Football Villains

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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There are some guys who are true villains, like Jack Tatum, whose cheap shot paralyzed Darryl Stingley and ended his career.

There are some guys who you can't stand mainly (I'll say mainly because there may be other things you don't like about them) because they were great, but who were rivals, like Peyton Manning.

There are other guys who you don't care much about but who made iconic plays against your team in big moments, like David Tyree.

So in these three categories - NFL only - who are your biggest villains?

I'll start the list....

Category 1 - True Villians
Jack Tatum - no explanation needed
Aaron Hernandez - I mean, this is a weird one. He made huge plays for my favorite team and I rooted for him, only to find out that he murdered a bunch of people. Holy crap.
Bernard Pollard - Caused so many key Patriots' players massive injuries.

Category 2 - Arch Rivals
Dan Marino
Peyton Manning
Rex Ryan
Ben Roethlisberger
Ray Lewis

Category 3 - Innocent Bystanders
David Tyree
Eli Manning - wasn't a real rival, but obviously won two SBs against NE
Nick Foles - hard to dislike the guy but he played the game of his life in the SB vs NE
Joe Flacco
 

johnmd20

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Roethlisberger isn't an Arch Rival. He's freakin' Wile E Coyote and the CEO of Acme combined. Definitely not a rival, more like a punching bag.

Dan Marino feels a little dumb, too. It's not like the Pats were good in the 80s where it mattered. Rex Ryan, definitely. But if you put Rexy Sexy as an Arch Rival, Eli has to go there, too. Tyree was innocent, that helmet catch was literally the last catch of that guy's career. Eli stuck a dagger in twice, despite pulling 15 horseshoes out of his ass to do so.

And Ray Lewis was a true villain.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Flacco should be an arch rival, too. He actually won some games. Ben R has won nothing but the bottom of the canyon.
 

Bergs

funky and cold
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Jul 22, 2005
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I'll take John Harbaugh over Flacco and even Lewis. But Bernard Pollard, man. Christ.
 

jose melendez

Earl of Acie
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Bill Romanovski-- a shitty person on and off the field who got a ton of leeway from the Boston sports media (KKKallahan) because he was a white guy who played at BC.
 

hube

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Apr 4, 2010
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Terrell Suggs is a legitimately terrible person.

Shannon Sharpe was a rival I thoroughly hated in the 90s.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Mar 5, 2007
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Ben Dreith is a true villain

Don Shula was an arch rival (and I agree that Marino was; he killed the Pats throughout the 80s)
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Desmond Howard can probably be put in Category 3
Yep. And the Fridge too. Though the Fridge didn't really do any real damage against the Pats. I just remember him blasting into the end zone in SB 20 for a meaningless touchdown that should by all rights have been Walter Payton's.
 

SoxJox

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Dec 22, 2003
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In the villain category, Dick Butkus has got to be in there somewhere. Maybe Jack Lambert. And with a nickname like "Mean", how could Joe Greene not be included?

Of course, in more recent times, there's always Ndamukong Suh.
 
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( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)

T&A
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Feb 9, 2010
5,302
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Yes I know it's not football, he played a completely different sport. But while discussing sports villains on a Boston sports related message board I feel contractually obligated to add Bill Laimbeer's name to the conversation. If you were a kid growing in the 80s, in New England and your father had even a mild interest in watching sports then a deep seeded hatred for Laimbeer is forever etched in to your brain.

Sorry for the diversion. It had to be said.
 

djbayko

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Jul 18, 2005
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Roethlisberger should be bumped up a category. Yes, he was an arch rival, but he was also a tad bit more than that.

Also, he refuses to just let a good joke breathe on its own.
 
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Import78

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Most (all?) of the '72 Dolphins, but especially Mercury Morris. Just for being an insufferable douche bag, not because of any particular Patriots rivalry.
 

bankshot1

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Feb 12, 2003
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Fred "The Hammer: Williamson wasn't so much villain, as a self-promoting helmut hunter back in the 60's AFL. Fred, who I saw a couple of days ago in the cult-classic "From Dusk til Dawn" (that Selma Hayek bar scene holds up) delivered forearm hits to opponents heads, hoping to knock them out. And he was good at it, in an dirty sort of way. In the days leading up to the 1st Super Bowl, threatened to KO Packer receivers. In an ironic twist of fate The Hammer got nailed and was knocked out of the game.
 
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Mugsy's Jock

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Terrell Suggs is a legitimately terrible person.
I am shocked - shocked! - to see it having taken so deep into this thread to see Suggs mentioned, and then not referred to again. I can’t think of anyone I’ve hated more over the years... encouraging cheap shots, disrespect to the point of hostility for TB12 (despite Brady’s continual efforts to smooth things over), and the the whole bleach thing that he skated on.

Fuck. That. Guy.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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This is like being mad at a hammer for hitting nails.
From 1983-1988 (that's 6 of the 10 seasons in the 80s), the Patriots went 8-8, 9-7, 11-5, 11-5, 8-7, and 9-7 for a total record of 56-39 (.589). During that time, they went 9-3 against the Dolphins, including the AFCCG in the 1985-86 season. The other year of the decade when Marino was playing (1989), Marino beat them twice, bringing his 1980s record against the Pats to 5-9, including playoffs.

In the 90s, he went 12-5 against the Patriots, bringing his career record against NE to 17-14, including playoffs.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the ultimate villains for at least, what? Half the teams in the league?

That's fucking awesome.
 

Norm Siebern

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Most (all?) of the '72 Dolphins, but especially Mercury Morris. Just for being an insufferable douche bag, not because of any particular Patriots rivalry.
Yes, the '72 Dolphins, and Manny Fernandez in particular. The single most overrated team in any sport in history.
 

Marciano490

Urological Expert
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Nov 4, 2007
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Dave Meggett and Darren Sharper are true villains.

Who was that little safety who played for Arizona who used to spear people back in the Jacked Up days? He was on an SI cover once.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Hernandez, Carruth, Meggett, Sharper and others who are criminals off the field should be in a different conversation.

For on the field stuff it is Tatum and everyone else is a distant second, even Pollard.
 

SoxJox

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Dec 22, 2003
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Many make the case against "our own" Rodney Harrison. I mean, I loved the guy because...homie. And, of course, the light's out hit on Jerry Rice merely added to his $200K total in fines.

Hell, he even took on TB12 during practice.

And the dude is in the HoF.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Many make the case against "our own" Rodney Harrison. I mean, I loved the guy because...homie. And, of course, the light's out hit on Jerry Rice merely added to his $200K total in fines.

Hell, he even took on TB12 during practice.

And the dude is in the HoF.
He's in the Pats HOF, but not the NFL HOF.
 

grsharky7

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Jul 15, 2005
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Dave Meggett and Darren Sharper are true villains.

Who was that little safety who played for Arizona who used to spear people back in the Jacked Up days? He was on an SI cover once.
Chuck Cecil? I remember when he was playing with the Packers. The SI cover said, " Too Vicious for the NFL?"
 

Harry Hooper

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Speaking of Rodney, Jeff Fisher has to be on this list for ordering the Titans' hit on Harrison that knocked him out of the playoffs.
 

DanoooME

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Mike Harden was a DB for the Broncos in the 80s. In a game against the Seahawks, he got a cheap shot in on Steve Largent during an interception return, during which Largent got a concussion and missed 3 games. The next time the teams played, Largent got his revenge:

Edit: start the video at 1:50.

View: https://youtu.be/KKHKtkct5Hw?t=115