40+ Iconic Athletes Who Cheated on Their Wives Publicly and Were Forgiven

Athletes Who Cheated

Famous athletes seem to be known for one thing. You’d think it’s their prowess on the field or the pitch, but it’s actually their prowess in the bedroom. They can’t seem to stay faithful when it comes to love. From LeBron James to David Beckham, we’ve compiled a list of the most iconic athletes that cheated on their wives publicly and were forgiven.

A-Rod Off His A-Game

Alex Rodriguez, also known as A-Rod, played for three different teams in the MLB. But, it seems that somewhere along the way, he forgot what teamwork means — at least in regards to his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. In fact, the athlete was accused of cheating on her several times during the span of their relationship.

A-Rod Off His A-Game

The most recent accusation was with Madison LeCroy from the Bravo TV show, Southern Charm. And while JLo, A-Rod, and Madison all refuse to confirm the affair, whatever happened was bad enough to cause a split and send JLo back to Ben Affleck.

Cromartie vs. Cason

Antonio Cromartie from the New York Jets has had a rocky relationship with model Terricka Cason. At one point, she took it so far as to threaten self-harm, causing Cromartie to call the police, who found her taking a nap with her kids.

Cromartie vs. Cason

She said she did it to get attention from Cromartie, who had been cheating on her with other women. Whatever her reasoning, self-harm is never something to lie about. They worked it out and are still together, though.

Accusations Out of Left Field

Avisail Garcia has played baseball for four different MLB teams, one of which was the Detroit Tigers, where he played with teammate Prince Fielder. When people wondered why Fielder had been playing badly, it was revealed that Garcia had slept with his wife.

Accusations Out of Left Field

Garcia was also married. Infidelity is already bad, but injecting yourself into your teammate’s marriage makes it even worse. Garcia’s wife forgave him and they’re still together, but we doubt she’ll ever forget. Neither will Prince Fielder.

Marshall and the Special House

NFL player Brandon Marshall wasn’t simply caught cheating on his wife. He was part of a much bigger, more serious scandal. He and another player owned a house that they used to cheat away from the prying eyes of the media.

Marshall and the Special House

They only got caught because of a shooting in front of the house after a burglary. Surely his wife, Michi Nogami, wasn’t happy — but despite their tumultuous relationship, they’re still married today. Hopefully, they sold that horrible house.

Carmelo Can’t Control Himself

Carmelo Anthony may be a 10-time NBA All-Star, but he’s not an all-star when it comes to his marriage with La La Anthony. Rumors of his infidelity plagued them, on top of other controversial actions by Carmelo.

Carmelo Can’t Control Himself

The public may have forgiven Carmelo, but La La hasn’t. After a brief split in 2018 and a reconciliation, La La finally filed for divorce in June of 2021. Not only is he currently on the lookout for a new team, but he may also need to find a new wife.

Chad Changes to Canada

Chad Johnson was in the NFL for 11 years, playing for multiple teams, and even spent a season in the Canadian Football League. His switch to Canada wasn’t due to loving maple syrup, though.

Chad Changes to Canada

After an argument over a receipt, he was arrested for domestic violence and released from the Miami Dolphins. He’s now on Selling Tampa on Netflix. His marriage may have gone south, but his career in the spotlight certainly hasn’t. It seems the public has a shorter memory span than his ex-wife does.

Chien-Ming Wang Exposed

Chien-Ming Wang’s celebrity came from more than being an MLB pitcher. A Taiwanese newspaper put him on blast with photos of him having an affair. He didn’t ignore or deny the accusations, though — he owned up to them.

Chien-Ming Wang Exposed

His wife, who he had been married to for nine years, forgave him and they had another kid together. Now, he’s a pitching coordinator in Taiwan. It just goes to show that admitting mistakes is better than denying and lying.

Chipper’s Ex-Wife Isn’t Chipper

Chipper Jones is now an assistant hitting consultant for the Atlanta Braves after a successful career playing for them. He’s also written a memoir, Ballplayer, where he discusses many aspects of his life — including how he came clean about his affairs.

