Ranking the 10 Worst Gut Punches for Sports Fans

Teddy Bridgewater's injury was a gut punch to Minnesota Vikings fans—no doubt about it—but was it worse than Kevin Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder? 

Read on for a highly unscientific ranking of the 10 worst gut punches sports fans can experience related to their teams.

Housekeeping on the rankings:

1. Remember, a gut punch is not something gradual (like, say, perennially losing a la the Cleveland Browns), but something more acute—a single occurrence. Art Modell moving said Browns to Baltimore would qualify.
2. Sports pain is a personal experience for each fan, but generally things are worse when the season ends, when hope was present but suddenly dashed, when feelings of loss or rejection are involved and, of course, when losing is involved.

And the worst gut punches of all are those that continue to haunt you, long after the initial blow.

Honorable mentions go to officiating mistakes and boneheaded penalties. OK—let's go. 

10. Scandal

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Waking up to the news your team has been involved in a scandal can be a real gut punch.

"Scandal" is a vague term, of course, but just think about when New England Patriots fans first heard about those allegedly underinflated footballs. Or, consider how St. Louis Cardinals fans might have felt when they read this New York Times headline: "Cardinals Investigated for Hacking into Astros' Database." What about young soccer fans who suddenly discovered Lionel Messi was on trial for tax fraud?

For some fans, sports teams and stars are like the parents of a young child—heroes who can do no wrong. So it's a real bummer to find out your team and/or favorite players might have actually done wrong.

And even if they haven't, negative publicity is hardly welcome. When scandal is involved, folks will likely be talking about your team's alleged wrongdoing for days, weeks or even months.

Ultimately, however, what fans really care about is winning and losing, so unless a scandal affects that, it's not as bad as the other gut punches on this list.

9. Losing a Player to Suspension

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In August, Pittsburgh Steelers fans learned star running back Le'Veon Bell had been suspended for missing several drug tests. It is Bell's second consecutive season to start with a suspension, and this time, it's costing him three games.

The Steelers also will be without Martavis Bryant for the entire 2016 season. The wide receiver was suspended in March for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

Bell is an All-Pro and considered one of the game's best backs. Of Bryant, Marc Sessler of NFL.com wrote of a "sizzling red-zone ability" and added, "With 17 total touchdowns over two seasons, Bryant's value to the Steelers won't easily be masked over."

Losing a star player or even contributor to suspension is tough. And the longer the suspension, the worse it is, although not quite as tough as losing a player to injury. Injuries are accidental, could-not-have-been-avoided type situations. Generally, with suspensions, players bear some responsibility (unless they're Tom Brady).

8. Season-Ending Injury

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Injuries—and season-ending injuries, in particular—are the gut punches that could not have been avoided, the cruel twists of fate, if you will.

Take the Minnesota Vikings, for instance. They won the NFC North for the first time since 2009 in 2015. With promising young quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, veteran running back Adrian Peterson and a solid offensive line, the Vikings looked like real 2016 contenders.  

Then, Bridgewater went down with a knee injury in August. Season over, just like that. Head coach Mike Zimmer said, per Ben Goessling of ESPN.com, "We're gonna grieve today and be upset about it. It's more about our feelings for Teddy and for him as a person and getting better than it is about anything else."

Fans grieved as well, but there is still hope for the Vikings. Losing a major player for the season often puts a dent in championship hopes, but it doesn't automatically dispel them.

7. Getting Demolished/Embarrassed

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All right, moving on to the "losing games in devastating fashion section." First up is the embarrassing loss.

Getting smoked, in any situation, ever, invokes a terrible feeling in fans. Big situations and season-enders are the worst, though. Remember when the Seattle Seahawks absolutely crushed the Denver Broncos, 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII?

Likewise, embarrassing losses are particularly brutal when fans thought they stood a legitimate chance. Going back a few years, Germany's dismantling of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semifinal comes to mind. Ahead of the match, the Telegraph's John Ley predicted a tie in regulation and win for Germany in penalties. Instead, Germany scored five goals in 29 minutes during the first half and went on to win by the astonishing margin of 7-1.

Jeremy Wilson of the Telegraph called it "The World Cup match that will echo down the years to the shame of host's proud history."

Losing is one thing. Losing badly is another.

6. Big Play Happens Late in the Game Against Your Team

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Then again, with lopsided scores, at least fans had an inkling early on they would not win. One could argue it's worse to make it all the way to the final seconds of a big game, only to watch it all slip away.

There are a few devastating ways in which this can happen. And let's say, for clarity's sake, all of these are happening in season-on-the-line scenarios. It is more crushing to lose a season-ending game than any other type, right?

Moving on. There are season-ending losses in which a fan's own team is the victim of an incredible game-winning play by the opponent—think, a 100-yard kick return or walk-off home run.

