Athletes Who Let Gambling Ruin Their Careers

Gambling has led to more than one athlete's career coming undone.

There hasn’t been a time when sports and gambling haven’t gone hand in hand — dating back over 100 years to when professional baseball first began in the U.S. There also hasn’t been a time when gambling hasn’t threatened the integrity of sports in one way or another.

From time immemorial, outside forces with huge stakes in the outcomes of sporting events have tried to influence the outcome of games in any way they can, including trying to bribe athletes into fixing the results. And sometimes it works.

Whether it’s being paid to fix a game or dealing with their own addiction to betting on sports, here’s a look at athletes who let gambling ruin their careers.

20. Paul Hornung, Football

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Born: Dec. 23, 1935 (Louisville, Kentucky)

Died: Nov. 13, 2020, 84 years old (Louisville, Kentucky)

Pro career: 1957-62, 1964-66

Bottom line: Green Bay Packers star Paul Hornung’s career came to a crashing halt in 1963 when he and Detroit Lions star Alex Karras, two of the NFL’s most recognizable players, were suspended indefinitely for gambling on NFL games. Hornung and Karras managed to save their careers and recover their reputations somewhat by doing what most people on this list did not — owning up to their mistakes. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated both players one year later.

19. Aleksandrina Naydenova, Tennis

Wikipedia

Born: Feb. 29, 1992 (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

Pro career: 2007-20

Bottom line: The only woman to make this list, Bulgarian tennis star Aleksandrina Naydenova was still a teenager when she turned pro in 2007 and was fixing matches by 2015. In November 2020, Naydenova was banned from tennis for life after 12 fixed matches across the WTA Tour and ITF Women’s Circuit from 2015 to 2019 were uncovered by the Tennis Integrity Unit.

18. John Daly, Golf

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Born: April 28, 1966 (Carmichael, California)

Pro career: 1987-present

Bottom line: You can make an argument that John Daly’s career hasn’t been ruined by gambling … but in this case, let’s go with “significantly impacted.”

Daly’s reputation as a wild man goes back to when he shot to fame in the early 1990s with wins at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open — a reputation that included racking up massive gambling debts. In his 2006 autobiography, Daly admitted to losing between $50 million to $60 million in gambling over 15 years, and at one point, he was forced to sell cars and a home in California. Daly, to his credit, says he has never bet on golf.

17. George Hall, Baseball

Wikipedia

Born: March 29, 1849 (Stepney, England)

Died: June 11, 1923, 74 years old (Ridgewood, New Jersey)

Pro career: 1871-77

Bottom line: George Hall was born in England but immigrated to the U.S. and became a baseball star in the game’s early days, playing in the National Association and the National League (NL) — both precursors to Major League Baseball. Hall is credited by some baseball historians for being the first player to hit for the cycle and led the NL in home runs in 1876.

“Gentleman George” and three teammates admitted to fixing games with the Louisville Grays in 1877 — and all four were banned from baseball for life.

16. Antoine Walker, Basketball

Bill Kostroun / AP Photo

Born: Aug. 12, 1976 (Chicago, Illinois)

Pro career: 1996-2008

Bottom line: Antoine Walker won a national championship at Kentucky and was one of the NBA’s best players in the late 1990s and early 2000s — to the tune of making $108 million in salary earnings over his 12-year career.

Rumors of being a degenerate gambler dogged Walker throughout his career, and in 2009, he was arrested in Nevada for passing bad checks worth $800,000 at three casinos. Walker filed for bankruptcy with $12.7 million in debts in 2010 and attempted to restart his career in Puerto Rico and the G-League but never played in the NBA again.

15. Michael Vick, Football

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick

Scott Audette / AP Photo

Born: June 26, 1980 (Newport News, Virginia)

Pro career: 2001-06, 2009-15

Bottom line: Michael Vick shot to fame as a star quarterback for Virginia Tech and quickly became one of the NFL’s most popular players after he was selected No. 1 overall in the 2001 NFL Draft — and became one of the most highly paid athletes in the world.

Vick was just three years into a nine-year, $130 million contract when he was arrested for criminal conspiracy and animal cruelty after he was found to be bankrolling an interstate dogfighting ring. Vick served two years in federal prison before he returned to the NFL, where he signed another $100 million contract, this time with the Philadelphia Eagles.

14. Kotomitsuki Keiji, Sumo

Wikipedia

Born: April 11, 1976 (Aichi, Japan)

Pro career: 1999-2010

Bottom line: Kotomitskuki Keiji spent a decade as one of sumo wrestling’s biggest stars before his career came undone with a gambling scandal that saw him ousted from the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) in 2010.