Chipper’s Ex-Wife Isn’t Chipper

He had a girl in three different cities, one of whom he got pregnant. It looks like he was a player in more ways than one. He and his wife at the time divorced, but he’s remarried now and doing well.

Bend Rules Like Beckham

Stunned to see a name as big as David Beckham on this list? So are we, but it seems to be a trend for good-looking athletes to go astray in their relationships, even when married to someone as incredible as Victoria Beckham.

Bend Rules Like Beckham

He had an affair with his personal assistant in 2004, and Victoria described it as one of the hardest times in their marriage. It seems to have made them stronger, however, and they continue to build an empire together.

Deion and the Twodel

Have you ever heard of a ‘twodel’? Apparently, it’s a Twitter model, and one specific twodel managed to catch the attention of NFL star Deion Sanders. There’s a lot of evidence putting the two together in a scandalous affair.

Deion and the Twodel

There’s flight itineraries, text messages, and even photos of her with his custom car keys! He and his wife got a divorce, and Deion’s a coach now. Hopefully, he teaches his players to make better decisions than he did.

Instagram Hack Gone Wrong

For years now, friends have “hacked” each other’s social media accounts, posting funny or embarrassing messages for all of the friend’s virtual friends to see. But, what happens when an Instagram hack isn’t so cute? Delanie Walker could tell you.

Instagram Hack Gone Wrong

His ex-girlfriend posted on his account that he was cheating on her. Lucky for him, the NFL doesn’t discriminate against cheaters — at least, not if the cheating was in a relationship. Walker broke his ankle, though, and is struggling to keep his career going. Maybe it’s karma.

Power Couple Struggles

Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union are the definition of a power couple. The three-time NBA champion and actress have worked hard to get where they are. But, it wasn’t always all sunshine and roses for the pair.

Power Couple Struggles

Before they were married, Dwayne had a baby with another woman. Gabrielle recently opened up about how hard it was for her, yet she’s stuck by his side and they’ve supposedly grown stronger from the experience.

The Super Bowl Mistake

One would think that the night before a game as massive as the Super Bowl, football players would be focusing on preparing themselves for the game. You wouldn’t think that this would involve call girls, yet that was the case for NFL star Eugene Robinson.

The Super Bowl Mistake

He solicited an escort that turned out to be an undercover cop and got arrested. His career survived the ordeal, but we aren’t sure if the same can be said for his relationship. Talk about a night out gone very, very wrong.

Sketchy Stay in Munich

When athlete husbands go to a hotel, the last thing their wives should worry about is whether they’re participating in illegal activities wiith underage girls. But that’s exactly what Franck Ribery’s wife, Wahiba, discovered. A hotel stay in Munich turned sour.

Sketchy Stay in Munich

Both Ribery and the girl say he didn’t know she was underage, and it seems Wahiba believed him and has forgiven him. So did the public, because he still plays soccer professionally for Salernitana in the US.

Naïve and Gullible

Some people may know Hank Baskett as a former NFL wide receiver. Others may know him from the reality show Kendra that he starred in with his ex-wife, Kendra Wilkinson. And then there’s those who know him for having had an affair.

Naïve and Gullible

It occurred while Kendra was eight months pregnant, and she shrugged it off as him being very naïve and gullible. Yet their marriage ultimately ended in divorce. Hank’s now popular in the videogame industry as a partner at a console company.

Captain, Leader, Legend, Cheater

John Terry is a Chelsea soccer legend for more reasons than one. Not only did he have an extramarital affair, but it was with his teammate Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend. And not only is she his teammate’s girlfriend, but also his wife’s best friend!

Captain, Leader, Legend, Cheater

Terry was begging for the situation to blow up in his face, and it did. He may be a coaching consultant at Chelsea Academy now, but absolutely no one should be consulting him for advice on relationships.

Player On and Off Court

Kevin Garnett retired from professional basketball in 2016. He ranked in the top 20 in history for points, blocks, steals, and games. He didn’t just play games for the NBA, though — he constantly played around during his relationship with Brandi Padilla.

