2025 Hall of Infamy: Round 1, Heat 3.

[Rain Man]

Pick up to EIGHT people in the poll who best meet the following voting criteria:

Brought "shame, dishonor, disgust, or embarrassment" to the sport of professional football.

The top-eight vote-getters will move on to Round 2.

[Rain Man]

This is a really packed heat. There's a lot of infamy involved when I can't even find myself a vote for Shannon Sharpe or Antonio Brown.

I went:

john elway - obvious one here. He attempted to destroy the sport of football for his own gain. He participated in salary cap cheating. There's now at least one dead body in his wake.

Donte Stallworth - He killed a pedestrian with his car. As an ardent pedestrian myself, I'm against this. I'll note that he wasn't grotesquely over the limit and he wasn't grotesquely speeding, but he was drunk and the pedestrian is dead.

Eric Naposki - I'd like to learn more about this. It sure looks on the surface like he murdered a guy for money, but why did it take 15 years to arrest him? Regardless, the other guy is dead and a lot of money changed hands.

Jeff Triplette - I have a theory that he was betting on games. No official could be that incompetent.

Bill Romanowski - If you don't know this one, you shouldn't be voting.

Archie Manning - A lesser evil than elway, but he still tried to undermine the sport to get his kid on a stronger team. He's a traitor to football.

Aaron Hernandez. He was a patriot. Oh, and he murdered people.

Nate Newton - He was caught transporting 175 pounds of marijuana. That's a lot of damage to society. And you know that wasn't his only trip.

[Graystoke]

Some real contenders in this heat.
I picked;
Romanowski
Triplett
Hernandez
Brown
Pioli

[Dartgod]

Tyler Palko should thank his lucky stars that there were some real scumbags in this heat.

[wazu]

ChatGPT's top 9 from this list:

⚠️ Top Tier – Criminal Convictions / Major Scandals (High Infamy)

1. Aaron Hernandez
Why: Convicted of first-degree murder (2013), implicated in multiple homicides. Died by suicide in prison in 2017.

Infamy Level: Extreme – One of the most shocking downfalls in NFL history.

2. Eric Naposki
Why: Former NFL linebacker convicted of first-degree murder in a love triangle case (1994 murder, convicted in 2011).

Infamy Level: Extreme – Premeditated murder with a financial motive.

3. Donte Stallworth
Why: Pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter after hitting and killing a pedestrian (2009); served only 24 days in jail.

⚠️ Infamy Level: Very High – Fatal DUI case, highly criticized for short sentence.

4. Nate Newton
Why: Arrested twice in 2001 for transporting massive amounts of marijuana (over 200 lbs combined).

Infamy Level: Very High – Repeated serious drug trafficking charges.

5. Richie Incognito
Why: Involved in the NFL bullying scandal (Jonathan Martin case), multiple arrests, bizarre public behavior, psychiatric holds.

Infamy Level: High – Repeated issues on and off the field; widely seen as a locker room problem.

6. Antonio Brown
Why: Sexual assault accusations, erratic public behavior, altercations, legal troubles, and frequent team controversies.

Infamy Level: High – His talents were overshadowed by continued off-field chaos.

Middle Tier – Scandals, Controversies, or Questionable Reputations

7. Jonathan Vilma
Why: Central figure in the Saints "Bountygate" scandal (accused of offering payments for injuring opponents).

⚠️ Infamy Level: Moderate – Suspended but later had suspension overturned; still tarnished his image.

8. Jimmy Haslam
Why: Owner of Browns; Pilot Flying J company involved in a massive fraud case (fuel rebate scam). Haslam was not charged but was widely criticized.

Infamy Level: Moderate – Major business scandal with indirect NFL reputation impact.

9. Bill Romanowski
Why: Known for repeated dirty play, spitting on players, racist remarks, steroid use admissions.

[wazu]

This list has a lot of heavy hitters, by the way. Glad to see, actually. I could legit see 8 people from this list being first-ballot.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by wazu

ChatGPT's top 9 from this list:

⚠️ Top Tier – Criminal Convictions / Major Scandals (High Infamy)

9. Bill Romanowski
Why: Known for repeated dirty play, spitting on players, racist remarks, steroid use admissions.

Infamy Level: Moderate – Long-standing reputation for being one of the NFL’s dirtiest players.

ChatGPT didn't take into account that he was a dirty stinking Donkey player. That alone should raise him 4-5 points.

[wazu]

Also - as much as we hate Elway, he is not any level of infamous outside of the AFC West. If we add him as part of the original "dirty dozen" then the new Hall is already kind of a joke made up by Chiefs fans.

[Jamie]

I've been trying to be judicious with my votes and pick the worst guys, but it occurs to me, fame is an element of infamy. If I don't know who you are or what you did (Eric Naposki for example), can I really consider you infamous?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Jamie

I've been trying to be judicious with my votes and pick the worst guys, but it occurs to me, fame is an element of infamy. If I don't know who you are or what you did (Eric Naposki for example), can I really consider you infamous?

I've been pondering that as well. At some point I think recognizability has to come into play, otherwise you're just despicable and not infamous.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by wazu

Also - as much as we hate Elway, he is not any level of infamous outside of the AFC West. If we add him as part of the original "dirty dozen" then the new Hall is already kind of a joke made up by Chiefs fans.

I like to think that knowledgeable football fans throughout the universe are aware of his cheating in the NFL draft and on the salary cap. If not, I think we can amply explain it on the label next to his crudely manufactured bust.

[Rain Man]

I appreciate the fact that three people so far have voted for Romanowski, but didn't feel that Aaron Hernandez hit the threshold.

[Rasputin]

John Elway is the dark horse to win this thing. Get it? Cuz he's a horse.

[Ocotillo]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

John Elway is the dark horse to win this thing. Get it? Cuz he's a horse.

On his Hall of Infamy plaque, he needs to go in as Ed Elway.

And Mike his coach needs to go in as Shanarat.

[Ocotillo]

Originally Posted by wazu

Also - as much as we hate Elway, he is not any level of infamous outside of the AFC West. If we add him as part of the original "dirty dozen" then the new Hall is already kind of a joke made up by Chiefs fans.

He just committed manslaughter! Hello!