Five Memorable Sports Flops

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Voices November 2010 

The sports word is filled with stories of glory, great comebacks, and the underdog overcoming unbelievable odds to achieve victory. Then, there is the other side of the coin; the failures, the overrated, and simply put, the agony of defeat. Often these disappointments became tales which live on in a sort of sports infamy. With that in mind here is a look back at five such sport flops.

5.         Dan vs. Dave

In 1992 the Summer Olympics were set to be held in Barcelona, Spain. During the months leading up to the those Olympic Games Reebok came up with what seemed like a brilliant advertising campaign featuring two unknown track and field athletes, Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson. Both men were favorites to compete for a Gold Medal in the decathlon.

Reebok’s $25 million dollar campaign was kicked-off with commercials airing during Super Bowl XXVI. America was introduced to the tagline, “Who will be the world’s greatest athlete – Dan or Dave? To be settled in Barcelona,” and we were all hooked.

The ad campaign was supposed to last eight months culminating in the two men competing against each at the Olympics. It was quickly derailed however when Dan O’Brien missed a pole vault at an Olympic trial event five weeks before the Summer Games and did not qualify for the Olympics. To make matters even worse for Reebok, Dave Johnson broke a bone in his foot, and had a poor showing in Barcelona finishing third with a Bronze Medal.

These days O’Brien is a speed and conditioning trainer as well as a motivational speaker. He was able to redeem himself at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta by taking home a Gold Medal in the decathlon. Johnson is a Vice Principal and Athletic Director for Jefferson High School in Salem, Oregon. Both men were inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.

4.         2004 USA Olympic Basketball Team

The United States had gotten used to dominating international competition in basketball ever since NBA players began making up the majority of the U.S. team roster. It was thought this domination would continue leading to another Gold Medal at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. However, the team experienced a cold dose of reality when they were embarrassed by Puerto Rico in a 19-point defeat in the first game.

The team was coached by Larry Brown who had just led the Detroit Pistons to the NBA title. The team was made up of a whose-who of young NBA stars including Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Amare Stoudemire, and Dwyane Wade. Though they were loaded with talent the team looked lackluster and made unforgivable fundamental errors. They lost games to Lithuania and Argentina and eventually finished a disappointing third with a Bronze Medal. The 2004 team was only the third USA basketball team ever not to win a Gold Medal at the Olympics earning the nickname, “The Nightmare Team.”

3.         Tony Mandarich

In the 1989 NFL Draft, a draft filled with the likes of Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders, one name stood out above all others – Tony Mandarich. He was a 6’6, 320 pound offensive lineman whose hype was as big as his body.

Before playing a down in the NFL, Mandarich absolutely dominated college football while at Michigan State and had already grabbed the cover of Sports Illustrated who labeled him “the best offensive line prospect ever”. This eventually led to Mandarich being taken by the Green Bay Packers with the second overall pick. He was also the first offensive lineman to sign a seven-figure salary when he inked a 4-year $4.4 million deal.

It was expected Mandarich would go on to a Hall of Fame career in Green Bay, however cracks began to surface in his game almost immediately. For one, Mandarich could not pass block which put him at a great disadvantage in the NFL’s pass happy offenses. Mandarich’s unbelievable strength was largely a byproduct of his use of steroids throughout his college career. He was also heavily addicted to pain killers – so much so he was main-lining many of the substances.

Mandarich’s on-field play became so bad he was benched in 1992 and did not appear in one game that year. He was cut by the Packers after that season. In September of 1992 Sports Illustrated did a follow-up article on Mandarich calling him “The NFL’s Incredible Bust”.

2.         Ryan Leaf

I am sure the mere mention of this name still makes fans in San Diego cringe.

Back in 1998 the Chargers traded a couple of first round picks, a second round pick, and a former Pro-Bowl caliber player in Eric Metcalf so they could move up one spot to the second overall pick to get Leaf. They thought they were getting a franchise QB, but instead were saddled with arguably the biggest bust in NFL Draft history.

Leaf was a stand-out quarterback at Washington State University. His junior year he was a Heisman Trophy finalist and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. It was widely believed Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning would go first and second in the NFL Draft. Debates raged among experts on who was the better player coming out of college. Manning was believed to be the more mature while Leaf was supposed to have the better arm. Those experts were definitely correct about who was more mature.

Leaf had a contentious relationship with the media, and he crumbled under their criticism. His relationship with teammates was not much better. Leaf’s performance on the field did not help matters. In the ten games he played that season Leaf had a meager 2 TD’s and 15 interceptions along with a woeful QB rating of 39. His next two years were filled with frequent injuries, more poor play, and continuous run-ins with the media and Chargers personnel. He was released after only three seasons in San Diego.

Leaf tried comebacks with the Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Seahawks, but a nagging wrist injury, poor attitude, and a growing addiction to pain killers ended any hope of Leaf reviving his NFL career. In 25 career games Leaf threw only 14 TD’s compared to 36 interceptions and managed a career QB rating of only 50.

1.         XFL

The Extreme Football League (XFL) was the brainchild of professional wrestling mogul, Vince McMahon. Thinking he could capitalize on the popularity of his then World Wrestling Federation, McMahon partnered with NBC Entertainment to bring, “Football The Way It Was Meant To Be Played.”

With cheerleaders in skimpy outfits and a number of rule changes including the opening scramble, no point after touchdowns, the allowing of full bump and run coverage, and no fair catches, McMahon figured his wrestling audience would flock to stadiums filling the stands. The league was also heavily promoted by wrestling stars like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin who would refer to the NFL as the “No Fun League”.

After huge television ratings for the initial opening week’s games the popularity quickly waned and went into a steady decline. McMahon’s wrestling fans did not support the XFL like it was thought, and the league folded after just one season. It has been estimated Vince McMahon and NBC Entertainment lost a combined $60-$70 million on the failed sport venture.

Steve Brandon, “A ‘Dan and Dave’ reunion”, Portlandtribune.com

Jeff Merron, “The List: Biggest sports busts”, Espn.go.com

“2004 Olympics (Athens) – The Nightmare Team”, Everything2.com

Kory Kozak, “Steroids fueled spectacular rise and fall”, Espn.go.com

Betsy Blaney, “Ryan Leaf Tries To Build New Life”, Huffingtonpost.com

“Welcome to the newly revised XFL Home Page”, All-xfl.com