The most hated athletes in American history

[J_Dee]

Regardless of whether or not you think the hate's justified, who would you rank as the most-hated athletes in U.S. history? Not the ones that you personally hate the most, but the ones most hated by the majority of fans.

I'd probably rank the top four as:

LeBron James
O.J. Simpson
Ty Cobb
Barry Bonds

Not to equate LeBron or Bonds with monsters like O.J. or Cobb, but I still think they're hated the most overall.

 

[gamecockcat]

Terrell Owens
Michael Vick (post dog fighting)
Dennis Rodman
Bill Laimbeer
Muhammed Ali (right after becoming a Muslim and not going to Vietnam)

Let's not forget The Iron Sheik!!

 

[UnfrozenCatfanLawyer]

I don’t think Lebron James is even close to the top 5.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

Can’t imagine any athletes that got as much hate and death threats as Tommie Smith and John Carlos. They’re the pair of Americans that raised a black-gloved fist while on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics.

 

[jameslee32]

Hate sells.

 

[BankerCat12]

Grayson Allen
Colin Kaepernick

 

[TortElvisII]

Saul

Michael Porter.

Devin Askew

 

[TortElvisII]

Hate sells.

For tree fiddy

 

[TruBluCatFan]

There is only one answer.

 

[BBUK_anon]

Terrell Owens
Michael Vick (post dog fighting)
Dennis Rodman
Bill Laimbeer
Muhammed Ali (right after becoming a Muslim and not going to Vietnam)

Let's not forget The Iron Sheik!!

I wouldn't put TO on the list though he had his moments and Ali never ran, he stayed and fought unlike a certain known President did.

May add the Original Sheik;

That dude was a terror...

May also add;

Sprewell.. he was pretty hated...

John Rocker sure messed up too...

Tonya Harding had her moment too...

 

[DSmith21]

Ron Artest
Tony Romo
Bill Buckner
Vontaze Burfict
Serena Williams

Dishonorable coaching mention: Bob Knight/Jerry Sandusky

 

[JumperJack]

Hate is a strong word.

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

At the time, Hank Aaron.

 

[Lord Z]

When the dog story broke about Michael Vick is was dangerous for him to appear anywhere in public. He had folks seriously wanting to off him and they weren't shy about it. Dog lovers are fierce.

 

[WildcatfaninOhio]

Muhammed Ali (right after becoming a Muslim and not going to Vietnam)

Ali was right up there. He had the nerve to be outspoken and “uppity”. Blacks weren’t allowed to be that way in the 60s. Add to that what you mentioned about refusing his draft order and turning away from Christianity. That completed the trifecta of things 1960s ‘Murica wasn’t prepared to tolerate.

 

[DSmith21]

Ali was right up there. He had the nerve to be outspoken and “uppity”. Blacks weren’t allowed to be that way in the 60s. Add to that what you mentioned about refusing his draft order and turning away from Christianity. That completed the trifecta of things 1960s ‘Murica wasn’t prepared to tolerate.

Ali virtually invented trash talking and a lot of people detested that. Ali was also a complete jerk to several of his fellow boxers. He called Joe Frazer an Uncle Tom and a gorilla. This after Frazier helped Ali after his title was taken away. The two only made peace a year or two before Ali's death.

 

[Rebelfreedomeagle]

Lance Armstrong and Tony Stewart should at least be mentioned although probably not top 5.

 

[ukgrad83]

Can’t imagine any athletes that got as much hate and death threats as Tommie Smith and John Carlos. They’re the pair of Americans that raised a black-gloved fist while on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics.

You beat me to it. Exactly who came first to my mind.

 

[420grover]

When the dog story broke about Michael Vick is was dangerous for him to appear anywhere in public. He had folks seriously wanting to off him and they weren't shy about it. Dog lovers are fierce.

Yeah, I'd put him at the top of the list. People go insane over pets. I guarantee there's more people who hate him more than OJ.

 

[WayneDougan_rivals170043]

I'd argue it's Kaepernick and then LeBron James. It's not that LeBron did anything that bad, but he's got such a reach that even if 20% of the people who know of him hate him he'll have a top score. Ironically, LeBron may be the most beloved, but he's doing his best to lose that by being an ***, and I'm not just talking about social justice issues.

 

[magic8ball]

The first name that popped into my head was Ty Cobb.

Kaepernick is a good answer and I think he's earned the hate more than most of the other guys being named.

 

[Tskware]

OJ, most people believe he got away with double murder.

Kaepernick and Ali also on the list

I don't think I would put Cobb and Bonds on the list, lots of fans thought they were no account, nasty pricks, and Bonds was a roid cheater to boot, but can't say they registered on the "hate" scale like the first three.

 

[CatInCanuckLand]

Ron Artest
Tony Romo
Bill Buckner
Vontaze Burfict
Serena Williams

Dishonorable coaching mention: Bob Knight/Jerry Sandusky

Romo is a Dee-oh-double gee. He’s almost as good as me analyzing football games.