Consider the plight of North Carolina basketball fans. Villanova's Kris Jenkins sunk a buzzer-beater to beat their team in the 2016 NCAA tournament championship.

At least in that situation, Jenkins was good enough to make the shot. Yes, it was a gut punch, but Tar Heel fans could attempt to console themselves with the knowledge they were beat, fair and square. Even famed UNC alum Michael Jordan had to give props.

5. Losing Team at Fault in Deciding Play

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On the other hand, what if Jenkins had missed that shot? Similarly, what about missing a field goal to win a playoff game (cough, Blair Walsh) or committing a dagger turnover in the Super Bowl (ahem, Russell Wilson).

One could argue it's more devastating for fans when their team actively loses rather than passively gets beat.

The Arizona Cardinals, for instance, had a chance to beat the New England Patriots in the NFL's opening week. Down 23-21 with 41 seconds remaining, Cards kicker Chandler Catanzaro lined up to attempt a 47-yard field goal. Catanzaro's career long is 51 yards, so the kick should have been challenging but makeable. 

And wouldn't you know it? He shanked it, wide left. The miss may or may not have been the result of a bad snap, but either way, the fault lies with the Cardinals.

That was a gut punch, for sure, but imagine that happening with say, the Super Bowl on the line. Former Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood famously missed a potential game-winner, wide right, during the waning seconds of Super Bowl XXV. And he hasn't lived it down.

4. Becoming the Victim of a Historic Comeback

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A season-ending loss is terrible for fans, any way you slice it. 

But the salt in the wound of any such defeat is becoming the victim of a historic comeback. Example: The Golden State Warriors were up 3-1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. No team had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals. Surely, the Dubs had it.  

You probably know the rest. The Cavaliers stormed back and took three straight games to win the title. Not only did the Warriors lose, but they lost a series they should have—historically speaking—won. Not only did they fall from almost assured victory to the depths of defeat, but now, they will forever be etched in the history books as the first team to relinquish such a lead in the Finals.

Something similar happened in the 2004 American League Championship Series. The New York Yankees became the first team in MLB history to relinquish a 3-0 series lead, and worse, they did it against their arch rival Boston Red Sox. 

These situations represent particularly strong gut punches—worse than an isolated losing play or blunder because the defeat follows the losing team, forever.

3. Losing on a Shocking, Highly Improbable Play

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The pain and despair of watching the season come to a close with anything other than a title—well, that's tough. Still, the manner in which a team loses can affect the force of the gut punch—is it amateur boxing, or is it Mike Tyson?

What about Miami fans during Doug Flutie's famous Hail Mary pass or Buffalo Bills fans during the Tennessee Titans' magical Music City Miracle? These are plays sports fans are still talking about, years and even decades later.

To watch a season come to a close on such a shocking and highly improbable play—that might be too much for fans to bear.

For example, in 2015, Michigan had in-state rival Michigan State beat—all it had to do was get a punt off. Instead, MSU blocked the punt and miraculously ran it in for a game-winning score.

It was wacky, zany and completely unlikely. One Michigan fan's post-gut punch facial expression even went viral. When fan devastation becomes a meme, that's bad.

2. Superstar Leaving in Free Agency

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Now, let's move on from losing games to losing other crucial components of a fan's fandom.

To say LeBron James was beloved in Cleveland from 2003-10 would be an understatement. He was the hometown hero, drafted by the hometown team, destined to take the downtrodden Cavaliers to the promised land. (And he eventually did, but that's not really the point.)

Then, he bolted. In 2010, James announced he would join the Miami Heat in free agency and smashed the collective heart of Cavs fans.

Losing a longtime superstar to free agency can transcend a single season's results. James' departure reeked of rejection. There was anger there—seething, "let's burn some jerseys" anger.

Consider this: Did Oklahoma City Thunder fans feel more crushed when they lost to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals or when Kevin Durant left town to join those very same Warriors?  

You'd have to ask them, but one could argue the latter was worse.

1. Franchise Relocation

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Is there anything more excruciating to endure, as a sports fan, than the removal of your team from its home?

Basketball fans in Seattle, baseball fans in Montreal and most recently, football fans in St. Louis—all have had to experience the worst gut punch a fan can experience: relocation.

Sure, it's a long process, but the moment fans find out the move is actually happening or is even a possibility—that's a gut punch. For instance, Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought land in Inglewood, California, in January 2014, a clear indicator he had plans to move the team.

Relocation is actually the gut punch that keeps on giving, in fact. Fans feel its sting over and over again—when rumors first begin, when the application is put in, when the application is approved, when the team sends St. Louis season ticket holders emails about buying the new Los Angeles merchandise, when the team plays its first game in the new city.  

No gut punches are as bad as this because in all of the previous scenarios, fans still have a team to root for.