Player On and Off Court

He reportedly went on dates with other women while married to her. There are even photos of him snuggling up with other women. The two had a nasty divorce, but it’s over. Now, he’s focusing on his production company.

A Family Riddled With Tragedy

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s history with his wife, Vanessa, is very sad. The couple had a rough patch when Bryant had an inappropriate encounter with a young woman working at a hotel in Vail, Colorado.

A Family Riddled With Tragedy

Vanessa suffered a miscarriage during the trial with the young woman, and Bryant largely blamed himself. They worked through it, but then Kobe passed away in a tragic helicopter crash in 2020, along with one of their daughters. Vanessa and the others still deal with the aftermath.

Lamar’s Wandering Eyes

Another Los Angeles Lakers star with fidelity issues is Lamar Odom. While married to Khloé Kardashian, they starred in a reality TV show together, Khloé & Lamar. Apparently, it opened up a lot of doors, and we don’t mean business opportunity wise.

Lamar’s Wandering Eyes

Lamar said it brought a bunch of women his way, and he couldn’t keep certain things in his pants. This, combined with a dangerous bender in 2015, led to he and Khloé’s divorce. Now, he’s finished a stint on Celebrity Big Brother and wants to coach his old college basketball team.

A Strange Year for Lebron

2013 was a weird year for Lebron James. While he was winning championships with the Miami Heat basketball team, he was also rumored to be having an affair with a swimsuit model and asked a woman at the White House for her phone number.

A Strange Year for Lebron

Despite the rumors, he and Savannah got married in the same year, so it wasn’t all bad (at least, depending on how you look at it). They’re still married and he now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cookie Johnson’s Forgiveness

Magic Johnson is often considered to be the NBA’s greatest point guard of all time. His time with the NBA was smooth sailing, but his relationship with his wife, Cookie, hasn’t always been so successful. In 1991, just 45 days after they married, he was diagnosed with a serious virus.

Cookie Johnson’s Forgiveness

Cookie stood by his side, but said it was difficult to listen to him call all the women he had cheated on her with to tell them the news. Now, Johnson owns a couple of sports teams and he and Cookie are still going strong.

Ozil Out of His Mind

Having affairs with the girlfriends or wives of teammates seems to be a common theme among professional athletes. Maybe it feels more dangerous and daring than a simple affair with an outsider. Whatever the reason, professional soccer player Mesut Ozil is another person guilty of this.

Ozil Out of His Mind

He was accused of an affair with Bayern Munich defender Christian Lell’s ex-girlfriend. While he hasn’t admitted to it, he and his girlfriend at the time split up. He’s still playing soccer, though, currently for a team in Turkey.

Ronaldo Steps Out?

Cristiano Ronaldo is known around the world as one of the very best professional soccer players to ever play the game. But, it looks like when it comes to the game of love, he might not be as dependable.

Ronaldo Steps Out?

Allegedly, he stepped out on his long-time model girlfriend, Irina Shayk, with Brazilian Model Andressa Urach. It looks like even just the rumors of the possible affair were enough for Irina to call it quits with the athlete.

Jordan’s Unpaid Hush Money

Michael Jordan is perhaps one of the most loved basketball players of all time. He’s also a cheater — not on the court, thankfully, but definitely off of it. He allegedly had an affair with Karla Knafel and promised her money to keep it quiet.

Jordan’s Unpaid Hush Money

Jordan contests this affair, and strongly denies it being one of the reasons he and his ex-wife Juanita divorced. Even though it was the most expensive celebrity divorce of all time, Jordan is still beloved by many; just maybe not Juanita.

It’s Not Adultery, Though

Soccer pretty boy Olivier Giroud is a French sight to behold. He’s played on multiple teams and is a huge star in the sport. He’s also a cheater, but not an adulterer, according to his arguments over semantics.

It’s Not Adultery, Though

He met an American model in a hotel room the night before a big game, and denied it at first, but ultimately confessed on Twitter. But, the biggest part is that he insisted he “made a mistake but did not commit adultery!” We aren’t really sure that’s any better, Olivier.

