12 Athletes Who Aren't Welcome in Certain Cities

It's no surprise that sports fans can hold some of the biggest grudges on the entire planet, as the passion and love for a certain team nearly always takes precedence over a specific athlete.

And when an athlete does or says something that upsets fans in a certain city, well, all bets are off, as boobirds come out as if it were the nicest spring day ever seen.

Since fans don't let things slip away, here are some of the athletes who have permanently burned a bridge with certain cities, as they will forever hear the hate anytime they go to one of these cities.

You're not welcome here, so go home.

Alex Rodriguez (Pretty Much Everywhere)

Whether it's in his return to the city of Seattle—where he played seven seasons with the Seattle Mariners before bolting in free agency—or another city where fans don't show him respect, Alex Rodriguez is one of the most disliked men in all of sports.

So it's probably not too surprising that he hears it hard from any crowd that sees him play.

After being suspended for the entire 2014 season as a result of the Biogenesis investigation, A-Rod's legacy and reputation took a major hit, leading fans to turn on him as if he were the worst person in the world. Even fans of his current team, the New York Yankees, appeared to have a mixed reaction.

Cheaters usually don't get much leeway from people, and Rodriguez is experiencing that firsthand, having previously admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.

Richard Sherman (San Francisco)

Thanks to his postgame interview following the NFC Championship Game in 2014, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman became public enemy No. 1 for San Francisco 49ers fans.

As we all remember, Sherman—widely considered to be the top corner in the league—absolutely lit into Niners wideout Michael Crabtree during the national telecast, even later telling American Muscle (via USA Today, h/t the Seattle Post-Intelligencer), "I don't like the dude."

Naturally, Niners fans had enough on Sherman to start tossing hate his way, as a few San Fran faithful were seen burning the guy's jersey and attempting to belittle the Seahawks star as best they could.

With the rivalry between these two teams continuously fierce, Sherman should stay a bit undercover while in San Francisco until further notice.

Kevin Love (Minneapolis)

It's always a little bit strange to me when a player gets traded without demand and, in his return to his former city, hears a ton of boos from fans as if he left the team on his own accord.

One of those instances happens to be Kevin Love, who, while he refused to sign an extension with his former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, he didn't rush to the front office and asked to be sent packing, according to ESPN's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne.

However, after making his first appearance back to Minneapolis as a member of the Cleveland Cavs last season, K-Love heard a ton of boos, as fans unleashed on him as if he were the world's worst person—with T-Wolves head coach Flip Saunders unhappy about Minnesota playing a video spoof on Love's return.

Either way, with Love recently re-upping with the Cavs and the can of boos already opened, the All-Star forward shouldn't expect there to be any love for him in future returns to Minny.

Ichiro Suzuki (Cleveland)

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Hailing from Cleveland myself, I've got nothing but love for my hometown—even if, deep down, I know that it's not the most exciting place on the planet.

For that reason, I can understand when an athlete is less than thrilled to visit the city during a road trip—but some of these guys just lay into the place.

For instance, take Ichiro Suzuki, who, a couple of years ago before heading to Cleveland for a makeup baseball game, said that he wasn't too happy with having to make the trip, telling the Seattle Times (via Enjoy the Moment, h/t Deadspin), "I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face."

Following those words, you can guarantee that Clevelanders haven't welcomed Ichiro back with open arms—which he really doesn't seem to care about, anyway.

Ian Kinsler (Arlington)

When current Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler was traded from the Texas Rangers before the 2014 season, he didn't exactly take the situation in stride.

Opening up and being as vocal as possible about the Rangers, he actually said he hoped the team went winless in the first season without him, telling ESPN's Robert Sanchez he thought Rangers' GM Jon Daniels was "a sleazeball" (h/t Deadspin).

Talk about burning bridges with a former employer, huh?

Kinsler didn't make it any easier on himself in his return to Arlington, where he appeared to taunt the team's dugout with a little wave.

The guy might have been a former fan favorite while he played there, but Kinsler has fallen to the B-list thanks to how he has reacted since leaving Texas.

LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia)

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

One of the premier running backs in the NFL, current Buffalo Bills player LeSean McCoy sure did give Philadelphia Eagles fans plenty to get amped about while he was with the team.

Unfortunately, once the team traded McCoy to the Bills, the three-time Pro Bowler let his opinion of the Eagles be heard—as loud and clear as he could.

Claiming to ESPN that Philly coach Chip Kelly "got rid of all the good players" on the Eagles, "especially all the good black players," McCoy likely had Eagles fans turning on him for the accusations, as well as his other criticisms of the coach.

