The NFL's 20 Most Stereotypically Dumb Jocks

No matter what the sport may be, jocks have always been stereotyped as dumb individuals.

For most of the athletes, these assumptions couldn't be further from the truth, but there are some players in the NFL whose actions have warranted such a claim.

Whether it was Chad Johnson changing his last name to suit his number on the back of his jersey to Plaxico Burress shooting himself and going to jail for it, these are the well-known NFL players that are stereotypically looked upon as dumb.

James Harrison

I commend James Harrison for taking on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, but that doesn't mean it's smart.

Harrison should have played 20 years ago in the NFL, where he could lay players out and get praised for it, but instead, he's simply the scapegoat of Goodell's new safety-first league.

Rather than adapting his style of play and saving himself a lot of money, he attacked Goodell verbally, and he said if Goodell was on fire, he wouldn't "piss on him" to put it out.

Going after the most powerful man in the NFL when you're an NFL player isn't exactly the smartest of moves.

Chad Ochocinco

Some see Chad Ochocinco as an entertainer, while others simply shake their heads at everything he does.

You have to be a special individual to change your last name to your football number in Spanish, and that's exactly what Ochocinco did.

As if that wasn't crazy enough, Ochocinco used to challenge the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, to a fight on Twitter and through various media outlets.

Maybe fighting Silva would do Ochocinco some good. Maybe he'll get some sense knocked into him.

Plaxico Burress

Plaxico Burress will never live down going to prison for shooting himself.

Burress was sentenced to two years in prison for having possession of a firearm at a club in Manhattan, and the worst part it was that Burress shot himself in the leg.

This goes without saying, but if you're going to be packing heat, at least know how to operate the weapon.

Burress shooting himself led to him being the butt of many jokes, including the hilarious video attached to the slide.

Zach Miller

Uh, you know, Zach Miller, uh, isn't the, uh, brightest color that's, you know, in the color box.

I understand that the pressures of live television can get to you, but you have to be able to form a sentence, and Miller barely got it down in this interview.

That's why you keep your answers short and sweet, so if you don't know what you're talking about, you'll seem more shy and less stupid.

Adam "Pacman" Jones

There was a time in the NFL where Adam "Pacman" Jones made Terrell Owens look like saint.

Jones took partying to another level when he made it rain in strip clubs, but what baffled me was the fact that he reportedly hit a dancer two to three times when she tried to pick the money up.

You can't make it rain, and then be shocked when someone nears you decides to pick up a little cash for themselves.

Those that say ignorance is bliss never met Pacman Jones.

Stevie Johnson

Stevie Johnson brought a whole new meaning to crash and burn.

When he scored a touchdown against the New York Jets, he made fun of Plaxico Burress by acting like he shot himself in the leg, and then he proceeded to make fun of the Jets soaring through the air, only to crash.

It's funny how he ended up being the one to crash after this failed attempt at humor.

Brandon Marshall

Part of me feels bad for Brandon Marshall for his Borderline Personality Disorder, while the other half of me can't help but criticize the guy.

Marshall has reportedly done everything from a DUI to hitting a woman, and he's also been stabbed by his wife.

For those that think athletes in general are dumb, it's players like Marshall that give them reason to believe so, and that's truly a shame.

Cortland Finnegan

Cortland Finnegan has you all fooled.

Finnegan is a dirty player, and because of his actions, he has many believing that he's a dumb player. That simply not the case, but he unfortunately falls into this stereotype.

Finnegan talks trash and uses his dirty play to get into wide receivers' heads, and that helps him with his coverage and gets them off of his game.

I'll play along with the stereotype though, and say Finnegan should play nicer.

Darnell Dockett

Twitter can be an athlete's worst enemy, and NFL players like Darnell Dockett should simply stay off of it.

Dockett has had a few mind-numbing instances involving Twitter, with one of them making fun of Gilbert Arenas' gun in the locker room incident by tweeting that he had one in his book bag. It was a joke, but it really wasn't even funny.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he live tweeted a run-in he had with the police. He talked about how the cops wanted to look into his car and said that the cops must think he's stupid.

No Darnell, it's not the cops that think you're stupid, it's the NFL fanbase.

Jeremy Shockey

Oh boy, where to begin with Jeremy Shockey...

His appearance is a good starting point. No matter what you say, you judge someone by their looks the second you meet them, so I wonder what would go through someone's mind if they met Shockey and had no idea who he was.

