Image via Complex Original
Intro
Earlier this week, the New York Jets' Mark Sanchez found himself on the back page of Big Apple tabloids after he led his team to a victory in the NFL playoffs (whaddaya think this is, 2011?) was called "lazy" by an anonymous teammate (or teammates). Football players lazy? YOU DON'T SAY! Yes, it's true, in a sport where the players are only on the field for half the time, and where there's roughly 5 seconds of action for every 45 seconds of standing around and making plans, laziness abounds. Be it dudes who tried to take shortcuts to success (roids!), dudes who couldn't stay away from the buffet table, or dudes who preferred smoking blunts to practice, these are the 25 Laziest Players in NFL History. There's even a couple future Hall of Famers here.
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Written by Richard Boadu for 6Magazine.
Donovan McNabb
25. Donovan McNabb
Team(s): Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings
Years: 1999 - present
The fact that there is a debate on whether or not McNabb is a Hall of Famer is enough to justify his career as successful. But let's dig deeper. That Super Bowl when he ran out of breath, remember that? What about his stint in Washington where his conditioning was questioned by his head coach and he was benched because of it? Still might go to Canton though.
Mark Sanchez
24. Mark Sanchez
Team(s): New York Jets
Years: 2009 - present
In his first two seasons, Sanchez led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game. If the NFL playoffs were an exclusive club, the Jets rolled up in baggy jeans, dirty Air Force 1s, and an Affliction t-shirt and Sanchez was their leader. When he came out of USC he was considered a gym rat, but his play this season speaks lazy. Even worse, at the end of the season he had an anonymous teammate tell the New York Daily News that he was "lazy and content." Is it hard work making white jeans look that good? Perhaps. But that's not the kind of hard work Jets fans are looking for out of this dude.
Brett Favre
23. Brett Favre
Team(s): Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings
Years: 1991 - 2010
Legend? Of course. Lazy? We'll go there. Fans and the media called him a drama queen when he couldn't make up his mind about whether he wanted to retire for three offseasons in a row. Favre knew exactly what he wanted to do: skip training camp and stroll in at the start of the season!
Plaxico Burress
22. Plaxico Burress
Team(s): Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, New York Jets
Years: 2000 - present
In 2007, when he caught the Super Bowl game winning catch for the New York Football Giants he was playing in games but not in practice. He said he was too hurt to practice, but when it was game day he was 100%, or at least he played like it. Smoking gun anyone?
Terrence Cody
21. Terrence Cody
Team(s): Baltimore Ravens
Years: 2010 - present
So he used to weigh 400 pounds and his weight problem is what caused him to slip to the second round in last year's NFL draft. What does Cody do? He goes to camp his rookie year overweight and doesn't pass his conditioning test (twice).
Bryant McKinnie
20. Bryant McKinne
Team(s): Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens
Years: 2002 - present
McKinnie was cut by the Vikings at the start of training camp for being overweight. He was a svelte 400 pounds. The Ravens picked him up and actually put a 75k weight clause in his contract if he stays under 372. What in lazy hell? He's getting more money than most people do in a year just to stay in shape. Only in America.
Charles Rogers
19. Charles Rogers
Team(s): Detroit Lions
Years: 2003 - 2005
How do you flame out when you can run a sub-4.3 40? Smoke weed. Every day.
Shawne Merriman
18. Shawne Merriman
Team(s): San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills
Years: 2005 - present
Merriman went to three Pro Bowls in a row and was one of the best players in the league from 2005 - 2007. And then we found out he was taking performance enhancing drugs, and then of course he started having injury issues. And hanging out with Tila Tequila. #shortcutsdontwork
David Boston
17. David Boston
Team(s): Arizona Cardinals, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Years: 1999 - 2006
The dude was shredded and he had the total package on the field: size, speed, and strength. The last two were discovered to be artificial of course when he got busted for testing positive for steroids in 2004. Ahh, now those "behavior" issues in 2003 that he was suspended for make sense. #roidrage
Matt Leinhart
16. Matt Leinart
Team(s): Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans
Years: 2006 - present
Party! Party! Party! Let's all get wasted...with hot chicks in a pool and not study our playbook. Don't forget Leinart was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at USC who ran a pro-style offense. He was also handed the keys to the Arizona Cardinals offense two years in a row and played like a bum. He wasn't injured, he was just lazy. Although if that picture is lazy, lazy looks like a lot of fun.
Randy Moss
15. Randy Moss
Team(s): Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans
Years: 1998 - 2010
He was probably the most talented wide receiver to ever set foot on a gridiron, but he routinely took plays off. He admitted as much at a 2006 press conference, saying, "My concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood." After he left Oakland (and, not coincidentally scored 23 touchdowns in his first season with Tom Brady in New England), his former Raiders offensive coordinator claimed that Moss told him "I'm too old to practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but I'm not too old to play on Sunday." Granted, it does take some effort to come up with awesome excuses like that.
