ESPN Films 'Unguarded': Athletes Who Ruined Careers with Drugs

It's a sad, cautionary tale that is oft-repeated.

It's told by your teachers in grade school. It's told by your parents. It's told via billboards and television commercials and radio spots.

It's told through films like this one: Drugs will ruin your life. 

That message is ingrained into you, hammered down through repetition courtesy of every medium imaginable. Yet, like anything, there will always be those among the group who never listen; who bristle, roll their eyes and ultimately ignore the warning signs. 

They too may become those same, sad, cautionary tales like the one explored in ESPN Films' Unguarded. The latest installment in the network's weekly documentary series, it delves into the demons that derailed the promise of basketball star and former Boston Celtic Chris Herren. 

Cocaine was his vice—an all too common one among the sports world. Money, means and fame can provide all the fuel needed for a downfall, a way to erase the talent and skill that provided all three of those perks in the first place.

It's what happened in these cases, which are just a few examples amid the stack of cautionary tales. 

Ricky Williams

Like Chris Herren and others on this list, Williams himself was the subject of an ESPN Films documentary. Titled Run Ricky Run, the film used previously unseen footage from his life, which was shot during a time at which the running back was "America's Pothead."

A superlatively talented athlete, Williams burst onto the NFL landscape after a record-breaking career at Texas. He played for the Saints and is now on the Ravens' roster, but his tenure with the Dolphins is why he will be remembered. 

Having already failed drug tests for marijuana use and running afoul of the league's substance abuse policy, Williams retired from football in 2004 amid rumors that a third failed drug test was on the horizon of reaching the public. 

Instead of taking hand-offs in South Florida, Williams essentially took a sabbatical where he studied holistic medicine in Northern California.

He was of course derided for his decision, but he did make it back to the Dolphins in 2005 after a stop in the Canadian Football League.

It's been put on record that he doesn't regret stepping away.  

Williams left and made it back, but there's no telling what he could have accomplished if his head was in the game. 

John Daly

An all-time reminder of what bad decisions can do to one's career, Daly will forever remain a bastion of wasted potential.

It's easy to laugh at his antics, to write it all off as fun, but the golfer's life and career are littered with incidents that make you forget what he has accomplished. 

Think about it. What comes to mind when someone utters "John Daly?"

PGA Champion in 1991? British Open winner in 1995?

No, you think of alcohol and domestic disputes and controversy. The major championships have been buried. 

When Daly was on, he was on. He could hit drives that defied physics. Sadly, those days are gone and all but replaced by the notion of being a troubled man. 

Darryl Strawberry

Darryl Strawberry's stature alone could make opposing pitchers quiver on the mound: at 6' 6", he was essentially a power forward in the batter's box.

He was built, and it wasn't just all for show. He had power in that frame and could crank the ball equivalently. 

He made eight MLB All-Star Games and won the National League Rookie of the Year in 1983. He batted through cancer, earning him respect from around the sporting world. His potential and early career performance elicited comparisons to some of the game's greats.

It never materialized, and his career average is a pedestrian .259.

Instead of talking about his enshrinement in Cooperstown, the multiple-times World Series Champion is remembered for his battles with cocaine that spanned a large portion of his career. 

From a 1995 suspension to a 1998 arrest to more problems after the turn of the millennium, Strawberry's legacy will never be strictly about baseball. 

Chris Herren

The subject of Unguarded, Herren's potential started eroding before it could ever fully develop because of cocaine use.

A Massachusetts high school hero, Herren's play at point guard earned him a spot at Boston College, a dream situation for boys growing up in The Bay State. 

But instead, his college career was marred by failed drug tests at Boston College, followed by the same troubles at Fresno State.

Still, he was good—really good—and was drafted in the second round by the Denver Nuggets in 1999. 

In 2000, he was given another "dream opportunity" with a relocation to the Boston Celtics, but his career fizzled out and his best-known moment didn't come on a basketball court.

Instead, it transpired in the parking lot of a Dunkin' Donuts, where he was arrested for heroin possession and driving under the influence. 

He has been sober since 2008. 

Dwight Gooden

Much like his New York Mets teammate Darryl Strawberry, Gooden was an imposing figure on the diamond.

A dominant presence atop the pitcher's mound, Gooden's accolades are vast: Three World Series titles, four All-Star Appearances, the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards.

Then there are his well-documented battles with drugs. Starting in the 1980s and lasting past his retirement, Gooden's troubles with substance abuse and the law are often attributed to why he wasn't an even better player. 

Diego Maradona

Pele, Messi, Ronaldo...Maradona.

He was one of the greats—a player who championed World Cups and traversed the globe playing for some of the top clubs imaginable.

His legacy, though, will always have a cocaine caveat. 

He was suspended for more than a year from the sport in 1991 for cocaine, and was sent home from the 1994 World Cup after testing positive for ephedrine.

As such, he remains a controversial figure in the sport with a reputation which has yet to dissipate, even after he was given coaching duties of Argentina's national team. 

Steve Howe

All of Howe's potential was quickly forgotten due to his consistent battles with drugs.

The 1980 National League Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Howe was an All Star the next year and helped lead the team to a World Series title. 

Instead, Howe is remembered for his seven drug-related suspensions.

He died in a car crash in 2006, and it was later released that he had methamphetamine in his system at the time of the accident. 

Len Bias

Bias's story is one that will forever be an example of how drugs can rip away such amazing promise.

Drafted second overall by the Boston Celtics after an All-American career at Maryland, Bias never saw the Garden's parquet floor. 

Two days following the draft, he died from a cocaine overdose.

Like Ricky Williams and Chris Herren, the circumstances surrounding Bias' life were chronicled in the ESPN Films documentary Without Bias.