If you saw all of those tattoos down his arms with his Backstreet Boy haircut, I doubt your first thought about his intellect would be anything positive.

Shockey's fights and altercations throughout his football career would give you further indication that he's unintelligent.

Rob Gronkowski

Speaking of appearances, Rob Gronkowski looks like a straight muscle-head.

Better yet, his dance moves look like a four-year-old kid dancing to Barney, Sesame Street or whatever kids watch nowadays.

Because he's so young, I'll give Gronk the benefit of the doubt and say that he doesn't think before he does something. Like dancing in a night club after the Super Bowl or taking a picture with a porn star and having it all over the Internet.

Sooner or later, those decisions are going to come back and hurt your reputation.

Ben Roethlisberger

And while we're on the topic of reputations, Ben Roethlisberger's suffered tremendously from the rape allegations in 2008.

It's a good thing Roethlisberger wins in Pittsburgh, because he's had his fair share of problems off the field.

From reckless behavior on his motorcycle to fooling around with women that he shouldn't, Roethlisberger has given fans plenty of reasons to doubt his wits.

Dez Bryant

Dez Bryant proved to be no match for Paul Blart in an upscale Dallas shopping mall.

Bryant found out the hard way that those mall cops mean serious business, when he refused to pull his pants up. Can't a guy sag in the mall anymore?

Apparently not, because these cops escorted him out of the mall after he cursed them out to get his point across.

Sounds like a regular case of young, wild and dumb.

Mark Sanchez

In an article that talks about stereotypical dumb NFL players, I have to put the player that made the "stupidest play in NFL history."

In a game against the New England Patriots last year, Sanchez called a timeout with 1:24 left in the first half and 17 seconds left on the play clock that would ultimately give Tom Brady a chance to score, which he did.

It was Sanchez's own coach, Rex Ryan, that called the play the "stupidest play in NFL history." I wonder if Tim Tebow would have called timeout there...

LeGarrette Blount

If you can't beat 'em, punch 'em.

That was the attitude LeGarrette Blount took when his Oregon Ducks lost to Boise State 19-8 three years ago.

After being taunted by Byron Hout following the game, Blount sought revenge when he dropped Hout with a straight right to the jaw.

Since then, Blount fought with one of his teammates in Tennessee during training camp, which should come as a big surprise to no one.

Jared Allen

Jared Allen has never been one to shy away from his words, and that's come to back to bite him a few times throughout his career.

Some of my favorite quotes from Allen have been, "I'll break your (explicit) neck homeboy... and then I'll write a check to your (explicit) name too" and, "I beat [Michael Oher] like a red-headed step child."

Both were priceless, and the fact that he looks like a lumberjack further adds to his aura of stupidity.

Kellen Winslow

Kellen Winslow became a victim of one of the most memorable postgame soundbites in college football history, and it was all led by his dumb words.

Since the United States went to war in Afghanistan in 2001, the country became real sensitive about what it means to be a soldier, and Winslow's postgame soldier speech angered many.

He went on a rant about how football is war, and he's a (explicit) soldier.

My favorite part is when he told the reporter to write down what he says and make money off of it. It showed that in the end he truly did have a heart.

Steve Smith

If you fight your own teammate, you're an automatic qualifier to be on this list.

Steve Smith fought Ken Lucas, and it wasn't one of those wrestling matches that would get separated by teammates either.

Oh no, instead, it was a fight that saw Smith break Lucas' nose and give him a black eye. There's never a true winner in a fight involving two teammates.

Mike Vick

Being involved in dog fighting and going to prison for it certainly hurt Mike Vick's image.

I mean, it must take a true idiot to be one of most marketable players in the NFL and choose to get involved with something illegal like dog fighting.

Through this whole dog-fighting debacle, fans saw a man go from being on top of the world transformed into the scum of the earth.

Ndamukong Suh

Ndamukong Suh is perceived to be dumb because he constantly says he's not a dirty player, and he continues to play dirty.

You can tell by watching and listening to Suh that he is indeed an intelligent individual, but the title of this article is stereotypically dumb, and most fans see the actions on the field rather than all of the intellectual interviews.

Suh's stomp against the Green Bay Packers couldn't have came at a worse time, as they were playing on Thanksgiving Day for Heaven's sakes.

Think America as a whole would miss that stomp, Suh?