Vince Young
14. Vince Young
Team(s): Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles
Years: 2006 - present
You could say that VY never learned how to work hard because he's always just been that good. But that's not the case. In his sophomore year at Texas he struggled and even pulled himself out of a game against Washington State. He stepped it up his junior season and the rest is college football legend. Once Young got to the league he won games, but never quite took it to the next level. All the talent in the world; all the work ethic left on the table.
Andre Smith
13. Andre Smith
Team(s): Cincinnati Bengals
Years: 2009 - present
Offensive lineman or not—do you see how fat he is? When your coaches talk more about your playing weight than your on field production, you sir have a problem. That problem is laziness.
Michael Vick in Atlanta
12. Michael Vick
Team(s): Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles
Years: 2001 - 2006; 2009 - present
Michael Vick was the most exciting player in Atlanta. He reached the Pro Bowl and led the Falcons into the playoffs. But just listen to what Vick himself said this past September: "There was a lot more I could have done off the field and in the film room that could have elevated my game to a different level. I was complacent at the time, somewhat lazy, and I settled for mediocrity. I thought what I was doing was enough." And there you have it.
Mike Williams
11. Mike Williams
Team(s): Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks
Years: 2005 - 2007; 2010 - present
He came out of USC weighing 220 pounds and ballooned to 270. In his time with the Lions, he was fined four weeks straight for being over his weight limit. How much over the limit? Twenty pounds, and he was fined $1,000 bucks per pound. You do that math. Thankfully for his wallet and overburdened buffet table busboys the world over, Williams has turned his career around in Seattle after being out of the league for two years.
LenDale White
10. LenDale White
Team(s): Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos
Years: 2006 - 2010
If you have to stop drinking tequila for an entire off season to lose 30 pounds...you are indeed lazy. It makes all the sense in the world that the former 1st round draft pick is no longer in the league now.
Matt Jones
9. Matt Jones
Team(s): Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals
Years: 2005 - 2010
Jones once slept through a tornado as a teenager in Arkansas. He also slept through his NFL career. If we told you there was a white 6'6" 237 pound NFL wide receiver who ran a 4.37 40 yard dash you'd want to call him Superman. Once you realize these attributes belong to Jones you can simply call him Slothfulman.
Lawrence Phillips
8. Lawrence Phillips
Team(s): St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers
Years: 1996 - 1999
This guy got more chances than Lindsay Lohan—and went to jail just as much. When you rely on talent alone, you're not working hard or doing extra work after practice. A young NFL player not working hard has plenty of time on his hands to get in trouble with the law like Phillips did.
Brian Bosworth
7. Brian Bosworth
Team(s): Seattle Seahawks
Years: 1987 - 1989
All Sooner Magic Shtick and no NFL substance once the Boz hit the league. Reason? Steroids. People who take steriods? Lazy fucks.
Peter Warrick
6. Peter Warrick
Team(s): Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks
Years: 2000 - 2005
We all remember Peter Warrick at Florida State, he was Allen Iverson and Barry Sanders rolled in one. But once he got to the league he was your old uncle playing flag football in dress shoes for the bulk of his career. What the hell happened? Everyone gets injured so that's no excuse. Peter Warrick was just lazy. Funny, but a then lesser known, harder-working guy that used to be named Chad Johnson played with Peter Warrick.
Ryan Leaf
5. Ryan Leaf
Team(s): San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks
Years: 1998 - 2002
This guy was considered to be better than Peyton Manning coming out of college. The difference? Peyton had a work ethic of a Hall of Famer; Ryan had the work ethic of a sloth on Xanax.
Todd Marinovich
4. Todd Marinovich
Team(s): Oakland Raiders
Years: 1991 - 1992
The RoboQB was built, not born. And once he got to the NFL, he was destroyed, not developed, all because of his lazy work ethic and a nasty addiction to nightlife and drugs. Why work so hard from age 4 - 21 if you're just going to stop once you reach your dream?
Tony Mandarich
3. Tony Mandarich
Team(s): Green Bay Packers, Indianpolis Colts
Years: 1989 - 1998
Here's an awesome idea: Let's bypass the hard work and just juice up all through college, become a beast and the No. 2 overall draft pick ahead of Deion Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Barry Sanders. Once you get to the league, stop juicing and become the biggest NFL draft bust of all-time. Oh wait, Tony Mandarich already did this more than a decade ago.
Albert Haynesworth
2. Albert Haynesworth
Team(s): Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Years: 2002 - present
Haynesworth was voted by NFL players in 2009 as the Most Dominant Player in the league in a Sports Illustrated poll. He then signed a 7-year, $100 million contract. Since then he's been a lazy headache. He went five straight days in Washington not being able to pass a conditioning test. He went to the Patriots and sucked ass and went to the Buccaneers and did the same.
Jamarcus Russell
1. JaMarcus Russell
Team(s): Oakland Raiders
Years: 2007 - 2009
When you're the No. 1 overall pick much is expected of you. Especially when you are paid $39 million. What's not expected is a bad work ethic, trips to Vegas minutes after losses, and a codeine addiction. Cam Newton recently called out Russell for making black quarterbacks look bad; we're here to call out Russell for making human beings look bad.