Watching professional athletes ruin their NFL careers by repeatedly making bone-headed decisions is ane of the virtually frustrating things a sports fan can witness. After all, the opportunity to play a sport for a living is a fantasy to most people. And seeing an athlete with Hall of Fame-caliber abilities waste their opportunity past making poor choices and/or breaking the law can be downright infuriating to those who could but dream of playing a sport for a living.

Throughout the years, we accept seen these unfortunate scenarios play out many times in the National Football game League. Sadly, these 10 one-time NFL players serve as examples of what non to do apropos pro football careers.

one. Johnny Manziel

10 Players Who Ruined Their Own NFL Careers
Former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel has partied himself out of the NFL. | Jason Miller/Getty Images

Johnny Manziel'south brief career with the Cleveland Browns was zip short of a disaster. At this point, we notice it hard to imagine the 2012 Heisman Bays winner getting another risk given his off-field behavior. In reality, even if a squad were willing to overlook his party-boy lifestyle, information technology would exist hard for them to overlook his subpar performance and inability to adjust to the speed of the NFL game when he actually was on the field for the Browns.

ii. Rae Carruth

Rae Carruth sits with his lawyers during the trial.
Talented wide receiver Rae Carruth sits with his lawyers during the trial. | Youtube

Rae Carruth'due south story is just flat-out sad. The once-promising showtime-round draft selection of the Carolina Panthers seemed destined to have a decade-long (or more) career equally a wide receiver in the NFL. Then he was convicted of conspiracy to commit first caste murder for his role in the shooting death of Cherica Williams, who was viii months pregnant with Carruth's child at the time of the incident. He is currently serving out a jail sentence of 24 years and four months.

3. Vince Immature

10 Players Who Ruined Their Own NFL Careers
Former NFL quarterback Vince Young went from being a promising young role player to a castoff in a short fourth dimension. | Paul Spinelli/Getty Images

Vince Young's professional career started off strong. The sometime Texas Longhorn won the 2006 NFL Rookie of the Year accolade later the Tennessee Titans selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

And merely when it looked like Young would accept a long-lasting, financially fruitful career, he permit his ego become the best of him after a tough overtime loss and got into much-ballyhooed exact altercation with then-Titans head coach Jeff Fisher. The incident effectively ended Immature's stint in Tennessee, and the two-time Rose Basin MVP would just spend 1 more season on an active NFL roster.

4. Lawrence Phillips


Lawrence Phillips' story is even so another deplorable, cautionary tale. He had a starring role on the field — off the field was a whole different story — during the University of Nebraska'southward run to national titles in 1994 and 1995. Then, the St. Louis Rams selected Phillips with the 6th overall pick in the 1996 NFL Typhoon.

Long story brusk, his off-field transgressions continued during his fourth dimension in the NFL, and his career never had a chance to take off, which is sad considering how former Rams' head coach Dick Vermeil called him "potentially the best running back he ever coached." In 2009, Phillips received a 31-year prison house judgement. Guards establish him expressionless in his cell earlier this year, before long after he received a charge for murdering his former cellmate.

five. Greg Hardy

10 Players Who Ruined Their Own NFL Careers
Defensive end Greg Hardy has had a hard time finding work since facing domestic violence charges. | Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The media has extensively documented Greg Hardy's legal issues over the last few years. The Dallas Cowboys gave the 2013 Pro Bowler a second chance in 2022 despite the icky domestic violence accusations he faced in North Carolina.

Hardy went on to repay them past getting into a physical altercation with special teams double-decker Rich Bisaccia and more than one of his teammates during a game on national television. Nosotros wouldn't be surprised if another team takes a take chances on him given his immense talent, simply we just don't see information technology happening.

6. JaMarcus Russell

JaMarcus Russell was a disappointment, to say the least | Ezra Shaw/Getty images
JaMarcus Russell was a thwarting, to say the least | Ezra Shaw/Getty images

The definition of an athlete having a "million dollar arm, and a 10-cent head": JaMarcus Russell. The Oakland Raiders selected the former LSU Tiger with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Now, NFL fans and experts telephone call him the biggest bust in NFL typhoon history. During his fourth dimension in the NFL, Russell gained a reputation for being abnormally lazy in everything he did, from studying film to working out. He made a addiction of showing up to team activities incredibly overweight after time off.