Oscar de las Fotos

Former professional boxer Oscar de la Hoya was photographed wearing a risque outfit, which showed everyone how he’d been messing around with someone else. He and his team denied the claims and launched a smear campaign against the girl, and then settled a lawsuit behind closed doors.

Oscar de las Fotos

He’s since admitted that it was indeed him in the photos, but we’re not sure we forgive him for publicly shaming a girl when she was telling the truth. The public seems okay with him, though, as he’s planning a comeback from retirement.

Patrice Dips Out

Imagine you’ve been married to your high school sweetheart for years. You tell her you’re going to your London home for work, just to never come back and file for divorce, all without actually speaking to your wife. Shocked? Us too, but that’s exactly what soccer player Patrice Evra did.

Patrice Dips Out

His wife found out about the affair because the model Patrice was seeing posted a photo from the family’s home gym in London. The sad thing is, it wasn’t even the first time he’d had an affair, yet his wife stuck by his side until then.

Not What Doc Ordered

Paul George, aka PG-13, is a seven-time NBA All-Star and also apparently someone who enjoys tension. He was dating Callie Rivers when he cheated with a stripper. That’s bad enough, but then he started playing for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Not What Doc Ordered

The coach of the Clippers at the time was none other than Doc Rivers, famous sports coach and father of Callie Rivers. Whether Doc held a grudge, one can only guess, but it definitely couldn’t have been fun at first.

A Scandalous Twitter Accident

Lots of people accidentally text the wrong person. Fewer accidentally post something to social media, but it does happen from time to time. Even fewer accidentally post a very condemning private message to their Twitter, like Ray Allen.

A Scandalous Twitter Accident

The Basketball Hall of Fame member tweeted something very explicit that was meant to be a private message to his mistress. He claimed he had been hacked when he realized he outed himself, but we don’t buy it. His wife probably didn’t either.

Reggie Bush Has a Type

We aren’t here to talk about the fact that Reggie Bush’s wife, Lilit Avagyan, looks a heck of a lot like ex Kim Kardashian. No, he’s made the list for cheating on Lilit with a waitress in Miami and getting her pregnant.

Reggie Bush Has a Type

He supposedly offered her money to terminate the pregnancy, but she didn’t take it and decided to sue him instead. At the end of the day, Lilit didn’t deserve to be disrespected like that.

Rowdy Royston in Ruins

Royston Drenthe, a professional soccer player from the Netherlands, is a person of questionable character. His wild lifestyle cut his soccer career short. One such bad choice was getting intimate with a Spanish model.

Rowdy Royston in Ruins

He apparently has seven kids with four different women, so we aren’t even sure who it was he was cheating on. But, one thing is certain — no one likes to be cheated on. Maybe he’ll have better luck with love when he’s older, but we aren’t counting on it.

An Eight-Year Family Affair

Ryan Giggs may be considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, but if there were an award for worst brother ever, it would go to him. Not only did he have an affair with his brother’s wife, but it carried on for eight years!

An Eight-Year Family Affair

That seems like plenty of time to realize you’re doing something wrong. But, rumor has it Giggs still hasn’t even apologized, and it wasn’t even the last time he cheated on his wife.

Seyi’s Side Chick

Seyi Ajirotutu, a former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, married Autumn in 2012. Autumn always spoke of how faithful her husband was on the reality show WAGS. His side chick got annoyed and shared text messages between them with a gossip blog, putting him on blast to the world.

Seyi’s Side Chick

That didn’t deter his wife, although they did eventually divorce in 2020. Seyi is now the CEO of a fitness company, so the exposure may have done him more good than harm.

Blackberry Betrays Shaq

Shaquille O’Neal, better known as Shaq, and his wife Shaunie got a divorce in 2009. At the time no one knew why, but it’s since been revealed it was due to multiple affairs. Their phones got switched one day and Shaunie discovered messages from girl after girl, exposing Shaq as a cheater.

Blackberry Betrays Shaq

He now recognizes it’s his fault, and said, “In my mind I never did it disrespectfully” — as if that makes it better. There isn’t really a respectful way to cheat, Shaq!

