By Cristie Leondis
Lately, celebrities being involved in domestic violence cases has been a reoccurring pattern in the media. The scandal of Ray Rice, a professional American football runningback who faced indefinite suspension by the NFL, sparked what seemed like a firestorm for troubled athletes.
More sports figures have faced similar scandals this week including Jeff Taylor and Adrian Peterson.
Here are 10 others who were involved in significant, sometimes career-ruining scandals, and the outcome once the smoke cleared:
Sammy Sosa is a retired Dominican professional baseball right fielder who is known for playing on four teams during his career, but more noticeably for his time with the Cubs. On June 16, 2009, The New York Times
reported that Sosa used performance-enhancing drugs. Sosa denied using drugs and did not go to trial. While Sosa managed to avoid facing legal action, he was not elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America into the Baseball Hall of Fame, which he became eligible for and was expected to be inducted into.
Alex Rodriguez‘s steroid scandal was a huge topic of discussion when he was banned from the MLB’s 2014 season. Arguably the best baseball player of his generation and highest home-run hitter of all time, the New York Yankees player was the center of a high-profile doping scandal in 2013. Rodriguez was dealt a 162-game suspension.
NFL wide receiver Plaxio Burress is known for his New York Giants Super Bowl-winning touchdown in 2008, but he is also known for a much bigger incident. Burress was involved in a public shooting scandal in November 2008, where he was walking upstairs in a New York City nightclub, missed a step and accidentally shot himself in the right thigh. In court, he was convicted and spent two years in prison. Burress was later signed then dropped by the Jets and eventually signed by the Steelers. While his reputation is still intact for being a great wide receiver and football player, he will also be known as that football player who infamously shot himself.
Ray Lewis played for the Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the NFL. He is regarded as one of the greatest to ever play middle linebacker, and perhaps the greatest Baltimore Ravens player of all time. However, Lewis was also involved in a high-profile murder trial. Following Super Bowl XXXIV, Lewis attended a party in Atlanta on Jan. 31, 2000. A fight broke out and ended with the death of two people. The suit Lewis wore the night of the killings has never been found. Lewis was indicted on murder and aggravated-assault charges. Two weeks into the trial, Lewis negotiated a plea deal and the murder charges were dropped. He
was given a misdemeanor charge, 12 months probation, and he was fined $250,000 by the NFL, the highest fine ever against an NFL player for a charge not involving drugs. Astoundingly, he was able to carry on his legacy and reputation as a leader.Rae Carruth, former NFL player and wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, was found guilty of conspiring to murder a woman pregnant with his child in 2001. Carruth is expected to be released from prison in 2018. He was a first-round draft pick in the 1997 NFL draft, and was signed by the Panthers with a four-year $3.7 million deal.