Kotomitsuki became the oldest wrestler to reach ozeki — sumo’s highest division — at 31 years old in 2007. But within a few years, he was tied to illegal betting on pro baseball in Japan and an attempt to cover up his involvement, as he was being extorted by local crime syndicates for millions of yen in hush money. Kotomitsuki, who clocked in at 5-foot-11 and 340 pounds, was ultimately kicked out of the JSA but not indicted in criminal court. He appealed his dismissal for five years until formally holding a hair-cutting ceremony to signify his acceptance that his sumo career was over.

13. Gilbert Arenas, Basketball

Matt Slocum / AP Photo

Born: Jan. 6, 1982 (Tampa, Florida)

Pro career: 2001-13

Bottom line: Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas had the world at his fingertips after becoming one of the NBA’s elite guards in the late 2000s. In December 2010, Arenas was in the second year of a six-year, $110 million contract with the Wizards and a five-year, $40 million contract with Adidas when his life and career spiraled out of control.

On Christmas Eve 2009, Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton reportedly drew guns on each other in the locker room over a perceived gambling debt from a team flight. The scandal rocked the NBA, as both players were suspended for 50 games, and Arenas was eventually sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house and probation for possession of firearms.

When Arenas finally returned, he was a shell of his former self. And Crittenton was eventually convicted of murdering a woman in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2011 and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

12. Adrian McPherson, Football

Former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson

John Harrell / AP Photo

Born: May 8, 1983 (Bradenton, Florida)

Pro career: 2004-18

Bottom line: Adrian McPherson was the first high school athlete in Florida history to be named both Mr. Florida Basketball and Mr. Florida Football and was one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks in the country when he signed with Florida State.

McPherson was on his way to becoming the full-time starter for the Seminoles when he was dismissed from the team in 2002, right before he was arrested for check theft, forgery and betting on Florida State games he played in. McPherson’s talent was enough that his career wasn’t totally over — he was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 2005 NFL Draft and spent 14 years playing in the NFL, Arena Football League, Indoor Football League and Canadian Football League.

11. Daniele Bracciali, Tennis

Salvatore Laporta / AP Photo

Born: Jan. 10, 1978 (Arezzo, Italy)

Pro career: 1995-2015, 2018

Bottom line: One of two tennis players to make this list, Daniele Bracciali rose to No. 49 in the world singles rankings and banked almost $2 million in career earnings over 20 years playing professional tennis — but it wasn’t enough money for him not to betray his sport.

Bracciali was fined in 2007 for his ties to match-fixing. In 2015, he was given a two-year ban for the same reason, and upon his return in 2018, he was banned for life after new evidence was presented from “intercepted phone and internet conversations.”

10. Terrence Kiel, Football

Denis Poroy / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 24, 1980 (Lufkin, Texas)

Died: July 4, 2008, 27 years old (San Diego, California)

Pro career: 2003-06

Bottom line: Former Texas A&M star Terrence Kiel saw his NFL career come off the rails after four seasons with the San Diego Chargers when he was arrested in 2007 for possession with intent to distribute codeine-based cough syrup — ostensibly to cover large sums of money owed through gambling debts. Kiel was cut by the Chargers following the arrest and died one year later in a car crash in San Diego. He was 27 years old.

9. Alex Groza, Basketball

Matty Zimmerman / AP Photo

Born: Oct. 7, 1926 (Martins Ferry, Ohio)

Died: Jan. 21, 1995, 68 years old (San Diego, California)

Pro career: 1949-51

Bottom line: Alex Groza won two national championships and was a two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player at Kentucky before being drafted No. 2 overall by the Indianapolis Olympians in the 1949 NBA Draft. Groza was one of the NBA’s best players through his first two seasons — being named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1950 and a two-time All-NBA Team selection.

After it was revealed that Groza fixed games at Kentucky during the 1948-49 season, though, he was banned from the NBA for life, making him one of just four players in NBA history to average over 20 points per game in their last season. Groza spent the next 30 years coaching in college and the ABA.

8. Tony Kay, Soccer

S6Soulof / Twitter

Born: May 13, 1937 (Sheffield, England)

Pro career: 1954-64

Bottom line: Tony Kay was the highest-paid soccer player in the world in the early 1960s when he was transferred from Sheffield Wednesday to Everton. In 1964, Kay became the most well-known of three Everton players who fixed a match against Ipswich Town in 1962 at the instruction of former Everton star Jimmy Gauld. All three players were convicted of conspiracy to defraud — a landmark case because it was the first time tape-recorded evidence was used in a trial in the English court system.

After his release from prison, Kay spent 12 years on the run in Spain after selling a counterfeit diamond but eventually returned to the U.K. and worked as a groundsman.

