Your Favorite Athletes' Drugs of Choice

Are you one of those people who needs a famous person to give you the go-ahead before buying something? Did you line up for Reeboks because Allen Iverson told you to? How about Tom Emanski's baseball tutorials? Did you listen to Fred McGriff? Well if you said "yes" to either of those questions, today you're in luck, because we got a list of 20 such endorsements with your name written all over them.

Athletes go together with drugs. That's just how it is. Whether performance enhancing or recreational, our ticket dollars are getting funneled into some pretty shady hands. For the most part on this list the goal was to find athletes who went beyond coke and pot because we assume at least half of you are under the influence of at least one of those right now. We've proven we don't need endorsements to give those a try and so with a couple exceptions we steered clear. Not only would it encompass a large chunk of pro sportsmen but it's also time for you to try new things.

If you're looking to be like your favorite athlete in every way, hopefully this will help. We kid. Anyway, here are Your Favorite Athletes' Drugs of Choice.

RELATED: A History of Athletes Playing While High

RELATED: A History of Sports Careers Ruined By Drugs and Alcohol

Dwight Gooden

Sport: Baseball
Drug: Cocaine

As a 19-year-old phenom, Dwight "Doc" Gooden had all the tools to become the next Nolan Ryan and he proved it by leading the National League in strikeouts in each of his first two seasons. But soon after that things went south. Way south. Colombia south. In the mid-'80s Gooden developed an addiction to cocaine, the effects weren't yet noticeable on the back of his baseball card but eventually it led to legal problems, a skyrocketing ERA and an eventual season-long suspension. Gooden eventually got back to the Majors but was never the same which is why after his career, instead of ending up in Cooperstown, he appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

Darryl Strawberry

Sport: Baseball
Drug: Cocaine

A former teammate/friend of Gooden, Darryl Strawberry was another future Hall of Famer who opted to snort away his career. The fact that he still drove in 1,000 runs should clue you in on his natural talent. He's also the second of three 1986 Mets on this list, a team that won the World Series despite the fact that they were in desperate need of a traveling Betty Ford Center. In fact, in hindsight, we easily could've made this list Your 1986 Mets' Drugs of Choice, but we didn't want to kill off our readers.

Ryan Leaf

Sport: Football
Drugs: Hydrocodone, Oxycodone (painkillers)

As a quarterbacks coach at West Texas A&M, Leaf asked a player for pills to help deal with wrist pain caused during his days in the NFL. A few days later, the man once considered interchangeable with Peyton Manning was placed on leave. We'd like to say it was a wake-up call, but that'd ignite our pants because six months later he was busted breaking into Texan homes to score prescription drugs. Unfortunately, when he was indicted for that crime he was already in a Canadian rehab facility. The next "step" was a hefty fine and 10 years probation.

Three years after that he broke into houses which is as illegal in Montana as it is in Texas. And then after yet another arrest he was sentenced to seven years in a Montana prison where he has since been booted from a rehab program and also threatened an officer. All that is to say that Leaf has had a pretty rough go since the '98 Draft but in fairness to the former Charger at least he didn't lose a Super Bowl this year.

We'll call it even.

Johnny Jolly

Sport: Football
Drug: Promethazine and Codeine

In 2008, Green Bay's promising defensive tackle was set to be a run-stopping force for the foreseeable future. Of course, we say "was" because he decided to pursue a side job: selling Promethazine and codeine. You may ask "What's a Promethazine and codeine mix?" The answer: cough syrup used in purple drank. When you have 600 grams of it (as Jolly did) the cops will no longer believe you have the flu. Jolly was out of football from 2010-2013 where he was arrested multiple times, again for codeine. Eventually this led to a six-year prison sentence but Jolly got "shock probation" which is the equivalent of adult Scared Straight. This led to a reform of sorts and though we're waiting for another shoe to drop, Jolly returned to the Packers in 2013 completing an unlikely comeback.