After the team acquired DeMarco Murray in free agency to replace McCoy—another running back who can't show his face around the city of his former team—some fans were seen replacing the former Eagles player's jersey into the new one, all but writing off McCoy in the process.

DeAndre Jordan (Dallas)

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

As if you didn't already know that things are a little testy between DeAndre Jordan and the Dallas Mavericks, let me quickly refresh your memory.

After verbally agreeing to sign with Dallas during the opening of this year's free-agency period, Jordan reneged on his initial decision the night before NBA teams were officially able to get players to sign on the dotted line, as Jordan's incumbent team, the Los Angeles Clippers, sent the farm to DJ's house.

The move prompted drama like few have seen before, as Mavs owner Mark Cuban didn't appear to want to hear Jordan's name, presumably as well as ESPN's Chris Broussard's for his reporting skills on the manner, leading to one of the best beefs seen in sports.

Bottom line is this, though: When the Clips visit Dallas this upcoming season, don't expect much applause for Jordan after his move to stick with L.A.

Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay)

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Any time a player demands a trade from one franchise to another—as recently retired New York Rangers star Martin St. Louis did when with the Tampa Bay Lightning—fans feel disrespected and take things personally.

After earning a league MVP and Stanley Cup ring with the Lightning in his 13 seasons, Marty asked to be shipped out of town in 2014—which the team granted, according to Deadspin's Barry Petchesky.

Forcing his way out, Lightning fans weren't all that accommodating when the guy returned to Florida, consistently booing him for the way they felt he treated his last days with the team.

While the franchise may have honored the six-time All-Star with a classy video tribute, the love wasn't exactly shared by fans, leading to St. Louis being all but shunned in Tampa.

Dwight Howard (Los Angeles and Orlando)

Once considered one of the most dominating centers in the game—and this was as recent as a couple of years ago—current Houston Rockets star Dwight Howard really messed up his time with a couple of franchises.

D12's first hiccup came in Orlando while playing with the Magic, when he claimed to have a poor relationship with management, approached the front office about a trade—which, eventually, was granted—and then bashed his former teammates on his way out.

Getting shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard found that West Coast living wasn't always sunny, as he clashed with fellow star Kobe Bryant, leaving for Houston after just one season, in which his star power dipped.

When leaving the Lakers to sign with the Rockets during free agency, Howard burned another bridge with a fanbase, with Lakers fans burning his jersey out of spite.

In returning to both cities, Howard continuously gets booed and is reminded just how unwelcome he is.

John Rocker (New York)

MARK LENNIHAN/Associated Press

Former MLB pitcher John Rocker sure knows how to make the largest city in the United States hate a guy, huh?

While playing for the Atlanta Braves years ago, the relief pitcher had some discriminatory words about the Big Apple and the experience of riding the train to the New York Mets' former stadium, Shea Stadium, telling Sports Illustrated in 1999 that it's like "riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids" (h/t Gothamist).

A pretty stand-up guy, that John Rocker is.

Naturally, Rocker pissed off a lot of people, somewhat apologizing for the offensive remarks, but the damage had already been done, and, even 16 years later, New York is a city that will never let Rocker sleep.

Joakim Noah (Cleveland)

If it were up to Chicago Bulls All-Star forward Joakim Noah, he wouldn't let any more games be played in the city of Cleveland. Like, ever.

Not one to hold his opinion on the manner, Noah all but said he could do without visiting the City By the Lake ever again, when, in 2010, he simply said the words, "Cleveland really sucks," causing a rift that is still ongoing between him and the city's fans.

Adding fuel to the fire, it seems that Noah has expanded his beef to the entire state of Ohio, as he had Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones figuratively at his neck over some disparaging comments that Noah made about the validity of the Bucks' national title run this past season.

Noah is one of the best instigators in the league, so I'm sure he relishes ruffling the feathers of Cleveland fans anytime he gets the opportunity.

Luis Figo (Barcelona)

When it comes to athletes who aren't welcome back to a city, there might not be any spite bigger than the reception Barcelona fans gave Luis Figo.

After leaving Barca for Real Madrid in 2000—who, yeah, happen to be huge rivals—boos were expected to rain down from the crowd in Figo's return to Camp Nou, but what actually happened was even worse.

Fighting off the hate from the crowd, someone actually tossed a pig's head onto the pitch, delaying the match and showing the former star that at least one Barcelona fan thought he was quite the swine.