Arsenal Star’s Marriage Goes Awry

Thierry Henry was a huge star in the early 2000s as one of the best players in the history of Arsenal F.C. and a beautiful wife. He dumped his marriage down the drain, however, after his wife found inappropriate messages between him and a makeup artist in Barcelona.

Arsenal Star’s Marriage Goes Awry

Fortunately for Henry, he still had a super successful career and he’s now helping coach in Belgium, so all he lost from his affair was his marriage and a little bit of respect.

Tiger’s Loose Definition of Fidelity

Anyone who was alive in 2009 knows two things about Tiger Woods — that he’s a major golf champion, and that he went through a massive cheating scandal. After his wife found texts on his phone, she chased him out of the house with a golf club and he then crashed his car into a fire hydrant.

Tiger’s Loose Definition of Fidelity

He supposedly had over 120 affairs during his marriage, which has got to be a record, although we’re not sure if it’s a record he’d be happy to break.

Lost a Lovely Wife

Tony Parker, a former NBA point guard, seemed like he had it all. He had a successful career and he was married to the beloved Eva Longoria. But, that marriage ended when it turned out he’d been unfaithful.

Lost a Lovely Wife

It broke Longoria’s heart, but she wished nothing for the best for him and didn’t think he was a bad person. We aren’t sure we are as forgiving as she is. At least Tony’s off in France now, working with a team there.

Three Confirmed Affairs

Poor Khloé. We previously addressed how she’d been burned by Lamar Odom. She’s now with Tristan Thompson, but unfortunately not much has changed.

Three Confirmed Affairs

There are at least three confirmed instances of Tristan cheating on Khloé, one of which turned into a huge scandal because it was with her sister Kylie’s best friend, Jordyn Woods. Khloé just can’t catch a break.

Rooney Likes Threes

Wayne Rooney is a Manchester United soccer icon, but legend also has it that he cheated on his wife with not one — but two women at the same time, while his wife was pregnant with their first child. That’s right. Rooney had a threesome, and his wife definitely wasn’t one of the other two members.

Rooney Likes Threes

Coleen has said that she forgives him, but it wasn’t acceptable. While we can’t say whether she should be forgiving him, we definitely agree that what he did was absolutely unacceptable.

Duca’s Messy Morals

Paul lo Duca may have been a great catcher for the MLB, but he also caught lots of attention when he allegedly had several flings with 19-year-old girls. On top of a supposed gambling addiction, it was a lot to take in.

Duca’s Messy Morals

He and his ex-wife Sonia divorced, and Paul has since shifted his attention from baseball to horse racing. His career haunts him, though, since he got sued for defamation against an MLB umpire.

Racing for a Divorce

Whether or not you agree that NASCAR is a sport, it captures the attention of millions of fans every year. A big name in the NASCAR world is Jeff Gordon. He and his wife Brooke were a very popular couple, as she was involved in NASCAR before she met him.

Racing for a Divorce

However, their bliss didn’t last long. A model told Playboy that she had an 11-month affair with the driver, causing Brooke to file for divorce. He didn’t lose many fans, though, and is now chairman at Hendrick Motorsports.

Hulkamania in the Courtroom

Hulk Hogan and his ex-wife Linda grew very popular when they appeared on their reality TV show, Hogan Knows Best. But things quickly dissolved into an angry, bitter divorce battle when it was revealed that Hulk was having an affair.

Hulkamania in the Courtroom

To make matters worse, it was with one of his daughter Brooke’s close friends. Hulk claims the divorce came as a surprise, and they have been fighting against each other ever since, even though it’s been over a decade.

Faith Gets You Through It

The year is 2008. “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay hits all the radio stations and becomes an instant success, and Brett Favre makes a big mistake. He sends suggestive messages and photos to someone who’s definitely not his wife, Deanna.

Faith Gets You Through It

At the time, Deanna said her faith would get her through it, yet he has had several other alleged transgressions since then. How many times will she stick up for him before she decides that enough is enough? Only Deanna knows.

Light the Tiki Torches

Tiki Barber played football for the New York Giants, but he’s also a giant jerk when it comes to how he left his first wife. She was pregnant with their daughter, and he left her for a girl he was having an affair with.