JaMarcus Russell

Sport: Football
Drug: Promethazine and Codeine

A man who combines our last two slides. He had the NFL success of Ryan Leaf with the lust for codeine of Johnny Jolly (Not to pile on but he appears to have the waistline of Jolly as well). JaMarcus Russell was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 Draft, chosen by the Raiders, and three years later he was out of football. After being released by Oakland (which is saying a lot) Russell was arrested in Alabama for having codeine without a prescription. While Oakland may have feigned shock at the news, Russell told ESPN that he had tested positive for the drug after the Draft.

Roger Clemens

Sport: Baseball
Drug: Viagra

If it's not your drug of choice now, talk to us again in 20 years. Life gets harder tougher the older you get. This fact of life reportedly pushed the Rocket not only towards the dark side with PEDs, but also allegedly towards the sexual potency pill which can build endurance and offset impotency caused by testosterone. If true, this proves that the possibility of standing out there on the mound, everyone looking at you, with a massive erection is a risk the best are willing to take for the chance of a Cy Young at age 42.

Ricky Williams

Sport: Football
Drug: Marijuana

If we opened the door for every athlete that smoked marijuana, it'd crash the site. That being said we make an exception for a guy who loved chronic so much that he lived out the dream and quit his job for it. Williams' revelation definitely cleared some things up. But contrary to everything Disney's marketing team has told you dreams do not come true and Williams was forced to return to the league where he played for a year, got suspended, played in Canada and then returned for five more NFL seasons, before finally retiring (for good) in 2012.

Lenny Dykstra

Sport: Baseball
Drugs: Cocaine, ecstasy, Somatropin (HGH)

Having HGH isn't exactly an outlier for a baseball player, unless it's 15 years after your career ended. When he was arrested for grand theft auto the grinder formerly known as "Nails" was popped with the PED along with coke and ecstasy following a police raid. To think, this dude was once giving people investment advice.

Derek Boogaard

Sport: Hockey
Drug: Oxycodone (painkiller)

It's one thing to drink. It's one thing to do oxycodone. It's another to do them together. At 28-years-old former Rangers left wing Derek Boogaard found that out the hard way. He was yet another athlete whose brain was found to show signs of CTE upon autopsy. As one of the league's bigger enforcers this was less shocking than it would be for a non-enforcer. The revelation led to a lawsuit from his parents against both the NHL and the players union.

Lawrence Taylor

Sport: Football
Drug: Cocaine

A man who loved blow so much that he called it "The only bright spot," of his post-retirement career (sorry Hall of Fame). Taylor's addiction ran the gamut of bullshit that drug addicts go through, from driving through seedy neighborhoods, to attempted carjackings, and eventually to sex with an underage prostitute. The irony that he was also known for his speed on the field isn't lost on us.

Alex Cole

Sport: Baseball
Drug: Heroin

The speedster that was going to change how the Cleveland Indians played ball. The only problem? Speed doesn't matter when you can't hit. After a disappointing run, so to speak, Alex Cole started a second career after the big leagues when he began dealing heroin.We'd love to tell you that he became a kingpin responsible for many beatings and murders on the way to the top, but instead it worked out about as well as his Major League career.

Jeff Hardy

Sport: Wrestling
Drug: Opium

Honestly, we could probably do one of these surrounding the profusion of painkillers and steroids ingested yearly by the giants of the squared circle. But Jeff Hardy (who stretches the definition of "favorite" athlete) gets the honor of making this list due to his use of a drug you just don't see a lot anymore, opium. A police search of Hardy's home also turned up an abundance of steroids, cocaine and vicodin, leading to Hardy's inevitable arrest. At trial the prosecutor put up a single picture before uttering "The prosecution rests." Hardy and his lawyers took a plea deal.

Todd Marinovich

Sport: Football
Drugs: Cocaine, aphetamines, LSD

As a toddler he was on pace to be the greatest quarterback ever, far ahead of his two-year-old peers. Somehow that plan backfired. The pressure put on Marinovich by a father who just wanted the best for him a pro quarterback for a son eventually cracked the first round pick. As a prep at USC he put the "Marino" in Marinovich. As a pro he smoked crack pregame and (in a throwback to his toddler days) crapped himself during warmups. Let this be a cautionary tale, that if you want your kid to be an NFLer someday, wait until he's at least four before you start pushing it on him.