7. Aaron Hernandez

10 Players Who Ruined Their Own NFL Careers
Instead of catching Tom Brady's touchdown passes, former NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez spent his terminal days in jail. | Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Whether you are a sports fan or not, you probable heard plenty nearly Aaron Hernandez's fairly fall from grace. Fifty-fifty before he entered the NFL, the former New England Patriots tight cease had a long history of violence and run-ins with the law dating dorsum to his time at the University of Florida.

It all came to a boiling indicate — and his professional person football career came to a screeching halt — when he was arrested and charged with committing starting time-degree murder (among other charges) for his part in the shooting expiry of Odin Lloyd, who was once a personal friend of Hernandez's. The jury found him guilty of offset-degree murder. Then he faced additional legal issues involving a double murder.

Tragically, prison officials constitute Hernandez expressionless in his cell despite his recent amortization concerning the double homicide. The NFL community took to Twitter and other media platforms to express their sympathies.

8. Maurice Clarett

Maurice Clarett led the Ohio Country Buckeyes to a national championship every bit a freshman in 2002, and the bruising running dorsum seemed destined for NFL distinction. However, every bit information technology turns out, outside of a brief stint in the United Football League, Clarett would never play football again. His time at Ohio Country ended after a battle with university administrators and a plethora of NCAA, academic, and legal transgressions.

Following his dismissal from the Buckeyes, Clarett filed and lost a lawsuit concerning his eligibility for 2004 NFL Draft. He was finally eligible for the NFL in 2005, but showed up to the NFL Combine out of shape and went on to turn in one of the most embarrassing performances in the history of the event. Still, the Denver Broncos selected him in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.

In yet another head-scratching move, Clarett ignored his agents' advice and opted to sign a contract that included no guaranteed money when his draft slot carried an approximate guarantee of over $400,000. He reported to Broncos' training campsite more than 20 pounds overweight and didn't make the team'southward final roster, and that proved to be the last time Clarett would be on a NFL roster.

His life went on to spiral out of control, culminating in a seven-and-a-one-half-year jail sentence for several criminal offenses. On a positive notation, Clarett received an early release in 2010, and has since become a productive member of club.

nine. Ray Rice

10 Players Who Ruined Their Own NFL Careers
Former NFL running back Ray Rice has not played a down of football game since a video surfaced of him punching his wife in an Atlantic Urban center elevator. | Rob Carr/Getty Images

Ray Rice will forever live in infamy for being the man who brought virtually the NFL's new domestic violence policy. We don't have to go into besides much detail here, only Rice's NFL career came to an unfortunate terminate when surveillance video surfaced of him punching and dragging his married woman out of an elevator at a casino in Atlantic City.

10. Ryan Leaf

Quarterback Ryan Leaf of the San Diego Chargers stands around talking before a preseason game. | Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Quarterback Ryan Leaf of the San Diego Chargers stands around talking before a preseason game. | Jamie Squire/Getty Images

People throwRyan Leaf's proper noun effectually any time a give-and-take arises concerning the biggest draft busts in NFL history. Not only was he terrible when he was on the field — he had 14 touchdown passes, 36 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of l in 21 career starts — merely he was also a complete train wreck off the field.

Leaf started his career off on the wrong foot by skipping the final day of the mandatory Rookie Symposium, and and so it all went downhill from there. Aside from gaining a reputation for having a pathetic piece of work ethic (he didn't really care for studying pic), he also had multiple ambitious altercations with fans, reporters, coaches, and even then San Diego General Managing director Bobby Beathard.

Since retiring from the National Football League in 2002, Leaf has seen his life hit several all-time lows, and equally of now, the No. 2 overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft is trying to become his life dorsum on runway after spending fourth dimension in jail for burglary and drug charges.

Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.