Light the Tiki Torches

While he and Traci Lynn Johnson (his new wife) are still together today, it’s really messed up to leave your wife for another woman when she’s about to have your child. He even lost his broadcasting contract due to the scandal.

Kidd Doesn’t Kid Around

Jason Kidd is currently the coach of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and a former NBA point guard. He has a long history riddled with explosive rants and violent episodes, which apparently included against his own wife.

Kidd Doesn’t Kid Around

He denies the claims, but with his history of outbursts on the court, one has to wonder if she was telling the truth. He cheated on her multiple times as well, because why else would he be on this list?

Kahn You Say Cheater?

Oliver Kahn is extremely important to the soccer team Bayern Munich’s history. He played for them for a long time, and he’s now the CEO of the team as of 2021.

Kahn You Say Cheater?

Like several others on this list, Oliver Kahn had the gall to leave a very pregnant wife for another woman — in this case, a younger girl. His wife divorced him, and his relationship with the girl went south. His personal life definitely isn’t as successful as his professional one.

25 Bizarre Superstitions Professional Athletes Believe Give Them An Edge

Tom Brady

Tom Brady participates in his fair share of superstitions, from putting on his pads and uniform in a certain order to the classic playoff beard, but his oddest superstitions come from his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen. “She’s so about the power of intention and believing things that are really going to happen,” Brady said.

Tom Brady

She also “always makes a little altar” and gives him various stones for their alleged supernatural properties. He thought it was crazy at first, but “I stopped questioning her a long time ago,” he said. “I just shut up and listen.”

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan might have never been as much of a superstar if he didn’t put on his lucky pair of North Carolina shorts under the Chicago Bulls uniform.

Michael Jordan

This continued for his whole career, apparently, and was aided by how short shorts used to be in the ’80s. With the ’90s came longer cuts for shorts, so it’s unlikely you ever caught sight of the navy blue short shorts under his baggy black and red Bulls shorts.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams is an extraordinary athlete that you’d never guess has a surprising superstition: she won’t change her socks in tournaments. We wouldn’t recommend trying this because it sounds like a recipe for stinky feet, but Williams believes it helps her keep her winning streak.

Serena Williams

Seeing as tennis tournaments last a really, really long time, maybe her opponents are losing because the smell catches them in a pincer move and they cannot win their rallies against her.

Marshawn Lynch

Marshawn Lynch, who just retired as one of the best running backs in recent memory, also had a peculiar pregame tradition of eating skittles. Fans started throwing Lynch skittles when he got to the end zone, but the tradition originated with his mother.

Marshawn Lynch

“I would give him a handful of skittles and say, ‘Eat ’em up, baby,'” she recalled. “‘They’re going to make you run fast and they’re going to make you play good.'” Rushing for 9,112 yards and 74 touchdowns in his NFL career, it looks like his mom was right.

Cam Newton

There are all sorts of pregame rituals that you see on the football field, so it should come as no surprise that Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton also takes part in these superstitions. “One thing I look for is having pregame shoe,” Newton revealed.

Cam Newton

“Under Armour makes a pregame shoe that I can’t wear during the game, but the color schemes are amazing. That’s been cool and one of the things I look forward to.” As the legendary Deion Sanders said, “You look good, you feel good. You feel good, you play good.”

Patrick Roy

A lot of these superstitions might sound crazy, but Patrick Roy has outright discussions with inanimate objects. He can be seen chatting with the goalposts during the games, which is insane.

Patrick Roy

When he was asked why he’d talk to things that can’t talk back, he answered, “Because they’re my friends.” He also happens to be one of the best goalies who ever played, so it looks like management was able to overlook this lunacy to avoid losing. Later, he became a coach himself.

Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky may well owe his greatness to his immaculate mojo. Ahead of each game, he followed a specific routine to don pads and uniform, starting with his left shin pad and ending with the iconic jersey tucked in only on the right side.

Wayne Gretzky

While other athletes have similar dressing routines, Gretzky also he dips the end of his hockey stick in baby powder after he puts on friction tape. He said this was to “relieve some of the tape’s stickiness.”

