Most Regrettable Sports Quotes in Recent History
In this day and age, if you are a famous athlete or coach, you better watch what you say, because plenty of people are listening.
In recent history, many a star has addressed the media in ways they wish they could erase, spilling words and giving quotes they eventually—or immediately, depending on the particular quote and person—learned to regret.
Most recently, Chris Paul had this sort of regrettable experience with the media, providing reporters with a soundbite they could—and did—use to cast him in a decidedly sexist light.
In a similar vein, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier also recently experienced the damaging effects of unbridled public honesty, giving the media a quote he eventually paid dearly for along the recruiting trail.
And before Paul and Spurrier, superstars like Adrian Peterson, Dwight Howard and LeBron James opened their mouths in equally regrettable fashion.
Inspired, then, by the current climate's bountiful supply of blunders, we've taken some time to both identify and explore 10 of the most regrettable sports quotes in recent history.
We should note, comments made via Twitter—or any other social networking application—were not included in our study. Instead, we focused on misguided quotes that were directly intended for media consumption.
And while the curious comments we've highlighted occurred under various backdrops and with a wide range of tones and intentions, in each instance, the sullied subject grew to regret whatever it was he said all the same.
Paul's Refereeing Referendum
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We begin our Tour of Regrets with our list's most recent questionable quote, brought to us by a disgruntled Chris Paul.
Unhappy with the officiating that took place in his team's February 5 loss to the Cavs, Paul took his grievances to the masses directly following the game, and he singled out one referee in particular.
That referee was rookie official Lauren Holtkamp, who—if you haven't heard or figured it out yet—also happens to be a woman. Of course, Holtkamp's gender became all the more relevant when Paul suggested that refereeing basketball "might not be for her," per ESPN.com, which sparked notions of sexism to erupt in many a mind.
As expected, Paul has done nothing but backtrack since uttering the fateful words, and—whether taken out of context or not—we're pretty confident CP3 wishes he'd made his original point in a clearer and more deliberate manner.
Harsh Humor
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Last July, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus made one of the year's worst jokes, one we're certain he immediately regretted.
To be exact, according to George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press, when Ausmus was asked how he deals at home with his team's losing—at the time, Detroit had just lost its third game in a row to Kansas City—he regrettably replied, "I beat my wife."
Looking back now, we're pretty sure the affable Ausmus will never again be lauded for his timing; for terrible jokes like the one above, there's really no such thing as "good timing," but his was still about as bad as it gets.
In the end—and to no one's surprise—Ausmus apologized for the comment soon after making it. Now we just hope his future cracks are at least a bit less offensive and far funnier.
And we're confident he does too.
The Way-Too-Brawny Braun
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Over the last few years, few athletes have damaged their own brand quite like Ryan Braun.
It's true, no one likes a cheater, but the bald-faced liars in the group—a subset to which Braun clearly belongs—inspire their own special sort of disgust.
Braun officially turned to the dark side in October 2011, when he was told he tested positive for testosterone.
Of course, it wasn't the result so much as the way Braun handled it that offended most. Harnessing his inner thespian, a truly guilty Braun attempted to manipulate the baseball world, issuing a statement that was both hollow and grotesque:
"I promise you on anything that's ever meant anything to me in my life, the morals, the virtues, the values by which I've lived in my 28 years on this planet, I did not do this."
And, in addition to the shocking ease with which Braun lied, we'd be remiss if we didn't also acknowledge his conniving and vindictive attempts to discredit Mr. Dino Laurenzi Jr., the Comprehensive Drug Testing employee who actually appears to have handled the guilty player's positive sample, according to Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown.
"There were a lot of things we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way the entire thing worked that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened," spewed the desperate outfielder.
Needless to say, when Braun was forced to acknowledge his guilt not long thereafter—accepting a 65-game suspension and $3.5 million fine—his sad quest to cover it all up was exposed while the slumping "star's" dishonest and disgraceful declarations remain as haunting today as ever before.
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Shaw's Story
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When USC cornerback Josh Shaw surfaced on August 26 with two high-ankle sprains, people wanted answers.
In turn, Shaw responded by telling a story and issuing a quote he'd immediately regret.
More specifically, the troubled Trojan informed Jordan Moore of USCTrojans.com (via CollegeFootballTalk) that he was injured while saving his nephew from drowning in a pool, jumping from a second-floor balcony to get there in just in time:
"I would do it again for whatever kid it was, it did not have to be my nephew," Shaw told Moore. "My ankles really hurt, but I am lucky to be surrounded by the best trainers and doctors in the world. I am taking my rehab one day at a time, and I hope to be back on the field as soon as possible.
"
As most know by now, it didn't take long for outsiders to discover the truth, that Shaw had no drowning nephew, but rather was hurt while trying to evade the police, who arrived after neighbors called about a domestic disturbance at his and his girlfriend's apartment, according to the Los Angeles Times' Gary Klein.
In truth, no matter how the former Trojan played it, he was going to look bad in the end. We're sure, though, that his decision to lie to the media and masquerade as a hero was nonetheless a major mistake, and one that only made his reality all the more nightmarish.
