With Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf this week despite the recent revelations of his extramarital affairs, it got me thinking about other notorious spouse cheaters in sports. If we were to turn our backs on all the athletes who have cheated on their wives, who would we have left? If we were to shun every athlete who has ever done anything distasteful, then our Hall of Fames would be practically empty. Moreover, it’s amazing that some of the finest athletes in their sports dominated despite drama-filled lives. Today, let’s take a walk through The Sports Adulterers Hall of Fame and remember that what an athlete does in their personal life doesn’t necessarily impact their game.
Tiger Woods: He has returned to the golf world despite all the drama surrounding him and his family. Tiger was scrutinized for his multiple “indiscretions” and rumors swirled that he had even impregnated one of his mistresses a couple of times. Tiger has won 71 PGA Tour events, and 14 Majors to which he is second only to Jack Nicklaus. But beyond his honors and trophies, Tiger’s brilliance resulted in an explosion in popularity of the game which itsel has been an amazing achievement.
Alex Rodriguez: Between the tabloids covering his spouse cheating and reports uncovering his steroids cheating, A-Rod has been shamed in more ways than one. Despite all the scrutiny, he still led the Yankees to the World Series in 2009 with a stellar postseason. A-Rod’s list of achievements have him on the track to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame (if they look past the performance enhancing drugs part which violates their membership criteria). He won a World Series last year and has been selected to go to the All-Star game 12 times. He also has 10 Silver Slugger awards and two Gold Glove awards. The only criticism I have for A-Rod is that he could have cheated on his wife with someone way hotter than Madonna.
Shaquille O’Neal: Shaq has been named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, MVP and he has been to the All-Star game 15 times. He’s also won four championships and was named Finals MVP three times. Shaq has also become quite the commodity off the court serving as a pitchman and entertainer. Shaq recently finalized a divorce with his ex-wife Shaunie who left after rumors surfaced that Shaq was nailing Gilbert Arenas’ fiance, Laura Govan. Shaunie actually says it wasn’t until Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat that the marriage went down the tubes.
Michael Jordan: He is arguably one of the best players to have ever played the sport but his resume is not without blemishes. Jordan has already entered his respective Hall of Fame and gave a surly acceptance speech. He won six NBA Championships, five regular season MVP awards and two Olympic Gold medals just to name a few of his achievements. Jordan’s talent and appeal gave the NBA and the Chicago Bulls a worldwide audience. MJ has continued to stay involved with the NBA by becoming owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. (Even though he may have really wanted to own the Bulls.)
I can’t tell you why these athletes chose to be unfaithful, I am not a superstar athlete making millions upon millions of dollars, so I can’t begin to imagine what’s going through their heads (I’m guessing it’s sex). But I am a woman and it makes me wonder why, after we hear the same story over and over again about athletes cheating on their spouses, would they even want to put themselves through it? I just don’t know. You would think that staying single a la Derek Jeter is the way to go until your playing career is over. The main thing to remember though is that athletes are human just like us, and even though they might cause some scandals, the minute they do something great on the field we forget all about their mistakes off of it.