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods’s reputation has suffered because of scandals in tabloids and sadly average performances on the PGA Tour, but he was once an American hero. If you notice throughout his career, he seems to always wear a red shirt.

Tiger Woods

That’s because he was told by his mother that wearing that color would increase his strength, as he is a Capricorn. And when you look back at all his great drives, you seem to always see him playing incredibly in his iconic red shirt.

Wade Boggs

As a rookie, Wade Boggs noticed that eating chicken before games improved his performance. So before most of his 2,440 major league baseball games, he ate chicken. His wife learned dozens of chicken recipes to keep things interesting, and this ritual poultry consumption helped him average over .300 for all but three of his 18 seasons.

Wade Boggs

Other stories of Boggs’s ability to consume more beverages than should be humanly possible (over 70) on a cross country flight has gained mythical status, as featured on an episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Turk Wendell

Turk Wendell is the most superstitious athlete around. He wore a necklace of bones from animals he hunted for mojo. He wouldn’t just avoid touching the baseline as other baseball players do; instead, taking absurd leaps to avoid coming anywhere near.

Turk Wendell

It was even weirder if his catcher suddenly stood up, for whatever reason, because then Wendell would squat like a catcher as if only one could stand at a time. He also wrote things in the mound and was obsessed with the number 99, signing a deal worth $9,999,999.99 in 2000.

Larry Walker

Larry Walker, one of the best baseball players of the 1990s, credits his success with the number three. For his whole career, he chose to wear the number 33 on his jersey. He insisted the phone company give him a number with as many 3s as possible, and would wake up at only 33 minutes past the hour.

Larry Walker

It’s not sure why he married in November and not March, but on the third day of that month at 3:33 pm he got married. He once bought 33 tickets in section 333 and gave them away to charity.

John Henderson

Even though a lot of the superstitions on the list sound odd, people do crazy things if it means winning. Former Jaguar and Oakland Raider John Henderson had a trainer slap him as hard as he could in the face to get him riled up for the games.

John Henderson

This would give him good luck, or maybe it just got the face juices running before he needed to dominate on the football field. And dominate he did, with 489 tackles and 29 sacks in his NFL career.

Vladimir Guerrero

If you look at Vladimir Guerrero’s helmet when he comes up to the plate to bat, you’ll notice it looks really beaten up and dirty. This isn’t some lucky helmet from the golden age of baseball that has gotten worn down over the years.

Vladimir Guerrero

The fact is he puts pine tar on it, lets his teammates abuse it, and then this somehow helps his mojo. It’s likely that bringing all that pine tar also helps him grip the bat, meaning that he’s touching that gross helmet.

Jason Giambi

Yankees power hitter Jason Giambi was in a slump, apparently, and decided to get out of it by unconventional means. Namely, he wore a gold thong underneath his baseball pants when he really needed to make a hit.

Jason Giambi

It worked, and soon the whole team was borrowing it when they needed to get a run. “You’re not worrying about your hands or your balance at the plate,” fellow Yankee Johnny Damon said. “You’re worried about the uncomfortable feeling you’re receiving.”

Kevin Rhomberg

Kevin Rhomberg wasn’t one of the greats, having only spent a few years in the major leagues, but he’s on here on the merit of his sheer weirdness. Anytime someone touched him, he would have to touch them back, regardless of who it was.

Kevin Rhomberg

So if he was touched while sliding into a base, he’d chase down the fielder until he touched him back, without fail. A real-life Derek Zoolander, he wasn’t an ambi-turner because he apparently couldn’t make right turns.

Goran Ivanisevic

During change-overs, Croatian tennis player Goran Ivanisevic would make sure to get up from his chair second after his opponent. In addition, he’d never step on the lines drawn in the tennis court, but neither of those is as weird as his winning ritual.

Goran Ivanisevic

In fact, those are quite “normal” superstitions. After winning a match at tournaments, he’d repeat everything he could remember from that day. He wore the same clothes, ate at the same places, and talked to the same people as before. Did it get boring? Yep.

