Bobby Petrino and the 10 Weirdest Scandals in Recent Sports History

Ten of the weirdest sports scandals in recent history—it's an intriguing topic for a variety of reasons.

As of late, it seems that athletic scandals plaguing ESPN's ticker have become a monthly ritual.

Everybody has viewed Tiger Woods' Escalade wind up on the wrong end of a head-butting contest with a tree. Fans have heard every speck of dirt that has buried the trials of legendary figures such as Roger Clemens.

And, of course, Jerry Sandusky's repulsive perversions have dominated the airwaves since late last year.

Although the majority didn't receive the spotlight treatment, these 10 scandals of the last decade tipped the sports world off its axis.   

10. UCLA Basketball's Closed-Door Secrets

The UCLA Bruins own a decorated history in men's college basketball, highlighted by 11 national championships.

It's affiliated with coaching legends such as John Wooden and all-time great players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Then, on March 5, a story published in Sports Illustrated detailed a downward spiral of recklessness.

At the heart of it was a highly recruited forward, Reeves Nelson, who took his leash of freedom and ran with it. Coach Ben Howland's coveted recruit constantly bullied teammates with no repercussions, until his dismissal in December 2011.

Other excerpts described drug-fueled parties and the head coach's questionable temperament.

Howland's Bruins will look to rebound after landing two of the nation's five-star recruits in Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson.  

9. Sam Hurd's Intent to Distribute Cocaine While Still Active in the League

Sam Hurd, former wide receiver of the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears, signed a contract that potentially paid him $5.15 million over three years. 

Apparently, that's chump change for Hurd's excessively lavish ambitions. 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the wide-out was arrested after purchasing a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover federal agent.

But it doesn't stop there.

Allegedly, Hurd had agreed to buy between five and 10 kilograms of cocaine per week, paired with 1,000 pounds of marijuana to supply and distribute across Chicago.

Is Sam Hurd clueless?

Does a Bear...well, in short, yes.  

8. Brandon Saling's Racist Tattoos and Shady History

Beauty may only be skin deep, but Brandon Saling exhibits the fact that ugliness is not.

Showtime spent months building up the hype for its March 3 headlining event, featuring Miesha Tate in a bout with Ronda Rousey. However, the undercard packed an unpredictable punch as well.

Brandon "White Steel" Saling, a convicted sex offender, fell victim to Roger Bowling via TKO.

But what ignited fans' ire was his eclectic collection of ink tattooed on his body, including the numbers "88" which translates to "H.H." or "Heil Hitler" in neo-Nazi circles. 

Saling's fighting license has been revoked in his home state of Ohio, as well as multiple others. 

7. Maurice Clarret's Robbery and Firearm Possession

At one point in his life, Maurice Clarett took the college football world by storm. 

However, the storm resulted in a path of destruction. 

During his first (and only) season at Ohio State, Clarett produced record-breaking numbers for a freshman. He finished the year with 1,237 rushing yards and broke the end zone's plane 18 times.

The Buckeyes' season concluded on a five-yard touchdown run by No. 13 in overtime, defeating the Miami Hurricanes for the national championship. 

Sideline altercations with the coaching staff, an academic scandal and a false police report would mark the beginning of the end of Clarett's time in Ohio State's backfield. 

On Jan. 1, 2006, Clarett's new year started off with a bang—or at least the threat of one.

The talented tailback was arrested for robbery at gunpoint outside of a Columbus night club.

In August of the same year, Clarett eluded police after making an illegal U-turn. A brief chase was punctuated by the running back's inability to juke a police spike strip, and Clarett's SUV coming to a halt in a nearby parking lot.

The Heisman hopeful was sporting a flak jacket—police made the discovery after Clarett appeared immune to the initial tases—while his vehicle contained two loaded handguns and an AK-47.  

6. Ugueth Urbina Attacking Workers with Machete

Ugueth Urbina, a pitcher whose on-field highlights included two saves in the Florida Marlins' (now Miami Marlins) 2003 World Series run, was sentenced to a 14-year jail term for attempted murder in 2007.

After an alleged dispute in which Urbina concluded several workers on his property had stolen a firearm, Urbina reportedly attacked the men with a machete.

That was before dousing them with gasoline, with the intent of lighting his employees on fire.

Urbina was literally trying to give them the "high heat."

5. Bobby Petrino's Motorcycle Accident and Exposed Affair

Bobby Petrino is no stranger to controversy. He made his bed and will now lay in it.

And lie he did.

Petrino's moral decision making came into question on December 11, 2007, after resigning from the Atlanta Falcons less than 24 hours after his pledge of commitment to owner Arthur Blank.