 

[rudd1]

Terrell Owens
Michael Vick (post dog fighting)
Dennis Rodman
Bill Laimbeer
Muhammed Ali (right after becoming a Muslim and not going to Vietnam)

Let's not forget The Iron Sheik!!

-keep laimbeer's name outta your mouth.

 

[AustinTXCat]

Jack Johnson deserves mention. He was the first black heavyweight champion. His 1910 victory over James J. Jeffries sparked nationwide riots. He was a highly controversial figure back in the day.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I have to imagine Lebron is well on his way. Top athletes are already hated by many, that's just the nature of sports. But Lebron has several more things working against him in recent years... politics, whining, quitting, ego.

And he's still not even done yet! OJ wasn't hated until 1994 when he was already 47 and long retired.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Very hot take coming in:

I hate athletes for what they do in the game, and against my teams, more than what they do off the court. OJ (likely) did a bad thing, but I can't say I "hate" him for it. Yet, I hate.. or hated..guys like Sasha Vujacic or Pedro Martinez or Grayson Allen.

Sounds crazy writing it.. but oh well. That's how I feel.

 

[Ollie.ksr]

Tim Tebow....no matter what he does, people come out of nowhere to bash him. Not top 5 because he's not that popular, but I would say based on popularity, he would be in the top 5.

 

[KYWildCatsFan]

Not sure the most hated. But, for a period of time I'd say Sterling Marlin.

 

[vhcat70]

Tonya Harding

 

[WayneDougan_rivals170043]

Tonya Harding

She did some porn which helped me forgive her.

 

[magic8ball]

Tim Tebow....no matter what he does, people come out of nowhere to bash him. Not top 5 because he's not that popular, but I would say based on popularity, he would be in the top 5.

I'm going to kinda disagree on Tebow because it's the small but very loud majority that hate him because he's an outspoken, devout Christian.

He had the top selling jersey when he played.

Haven't confirmed but I heard his Jacksonville jersey went straight to the number one seller the day it was released.

Overall I think he's way more loved than hated.

 

[Lord Z]

Tebow had like 3 of the top 4 selling NFL jerseys when he signed with the Jaguars after not playing football in a decade the other day so how in the world can he be on this list?

Tebow currently holds the top five spots in NFL merchandise sales -- Men's and women's jerseys, men's and women's t-shirts and a youth jersey. All five are selling more than any rookie jersey on the market.

Tebow's sales are also out-pacing Tom Brady's red Buccaneers jersey with the Super Bowl patch, all within 24 hours of inking his first NFL deal in nine years.

Tim Tebow Takes Over NFL Jersey Sales in Less Than 24 Hours

 

[Glenn's Take]

The thing with Tebow isn't him, it's some of his "supporters". I remember one of my friends mom starting a conversation with me about how he got screwed when he wasn't named the starter for the Broncos. I am pretty sure that she had never seen an NFL game in her life but she knew he got screwed. People make him out to be 1,000 times better at sports than he really is because of his religious beliefs. He's been taking up a spot in the Mets minor league system for years as nothing more than a publicity stunt.

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

Steve Spurrier ascoach

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I'm going to kinda disagree on Tebow because it's the small but very loud majority that hate him because he's an outspoken, devout Christian.

He had the top selling jersey when he played.

Haven't confirmed but I heard his Jacksonville jersey went straight to the number one seller the day it was released.

Overall I think he's way more loved than hated.

How is it small if it’s a majority?

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

The thing with Tebow isn't him, it's some of his "supporters". I remember one of my friends mom starting a conversation with me about how he got screwed when he wasn't named the starter for the Broncos. I am pretty sure that she had never seen an NFL game in her life but she knew he got screwed. People make him out to be 1,000 times better at sports than he really is because of his religious beliefs. He's been taking up a spot in the Mets minor league system for years as nothing more than a publicity stunt.

And they keep saying he was like blackballed from the league because of his beliefs. Dude was a terrible QB and refused to become a TE like every reasonable football mind was saying he should do. And look what happens when he finally agrees to become a TE, he gets signed by the Jags. Funny how that works.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Side opinion: Has anyone gone from hero, to heel, back to hero.. quite like Tiger Woods? I loved him as a kid.. disliked him in the late 2000's/2010's when he was kind of a douche.. and loved seeing his comeback a few years ago and would love to see it again.

 

[chroix]

John Rocker
Aaron Hernandez

 

[WayneDougan_rivals170043]

Side opinion: Has anyone gone from hero, to heel, back to hero.. quite like Tiger Woods? I loved him as a kid.. disliked him in the late 2000's/2010's when he was kind of a douche.. and loved seeing his comeback a few years ago and would love to see it again.

I still think most people liked him as his downfall was occurring. I sports hated Tiger Woods for most of his career similar to how I hated the Yankees. I typically just root against the best team (outside of UK). But when Tiger made his return I became a huge TW fan.