Spurrier's Self-Sabotage
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In college football, the recruiting world is an ultra-competitive one, where badmouthing's prevalent and competitors need no help.
It wasn't wise, then, when in December an aging Steve Spurrier unnecessarily handed his opponents even more ammo than they already had.
Along the recruiting trail, South Carolina's enemies frequently bring up the Old Ball Coach's advanced age—he will be 70 in April—and Spurrier's recent moment of clarity did little to help his cause:
"Give me two or three more (years)," he told The State. "I used to say four or five, now I'm down to two or three. I mean, I could get in a car wreck, but I'm definitely planning on being back."
In this particular case, we don't have to assume Spurrier's regret; it's far more quantifiable than that.
Not long after he apparently turned naively honest, Spurrier's Gamecocks lost verbal pledges from four top high school recruits, who weren't exactly impressed by the coach's overall lack of conviction and diminishing commitment to the sport.
Peterson Punks Owners
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Things haven't exactly gone well for Adrian Peterson of late, but the talented running back also caused controversy for something he said in March 2011.
Upset at the time over the decertification of the NFLOA, Peterson decided to address NFL owners with some of his own thoughts and most regrettable opinions when speaking with Doug Farrar of Yahoo Sports:
"It's modern-day slavery, you know? People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money ... the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money.
"
Though we're sure that Peterson had a bigger and less absurd point to make—though we're less sure what that point was—we're even more confident that football is nothing even approximating modern-day slavery, a comparison the embattled Viking will forever regret making.
Dwight Drama
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Before Dwight Howard forced the Magic's hand and landed in L.A., he promised he'd be in Orlando forever.
Back then—before he jettisoned the Magic, and then the Lakers, in exchange for the Rockets—loyalty meant everything to Howard.
Or so he said to WFTV after agreeing to a one-year extension with the Magic:
"I'm not like those guys that people try to pay me to be. I'm loyal," Howard said. "I just love this city too much. I want to win a championship. I'm very loyal and I've always put loyalty above anything. I feel like we have a chance to win and I didn't feel like either one of us [he or the organization] should give that up.
"
Of course, we now know that "Superman" put very little effort into practicing what he preached, playing for three different teams in just over two years.
And while Howard may very well be happy as a lark suiting up for Houston these days, he no doubt regrets the manner in which he arrived, which, by the way, was a process that turned Howard from league darling to largely detested.
Gilbert Goes Fishing
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At this point, we think it's pretty safe to say that Dan Gilbert's open letter to LeBron James—which he penned in 2010, after the King jilted Cleveland in favor of Miami—was a rather large, and regrettable, mistake.
In the venom-filled attack, Gilbert not only slandered James and everything he represents, but he also made a bold prediction that, in hindsight, looks even more foolish today than it did back then (and, for the record, it looked pretty foolish back then, too).
"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE," declared Gilbert.
And even if we forget the Cleveland owner's behavior, we can't possibly ignore that James and the Heat won two glorious titles together while Cleveland is still searching for its first in franchise history.
Of course, it's also hard to ignore the legendary way in which Gilbert was forced to eat his own words, throw them up and then eat them all over again, as he fought like hell to re-sign the "coward" just four short seasons later.
The Disloyal Meyer
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When it comes to winning football games, few people in this world can compete with the prolific Urban Meyer. Unfortunately, though, he appears to be a nearly as accomplished hypocrite as well.
Though Meyer didn't end up finally leaving until the end of the 2010 season, on the way out the door for the first time in 2009, the "retired" coach held an emotional press conference where he openly declared his love for and commitment to the Gators, per The Big Lead:
"...if I am able to coach, I want to coach at one place, the University of Florida. It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my back and go coach. I don't want to do that. I have too much love for this university and these players and for what we've built.
"
Of course, his loyalty to Florida now appears to have been a bit halfhearted. In less than a year, Meyer apparently forgot about all the "love," becoming head coach at Ohio State.
A King-Size Regret
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Five years removed, very few people blame LeBron James for leaving the Cavs to join the Heat. After all, it was a decision that allowed him to reach four consecutive NBA Finals and capture two world championships along the way.
The King's path to Miami, however, was not without a few speed bumps. And, more importantly, it was a transition James himself made all the rockier with just a couple of misguided quotes.
The first came during The Decision itself. While announcing to the world his plan to abandon the state in which he was born and raised, James coined the now-infamous phrase:
"I'm going to take my talents to South Beach," declared the superstar.
The nine uttered words—arranged in that specific order—became the rallying cry for James haters worldwide, but LBJ was far from done.
In fact, the fire reached a full blaze less than one month later.
In what almost seemed like an outright attempt to give his critics even more ammo than they already had, and in a move that set him on a course to become the least liked athlete in sports, James appeared to turn a bit delusional, predicting the Heat would win not one, not two, not three, but eight NBA titles.
If you fast-forward to the present, The King has done a wonderful job rebuilding his brand, though he still regrets creating the pit out of which he was forced to climb.
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