To make matters worse, he notified his former players of the decision via laminated notes in their lockers. The letter began, "out of my respect for you..."

After all, nothing says "intimacy" like printer ink and Kinko's.

The 51-year-old's latest walk on proverbial eggshells occurred on April 2, when Petrino's love for his "hog" ultimately slaughtered his career as a Razorback.

On April 1st, Petrino crashed his Harley Davidson. It was later revealed that 25-year-old Jessica Dorrell—a former Arkansas volleyball player and current Student-Athlete Development Coordinator—was riding with then-coach Bobby Petrino.

The loose ends in a web of lies were now interconnected, exposing an affair that involved one seven-month period of 4,300 text messages exchanged between the two.

Petrino's days as Fayetteville's head honcho came to an end on April 12, when he was fired.   

One thing has been proven: Bobby Petrino lies in a hotbed of controversy. 

4. Lee Murray's Notorious Bank Heist

London-based MMA fighter Lee Murray is known for all the wrong reasons.

His UFC career—in which he was 1-0—was discontinued due to complications with his visa stemming from a road-rage incident that ended with an assault charge. 

He allegedly knocked out Tito Ortiz in public during Ortiz's reign as the UFC light heavyweight champion. 

His MMA career was cut short following a melee at a birthday party that resulted in Murray being stabbed, suffering a severed artery as well as a punctured lung.

However, Murray is most notorious for being the focal point in Sports Illustrated's story, "Breaking the Bank."

Murray and his affiliates were responsible for Britain's largest sum of cash stolen in a bank robbery. The thieves disguised themselves as police, wearing the appropriate attire and equipping a vehicle with flashing blue lights.

Due to their deceiving appearance, the group was able to kidnap the manager of a Securitas money depot and eventually tied up 14 staff members before one managed to trigger an alarm.

Lee Murray and his cohorts stole £53,116,760, the U.S. equivalent of $84.4 million. 

3. Dave Bliss' Slandering of His Murdered Player

Dave Bliss was handed the reins of the Baylor Bears' basketball program in 1999. 

Although he took the perennial laughing-stock of the Big 12 and made Baylor competitive—finishing with a 61.5-percent winning percentage—it all abruptly ended in 2003. 

During the summer, Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy had told a friend that he and his teammate, Carlton Dotson, were unsure of their safety.

A search was launched by the Waco Police Department after Dennehy hadn't contacted anybody in his circle of friends and family in a matter of days. Suspicion heightened when his SUV was discovered in a parking lot with the license plates removed. 

In late July, Dennehy's one-time friend, Dotson, would be charged with the former's murder. 

The shock was contagious and riddled the Waco community.

Dave Bliss, initially, was one of the many that echoed condolences publicly. However, he unveiled a much more unforgiving tone behind closed doors. 

At one point in time, Bliss had offered to pay the remainder of Dennehy's tuition which wasn't accounted for by financial aid. Fully aware that it qualified as a serious NCAA infraction, Bliss encouraged his players to respond to media inquiries with a fabricated story that painted Dennehy to be a drug dealer.

The result? A coaching ban until 2015. 

Sometimes, even the dead can't rest in peace. 

2. Arturo Gatti's Murder

When boxing fans think of the prototypical hard-nosed, fearless brawler, they think of former world champion Arturo Gatti. He had partaken in four of Ring Magazine's brutal "Fight of the Year" bouts. 

The Canadian's record showcased 40 wins to only nine losses.

But shortly after retirement, Gatti was declared deceased on July 11, 2009.

All signs pointed to his then-23-year-old wife, Amanda Rodrigues, as the sole culprit.

An abundance of speculation has since surrounded the event, including marital issues between the couple and the theory that Rodrigues strangled her drunken husband with her purse strap while he was asleep.   

1. Edwin Valero's Murder-Suicide

An undefeated Venezuelan boxer boasting a 27-0 record, Edwin Valero's heavy hands earned him notoriety. Unfortunately, it wasn't solely due to boxing. 

Valero, or "El Inca", had an ongoing battle with alcoholism when he was arrested in two separate incidents.

The first involved a drunken outburst directed in the direction of his mother and sister, but both would eventually drop the assault charge. Then, roughly four months later, his wife was admitted to the hospital with serious wounds she proclaimed were from falling down the stairs. 

Less than a month later, Valero made his way to his hotel's front desk to confess that he had killed his wife. 

After police verified her death due to multiple stab wounds, Valero was taken into custody and eventually hanged himself in his cell.