Nomar Garciaparra

Nomar Garciaparra takes the pre-batting ritual to another level, though he’s not the only one. Ahead of each bat, Garciaparra would adjust the straps on his gloves in rhythm, followed by swinging the bat around in a circular motion while tapping his feet.

Nomar Garciaparra

Then, Garciaparra would kiss the bat and get out of the dugout. Once he gets to the on-deck circle, he repeats the whole ritual again. His brother also says Garciaparra will get furious if you touch his hat. He also reportedly never changes the shirt he uses for batting practice.

Laurent Blanc

Back in 1998, France had never won a World Cup, but thanks to the incredible Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, and the other players on that historic team, France took the World Cup.

Laurent Blanc

Throughout the tournament, Blanc would go up to kiss goalkeeper Fabian Barthez on his bald head before each match. Blanc’s good luck ritual was repeated over and over again for maximum results. We can’t know what it was exactly, but something worked for that team.

Jason Terry

As much as you can physically prepare for a basketball game, the secret to success lies in being able to get in the head of your opponent; if you do, victory will be attainable. NBA’s Jason Terry has an odd ritual, which basically amounts to getting under the opponent’s skin by getting into their pants.

Jason Terry

Literally. As in, Terry sleeps in the shorts of the opposing team the night before each game. He owns a pair of each team’s shorts. Sound weird? Because it doesn’t even come close to other sleeping superstitions…

Richie Ashburn

Richie Ashburn, a baseball legend from the Phillies who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995, was in a slump at the plate at one point. He took the bat he used to bed with him so the staff wouldn’t mix it with the team’s other bats.

Richie Ashburn

This apparently worked and he adopted this bizarre practice. After his career, when he bridged over into broadcasting, he would admit that he’s “slept with a lot of old bats.” We wonder what his wife had to say about that.

Brian Urlacher

Former Bears player Brian Urlacher was an incredible player to watch, with almost unmatched aggression and precision. Apparently, this was all due in part to his pregame snack of two chocolate chip cookies.

Brian Urlacher

Earlier on game day, he would unwind in front of the TV by watching fishing shows, but right ahead of the actual gameplay his ritual was to eat two cookies. He went on to be selected to the Pro Bowl eight times, so he was doing something right.

Mike Bibby

Mike Bibby used to play point guard for a slew of teams, and all of these noticed that Bibby would compulsively gnaw his fingernails the moment he got off the court and sat on the bench. This is a pretty common thing for kids to do, but Bibby did this religiously despite making his teammates uncomfortable.

Mike Bibby

Bibby adopted nail clippers to calm them down, and soon enough he was seen all the time whenever the gameplay stopped, clipping away to improve his cuticle situation.

Caron Butler

Caron Butler has had his share of unhealthy habits, starting with Mountain Dew. From his time at UConn, Butler would send his wife to pick up a two-liter bottle of the yellow-green pop. He would drink half of it before the game began, and then the other half during halftime.

Caron Butler

But unfortunately for this beautiful tradition, the Washington Wizards and the NBA Players Association banned him from drinking it at games in 2007. He picked up a new habit of chewing on fast food straws but eventually cut that out, too.

Steve Kline

Steven Kline was a pretty decent player to get to the Major League, but his time at baseball might be most notable for his Kline’s caps.

Steve Kline

Reportedly, the player didn’t wash his hat all season, so it would get all nasty from his sweat. Once fans started realizing why his hat looked so dirty, it became the talk of the town. In St. Louis, for example, the Cardinals held a “Steve Kline Hat Day” at the park. The first 5,000 fans inside got their own dirty cap.

Bruce Gardiner

When he was a rookie in 1996, Bruce Gardiner was told by Tom Chorske, a veteran fellow Senator, that he needed to get his stick dirty. Chorske recommended Gardiner go and give his stick a swirly, “to show it who’s boss.”

Bruce Gardiner

Gardiner was hesitant at first, but then he caved in and tried it after a slump. He went on a streak, and subsequently dipped his stick in the toilet every day. Eventually, he cut back and saved his toilet magic only when he really needed it.