Josh Hamilton

Sport: Baseball
Drug: Heroin

Like the Todd Marinovich of baseball, except he got his career back on the rails. The No. 1 pick of the 1999 Draft was on the fast track to the Majors when he got into a car accident that turned him from this nice young man into this "Oh, shit! He's looking at us." character. While Hamilton indulged in all sorts of drugs heroin was the one that really set the Devil Rays franchise back. In 2007, Hamilton finally made his long awaited MLB debut with the Reds and after a trade became a star with the Texas Rangers. Now in Anaheim the only thing he's addicted to is swinging at balls outside of the zone. Angels fans remain patient.

Alex Rodriguez

Sport: Baseball
Drugs: Testosterone, Human Growth Hormone, Primabolin (a steroid)

After being the first player in sports history to be suspended for eating gummy bears, A-Rod has got people wondering how well he'll perform without PEDs. After putting on 25 lbs. as a high school sophomore we think the better question is "Has he ever not used them."

Mike Tyson

Sport: Boxing
Drug: Cocaine, Morphine

If you asked Mike Tyson what his lowest moment was, what would he say? Well, according to Tyson while under the influence of cocaine, Cialis, morphine, pot and Hennessy he became paranoid of the seven prostitutes who had congregated in his hotel room. Before they could get the drop on him (in his mind), Tyson beat up the septet and kicked them out of the lodge. At that point we assume their enraged pimp screamed "Who did this to you bitches!?" When they responded "Mike Tyson," he replied "Oh, shit...really? Are you sure?" before rubbing his neck and trailing off.

Dock Ellis

Sport: Baseball
Drug: LSD

Have you ever thrown a no-hitter? Yes? Oh...wasn't expecting that. But did you throw it in the big leagues? And on LSD? Former Pirates starter Dock Ellis did completing the unprecedented feat in a game against San Diego in 1970. The game became the stuff of legend for Pittsburgh fans and a "My god, are you fucking kidding me!?" moment for Padres fans (who watched their team go 63-99 that season). While he ingested enough drugs to kill a fully grown Lindsay Lohan as a player, he's dedicated his life post-career to counseling drug addicts and prisoners. He died of a liver problem in 2008.

Manny Ramirez

Sport: Baseball
Drug: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)

Odds are solid that Manny Ramirez has never been pregnant, so his use of a fertility drug was eyebrow raising to say the least. The use of the substance constituted a 50-game suspension as it was taken in tandem with artificial testosterone. If you're wondering why the (then) Dodgers outfielder was taking hCG at all, it's because the drug is used to restart the bodies' natural testosterone cycle after taking 'roids. Put simply, it kept Manny from being the first pro player with tits since the days of Mo Vaughn.

Brett Favre

Sport: Football
Drug: Vicodin

Oh yeah...that's right. This was so many Brett Favre stories ago that we forgot about it (we forgot he used to look like that too). Back in 1995, Favre entered rehab for abusing Vicodin, a painkiller. Frankly, it's the type of thing you need when you get sacked 525 times. After being successfully rehabilitated, Favre went on to win two straight MVPs and more importantly (at least according to our athlete cliches) a Super Bowl. He has touched neither a Vicodin nor a Lombardi Trophy since.

Andre Agassi

Sport: Tennis
Drug: Crystal Meth

Andre Agassi has been forced to make a few admissions in his life. 1.) His long hair turned out to be a dead fox. And 2.) He used crystal meth during his career. While the wig allegedly cost him the French Open, the meth actually turned up in a 1997 drug test but Agassi avoided discipline by blaming the "spiked soda" of an assistant. Agassi's stand-up move came in contrast to women's former No. 1 Martina Hingis, who was suspended for two years after testing positive for cocaine in 2007.