10 NFL Players Who Hated A Teammate In Public
Mia Russell When it comes to team sports, respect is everything. Respect both among coaches and players is key for any team to function like a well-oiled machine. Despite that, there have been more than a few occasions in the NFL when respect broke down and teammates got into it with one another.
Related: 10 NFL Players Who Called Out Refs (Were They Right?)
The publicity of a beef between two teammates can be major, or it can be a secret that’s only revealed years down the line, but regardless, it’s never pretty. When a player thinks that the only way to deal with a teammate is to put them on blast in an interview, an issue might just be too far gone.
10 Peyton Manning (Mike Vanderjagt)
The issues between Peyton Manning and Mike Vanderjagt are practically a thing of legend these days. The thing is, no one ever wants to be on the bad side of someone as legendary as Peyton Manning.
The quarterback had no problems voicing his feelings on the boisterous Vanderjagt, going as far as to call him names to the media. Considering the difference in stature between the two players, there really isn’t much Vanderjagt could do in response, especially since to some, Manning was correct.
9 Terrell Owens (Donovan McNabb)
.jpg)
While their issues weren’t necessarily widely known to the public while they were playing together back around 2004, it has since become incredibly clear that Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb do not like each other. In fact, it seems the feud even reignited a few years ago.
Both men were star players, but it seems that they just couldn’t get along. Both men certainly have sizable egos, but the fact that Owens specifically has gone so hard on thrashing McNabb with his comments is a shock.
8 Joe Montana (Steve Young)
The relationship between Joe Montana and Steve Young is an interesting one as Montana openly admitted they were friends who hated each other. For clarification, the hatred from Montana came from the fact that Young was brought in to replace the quarterback.
Related: 10 NFL Players Known For Partying Too Hard
The two men arguably pushed each other to new heights in terms of skill, and then when Young was able to get out from Montana’s shadow, he was able to show some skill of his own. A kind of hate-filled rivalry on a team might not be a bad thing if it was kept in check.
7 Brett Favre (Aaron Rodgers)
The issues between Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre from their time with the Packers have been widely known for decades. It’s likely never an easy thing for an older quarterback to know that their time may be numbered once a young new potential star is brought in.
Rodgers was biding his time, waiting for the right moment to prove he was a starting quarterback, and Favre simply didn’t like that. It’s also likely that Favre didn’t like the idea of the young Rodgers proving himself to arguably be even greater than he is.
6 Steve Smith (Ken Lucas)
Hate might be a strong word, but when Steven Smith and Ken Lucas ended up getting into a violent brawl at a training camp, there are few better words to pick. All the details have been mostly hush-hush for years since the team wanted the ordeal to be handled internally.
Most fans of the NFL are probably aware of Smith’s hot-headed nature, but they’d likely still be shocked to hear he so willingly punched a teammate. Even though there wasn’t much of a public diss, the fact that their fight went public was more than enough to tell the fans all they needed to know.
5 Tiki Barber (Eli Manning)
The relationship between Tiki Barber and Eli Manning is a bit of a strange one, but for some time, it seems that the two men couldn’t see eye-to-eye. Quite publicly, Barber criticized Manning for not being a solid enough leader, and Manning replied with snarky comments of his own.
Most people likely view Manning as stoic, all-business type of player, but he’s never been shy to fire back whenever Barber was bold enough to make some statements. The harsh words likely resulted in ongoing issues, even if Barber attempted to make things right.
4 Micheal Irvin (Everett McIver)
While there wasn’t any kind of public comment made by the men at the time, Micheal Irvin and Everett McIver were a part of one of the wildest instances of teammate hatred in NFL history. In reality, it might have boiled down to one man’s pride being too much, and another man being too vain.
As the story goes, McIver was getting a haircut done but refused to move when Irvin asked for his turn. The next course of action was apparently clear to Irvin, allegedly stabbing McIver with a pair of scissors.
3 Michael Westbrook (Stephen Davis)
In another instance of letting fists do all the talking. It was made pretty clear that Michael Westbrook and Stephen Davis didn’t like each other when Westbrook attacked his teammate. The thing about this instance is that the entire incident happened right in front of the cameras.
Related: 10 Questions Casual NFL Fans Have About The Super Bowl, Answered
The event happened back in the late 90s, but even now, there are probably still plenty of NFL fans who remember hearing about this event. The whole ordeal was such a mess that Westbrook was eventually forced to make a public apology.
2 Jay Cutler (J'Marcus Webb)
While many players have issues off the field, the problems between Jay Cutler and J’Marcus Webb boiled over in the middle of a game. The whole issue stemmed from a mix of Cutler occasionally being a bit of a crybaby, but also taking a fair share of sacks.
Eventually, Cutler had enough and decided to confront Webb on live TV. Saying Cutler lost it on Webb would be putting it lightly when watching the tape back. To make matters worse, Cutler later ended up shoving Webb in another instance of rage.
1 Bill Romanowski (Marcus Williams)
There have been some rough situations during team practice camps, but the situation between Bill Romanowski and Marcus Williams back in 2003 wasn’t pretty. Put simply, in the middle of training, Romanowski’s anger got the better of him, and he went at Williams.
There was no way the team or the league was going to be able to hide the event from the media considering Williams was beaten so badly that his career was over. The following lawsuit only made everything worse publicly, and even the small payout Williams got probably wasn’t enough to heal the emotional wounds.