7. Jack Molinas, Basketball

AP Photo

Born: Oct. 31, 1931 (New York, New York)

Died: Aug. 3, 1975, 43 years old (Hollywood, California)

Pro career: 1953-62

Bottom line: Jack Molinas received a lifetime ban from the NBA just 32 games into his rookie season with the Fort Wayne Pistons when he was caught betting on his games. Molinas played eight more years in the Eastern Professional Basketball League — the precursor to the CBA — before becoming an attorney in New York.

Molinas was one of the architects behind the infamous 1961 college point-shaving scandal that involved 33 players from 27 teams, and he was eventually sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for his role. Molinas was released after five years and went back to a life of crime — he and his business partner, Bernard Gusoff, were busted in 1973 for illegally shipping pornography and furs to Taiwan.

Gusoff was beaten to death in 1974, and Molinas was shot to death in 1975 while standing in his girlfriend’s backyard in Los Angeles.

6. Wim Landman, Soccer

AP Photo

Born: April 13, 1921 (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Died: June 27, 1975, 54 years old (Bleiswijk, Netherlands)

Pro career: 1949-59, 1961-62

Bottom line: Wim Landman was one of the elite goalkeepers in Europe for most of the 1950s — nicknamed “The Black Panther” because of his black, wavy hair and style of play.

In 1956, Landman was suspected of throwing games while playing for the Netherlands club SHS and was suspended for 18 months in 1959. When Landman returned in 1961, it was with one less finger after getting his ring finger caught while jumping over a barbed wire fence.

Landman, who also played for the Dutch Team in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, died by suicide when jumping in front of a moving train in 1975.

5. Don Gallinger, Hockey

NHLhistorygirl / Twitter

Born: April 16, 1925 (Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada)

Died: Feb. 3, 2000, 74 years old (Burlington, Ontario, Canada)

Pro career: 1942-48

Bottom line: Don Gallinger was just 17 years old and the second-youngest player in NHL history when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins in 1942. He was a talented enough athlete that he was also offered contracts by the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

But Gallinger had a taste for gambling, and he linked up with fellow Bruins player Billy Taylor and a gambler from Detroit to fix games he played in. When Gallinger was caught on a wiretap in 1948 discussing how he would fix games, he was banned from the sport for life by NHL president Clarence Campbell. The lifetime ban was eventually lifted in 1970.

4. Art Schlichter, Football

AP Photo

Born: April 25, 1960 (Bloomingburg, Ohio)

Pro career: 1982-85

Bottom line: Art Schlichter said he was addicted to sports gambling by the time he graduated from high school in Ohio. It was an addiction that bloomed at Ohio State and then came crashing down when he racked up almost $1.5 million in gambling debts in his first year in the NFL after he was selected No. 4 overall in the 1982 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts.

Schlichter was suspended by the NFL in 1983 and out of the league by 1985. Over the next 20 years, Schlichter would rack up millions in gambling debts as he simultaneously conned people out of millions, eventually landing him in prison for a decade, from 2011 to 2021, for fraud.

3. Hansie Cronje, Cricket

AP Photo

Born: Sept. 25, 1969 (Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa)

Died: June 1, 2002, 32 years old (Outeniqua Mountains, South Africa)

Pro career: 1987-2000

Bottom line: Few athletes in the history of sports experienced a fall from grace like former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje, who was considered one of his sport’s greatest players of all time before he was banned from cricket for life in 2000 for fixing matches in India.

Police in Delhi discovered that Cronje was not only taking bribes but imploring teammates to do so as well — authorities eventually discovered Cronje had over 70 personal bank accounts set up in the Cayman Islands. Cronje died in an airplane crash in South Africa in 2002. He was just 32 years old.

2. Pete Rose, Baseball

Rob Burns / AP Photo

Born: April 14, 1941 (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Pro career: 1963-86

Bottom line: The most infamous gambler-athlete in pro sports history is MLB career-hits leader Pete Rose, who was placed on the permanently ineligible list by MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti after an investigation revealed Rose had bet on baseball, including games he played in and managed. Rose still holds MLB career records for hits, singles, games played, at-bats and plate appearances.

1. Shoeless Joe Jackson, Baseball

AP Photo

Born: July 16, 1887 (Pickens County, South Carolina)

Died: Dec. 5, 1951, 64 years old (Greenville, South Carolina)

Pro career: 1908-20

Bottom line: Chicago White Sox outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson was the most well-known of eight players on the White Sox who received lifetime bans in 1920 for conspiring with gamblers to fix the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds — better known as “The Black Sox” scandal.

History often points to Jackson’s batting stats as evidence of his innocence after he led both teams with a .375 batting average, and his 12 hits would be a World Series record until 1964. What they don’t usually talk about is how three of the Reds’ nine triples were hit to him in left field, and Jackson seemed to be playing out of position and unusually slow to field balls throughout the series.