Most Self-Destructive Players Ever

[flaccopoe]

How about Shawn merriman ....

He had all that drama with Tila Tequila, then he got popped by the NFL for Steriods, career basically spiraled to nothing from then on.
Merriman went from a premiere pass-rusher at that point better than Demarcus Ware, to absolutely nothing.

 

To be fair, he had a lot of injury issues.

[H8R]

To be fair, he had a lot of injury issues.

To be fair, some would say that was because of him quitting the dart...

[H8R]

Santonio Holmes

[jdynamite]

WR Matt Jones - various substance problems, failed position change experiment...

WR Charles Rogers - injuries began his fall, but he later admitted in ESPN mag article that he smoked marijuana frequently , took painkillers and partied often following the second collarbone injury, some due to depression but mostly living the fast life.

[jdynamite]

To be fair, some would say that was because of him quitting the dart...

Lol that's why I'm attempting to label it a self-destruct. Whether true or not when talking about Merriman people could always say well he was good until..... So it would seem like his play dropped off and the injuries piled up because he no longer had them.

[JEEPercreepermd]

Ryan Leaf. 

[flaccopoe]

Ryan Leaf. 

 

Yes, you're the 4th person to mention him. :p

[T3hRaven]

Ryan Leaf has got to be on the short list.

[Gordo52]

I'm going to say Ryan Leaf.

[The Oakland Cathedral]

Ryan Leaf for sure.

[SecretAgentMan]

Ryan Leaf

[SecretAgentMan]

Ryan Leaf for sure.

DAMN YOU.
I was going to do this as my joke and you got it in before me

[The Oakland Cathedral]

DAMN YOU.
I was going to do this as my joke and you got it in before me

It is because I'm a winner. If you ain't first you're last!

[SecretAgentMan]

It is because I'm a winner. If you ain't first you're last!

You're not this week.

I deem you to be as unsuccessful as Ryan Leaf. U r screwed

[flaccopoe]

Glad we could all agree upon Leaf.  

[MissK528]

Aldon Smith now qualifies for this list, I think... hopefully rehab will work out for him.

[PerpetuallyBored74]

Sam Hurd (federal drug charges)

Peyton Hillis (bad career decisions)

Steve Emtman (steroids)

David Boston (steroids)

 

Justin Blackmon also has had his career hampered by off-field issues, though it's too early to add him to this list, yet.

[flaccopoe]

Sam Hurd (federal drug charges)

Peyton Hillis (bad career decisions)

Steve Emtman (steroids)

David Boston (steroids)

 

Justin Blackmon also has had his career hampered by off-field issues, though it's too early to add him to this list, yet.

 

Yeah, Hillis rose and fell really quickly.  Hurd could have elevated to elite status matriculating with Romo.

[Predator]

Chad OchoCinco Johnson takes the cake in my book. But then there's a dozen or so other Bengals on this list.

[ragdus]

Destructive can be categorized in any number of ways, but to me you have to meet three criteria to be "Most Self-Destructive"

 

1) You ruin your career

2) You destroy your life outside of the game

3) Your behavior affects the NFL as a whole

 

Given those parameters, I'm ruling out guys like Vick, Merriman, Russell, R. Williams, etc. They all meet some of those requirements, but not all (although Vick is close)

 

I'm throwing in with the Ryan Leaf crowd.

 

To me, his failure as an individual has had the biggest impact. Clearly he ruined himself personally and professionally, and it also made NFL franchises really take stock of the guy they're drafting to headline their organizations. I think you can also point directly to him as the first of a string of big money, high profile first round flops that led to the new rules governing rookie contracts.

[H8R]

Ocho Cinco can't be on my list , he accomplished a lot. His skills and speed were diminished...

[H8R]

Cmac
Ricky Williams
Lawrence Phillips
Corey Dillon
Albert Haynesworth
Titus Young