The 10 Craziest Athletes in Sports History

Throughout the history of sports, there have been some wild, crazy personalities in every sport you can think of. You have your athletes who have said some insane things and others who acted in ways that still are an enigma to sane people.

So, here are the top 10 most insane athletes that have ever played. 

10. Bill Romanowski

BIll Romanowski is one of the toughest players to ever play in the National Football League. Now, having said that, he is also one of the craziest. 

Romanowski would routinely cut the bridge of his nose before games. He said that when he stepped onto the field, his mindset was to kill somebody. He got into fights, even crushing the eye socket with a punch on his own teammate in 2003.  

Read Romanowski's book, and you'll see how insane he truly was. If you go to the very end, he details every injury that he ever "officially" had. He probably had over 15 legitimate concussions, but still played into his late 30's. To top it all off, he was implicated in the BALCO scandal and admitted to taking steroids. Romo was pretty crazy.  

9. Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona is one of the best soccer players in the history of the game. However, he's one of the most volatile players off the field in the history of sports. 

Maradona won two World Cups for Argentina. But in the mid 1980's, he became extremely addicted to cocaine and alcohol. He overdosed on cocaine and was hospitalized numerous times. He began to have massive weight swings. He had numerous illegitimate children. He owes over 37 million Euros in back taxes. 

Nowadays, Maradona is clean and sober, but he continues to have frequent tirades on the sidelines during games. He's easily the most insane soccer player of all time, and definitely one of the craziest athletes there's ever been. 

8. John McEnroe

How could this list be complete without a video of the great Johnny Mac?

McEnroe was for sure the most outburst-prone tennis player in history. Any time he felt he was right about a call that an official got wrong, he let it be known, usually in a swear filled tirade directed at the chair judge. 

The video above shows McEnroe at his finest. In 1981, he unleashed on the official at Wimbledon with his famous "You cannot be serious" line that has become well known to anyone who is any sort of sports fan. 

7. Dennis Rodman

I think the above image of all the various Dennis Rodman looks from over the years speaks for itself. Rodman is without a doubt one of the most insane players ever. 

Rodman routinely sported wild outfits, unique hairstyles and tons of piercings. He got into brawls on the court and drank heavily off it. In fact, he married Carmen Electra while he was drunk. The guy even once donned a wedding dress. 

Dennis Rodman was certainly crazy both on and off the court, earning him a spot at No. 7. 

6. Travis Pastrana

For anyone who has not seen the above video, watch it immediately. Once you do, you'll have no argument that Travis Pastrana is perhaps the most insane extreme sports athlete of all time. 

The guy jumped out of a plane with no parachute, he did the first ever X-Games dirt bike double back flip and he drove a Subaru Impreza off of a jump across a river onto a barge. Everything he does is absolutely, unequivocally crazy. 

5. John Rocker

Few athletes have caused an entire city to hate them as much as New York hated John Rocker. He was a racist homophobe who made some extremely controversial comments in Sports Illustrated about a time that he visited New York City, detailing what it was like to ride the subway in New York.

While I won't repeat what he said, it certainly isn't something that a sane person would say knowing that it was going to be published in a worldwide magazine. I remember going to Mets-Braves games that season. Fans would throw beer and objects at him in the bullpen and boo loudly when he came into the game.

It got so bad that they had to construct big black dividers between the Braves bullpen and the stands. John Rocker is certainly one crazy guy, and really not that good a player. Had he never stirred up all that controversy, he would've probably been relatively unknown. 

4. Tonya Harding

Tonya Harding is without a doubt the craziest female athlete in the history of sports. Harding is most well known for having her rival skater, Nancy Kerrigan, attacked with a police baton, which caused her to have to withdraw from the US skating championships. The scandal is one of the more famous cases involving an athlete going crazy. 

In the years following the Kerrigan attack, there have been too many incidents involving Harding to list, but she has failed to stay on the straight and narrow to say the least. She has resorted to boxing to try and make a living, but was forced to retire due to asthma. One thing is for sure though about Tonya Harding: She is, and always has been, insane. 

3. John Daly

John Daly is nuts. From his alcohol and drug addictions, to his unbelievably erratic play on the golf course, he's flat out crazy. He has two major wins to his credit, yet it seems almost every time you see him play, he'll blow up and shoot a 16 on a hole, or be out there on the course with no shirt or shoes. 

Daly's crazy off the course lifestyle perhaps culminated when he was found inebriated outside of a Hooters restaurant and was arrested. He's had frequent problems with drugs and gambling. In fact, a popular alcoholic drink that includes Arnold Palmer's and vodka is affectionately nicknamed the John Daly. 

John Daly is without a doubt the most insane golfer of all time, and one of the most insane athletes we've ever seen. 

2. Ron Artest

I'm sure we've all seen the above video in which Ron Artest and the Pacers go absolutely insane at the Palace at Auburn Hills. Artest, among others, ran into the stands and was punching out fans. Basically, he was going crazy, something we've come to expect from Artest. 

He's made rap albums, thanked his psychiatrist after he came through big in the 2010 NBA finals and he changed his name to Metta World Peace. Ron Artest is without a doubt the most insane basketball player to ever hit the court, and if it wasn't for the next guy on the list, would be the craziest athlete ever to play a sport.  

1. Mike Tyson

Was there ever any doubt as to who would be No. 1 on the list of the craziest athletes of all time? Mike Tyson, or Iron Mike, is unquestionably the most insane athlete we have ever seen. 

From being convicted of rape, to biting off Evander Holyfield's ear, you always knew you'd get an insane story whenever Tyson was mentioned. He abused, in his words, "everything" when it came to drugs. The man told Lennox Lewis that he was going to eat his children. He said even crazier stuff, but I don't think it'd be appropriate to publish. The moral of the story is that Mike Tyson was straight up mental. 

Tyson has reformed somewhat in recent years. However, I wouldn't put it past Mike to have another crazy outburst or two. With him, you just never know.