited it anyway.
5. Marcus Vick Fails To Use Second Chances
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Michael isn't the only Vick to come across legal trouble. Younger brother Marcus, who followed Michael as a quarterback at Virginia Tech, was suspended for the 2004 season due to criminal convictions.
Once he got on the field in 2005, he brought his delinquent behavior with him. He flashed his middle finger at the crowd in one game and stomped on an opponent's leg in another.
After tacking a few more traffic violations onto his record, Vick was dismissed from the team. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins, but his NFL career is now over. His criminal career, however, was active as of August 2009.
4. Maurice Clarett Tries To Swap Suspension For Draft
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Few true freshman have had the effect on a team that Maurice Clarett had on the 2002-2003 Ohio State Buckeyes. He was the best offensive player on a team that won a national championship.
But it all went to his head. While in Arizona for the national championship game, he lambasted Ohio State publicly for not paying for him to return home for a friend's funeral. Administrators claimed that Clarett failed to fill out the proper paper work.
In July of 2003, he became embroiled in an academic scandal. Later that year, he falsely reported a crime that merchandise had been stolen out of a car borrowed form a dealership. Ohio State suspended him for the 2003 season, so he bolted for Los Angeles and sued for the right to enter the NFL draft.
At first he won, but an appeal overturned the decision. He raised the question about a player's right to enter the NFL, at any age.
3. Katie Hnida Claims To Have Been Raped at Colorado
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Katie Hnida originally made headlines for becoming the first female to score in a NCAA I-A history while at New Mexico.
But in 2004, she and a group of women accused former Colorado Buffalo teammates of sexual harassment and rape. She stated that charges were never filed. She claimed that she was initially molested, abused and eventually, raped by one of her teammates.
It was part of the end for coach Gary Barnett at Colorado, who made inflammatory comments regarding the situation.
2. Willie Williams Reveals Recruiting Ridiculousness
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Willie Williams was the top recruit in the country in 2004 and the Miami Herald wanted to know what that was like. They asked Williams to chronicle some of his recruitment experiences. He came back with stories about unlimited lobster dinners at Florida State, lavish hotels at Miami and attractive women at Auburn that he assumed were brought in just for the recruits.
The end result was increased restriction in recruitment. Several NCAA rules were put into place, such as not producing a team jersey with a recruit's name on it.
Another result of the diary was the digging into Williams past. It ended up that he had a laundry list of arrests and was on probation when he committed to Miami. He eventually transferred to Louisville looking for more playing time. Louisville ended up kicking him off the team.
1. Cam Newton's Dad Asks For Money For Newton's Services
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Cam Newton allegedly stole a laptop while at Florida. He was temporarily suspended until the charges were dropped. But, he transferred to junior college anyway.
After playing one season at Blinn College, Newton resurfaced as a top recruit. He landed at Auburn where he began to put together a spectacular season that put him at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy race.
But it wasn't long before reports arose that Newton's dad, Reverend Cecil Newton, had possibly been shopping his talents to schools, notably to Mississippi State for an amount of $100,000-$180,000. Newton's dad confessed that he had shopped his son, but did not receive money from Auburn.
The NCAA conducted an investigation and could find no evidence that Newton's family received money or that Newton himself knew of the pay-for-play scheme. Newton went on to win the Heisman Trophy and will forever have his worthiness questioned.
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