Athletes and Animal Cruelty
| Boxers | |
| Mike Tyson | then 25 year old heavyweight champion was convicted of raping a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant in 1992 - served 3 years of a 6 year sentence. In a fight with Evander Holyfield, Tyson bit both of Holyfield's ears. Tyson was suspended and his license withheld - In November 1999, Tyson allegedly starved to death a ferret, a 2nd starving ferret was rescued. Tyson was not charged with neglect of the ferrets because the DA's office could not prove his ownership of the pets - even though there were living in his home |
| Roy Jones, Jr. | raises cockfighting roosters on his 80 acre ranch in Cantonment, FL |
| Football | |
| Marcus Deon Vick | the American football wide receiver was dismissed from Virginia Tech for intentionally stepping on the leg of a Louisville defensive end during the 2006 Gator Bowl. Vick had also been cited on 1/17/05 for a misdemeanor charge of driving on a suspended or revoked license. He was permanently dismissed from VT's football program "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play". 2 days after declaring his eligibility for the NFL draft in January 2006, he was charged with 3 counts of brandishing a firearm in VA. He was convicted and received a 6 month suspended sentence. He was sued for $6.3 million by a 17-year-old girl for fraud and sexual battery. Vick is the younger brother of Michael Vick who in 2007, plead guilty to dogfighting |
| Nate Newton, Jr. | Dallas Cowboys lineman was arrested at a Texas dogfight in 1991. The charges were eventually dropped because Newton was merely watching, but relationships made at the event led to him spending 32 months in federal prison for marijuana possession. |
| Jonathan Babineaux | Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle charged in February 2007 for felony animal abuse for allegedly killing is girlfriends dog following an argument. - the case is pending |
| LeShon Johnson | Former NFL running back who played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and NY Giants was found guilty for his involvement in a massive dogfighting ring in 2004 - received a 5 year deferred sentence in 2005 after 200 dogs were seized in a raid of his dogfighitng operation that led to 20 people being convicted |
| Thomas Davis | the Carolina Panthers linebacker had 3 pitbulls seized on May 16, 2006 by Charlotte animal control. Davis was cited after the dogs got loose and attacked a woman walking her dog. Davis was also cited on May 3, 2006 for letting his dogs run loose. |
| Thomas Hamner | Former Eagles running back was twice charged with beating his dog in 2001 and convicted of cruelty to animals. |
| Joey Porter | the Pittsburgh Steelers lineman owned a pit bull and bull mastiff. In September 2006 the dogs got out of the yard and mauled a neighbor's miniature horse, killing it. Porter was cited by police. |
| Michael Dwayne Vick | Pled guilty to dogfighting - will be sentenced in December 2007 |
| Pop Icons | |
| DMX | distributed music videos and/or CDs extolling dogfighting - In 2002 he plead guilty to animal cruelty for neglect of 13 pit bulls in NJ - 12 distressed pit bulls were removed from his home in Phoenix on August 2007. As part of his plea agreement for the 2002 case he was required to do PSA's against animal abuse. For the 2nd offense in August 2007 - no charges have been filed - the case is still under investigation. |
| Basketball | |
| Ron Artest | The Sacramento Kings player was arrested for domestic violence in March, 2007. Pled no contest to the domestic violence charge and animal neglect and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, a 10-day work project and mandated extensive counseling - suspended for several games - Artest paid $1,952. in fines for his dogs for being at large, and not being fed properly. In February 2007 animal control took his malnourished Great Dane, the 7th time since July 2006 hat officers had been to Artest's home in response to dog related complaints. Artest was in the middle of a 6 year, $41 million contract at the time. |
| Qyntel Woods | Portland Trailblazer pled guilty to 1st degree animal cruelty related to dogfighting for hosting dogfighting in his Portland home in 2004 - he was suspended for violating the league's substance-abuse policy - entered a misdemeanor plea agreement and sentenced to 12 months probation and 80 hours of community service. |
| Latrell Sprewell | In 1994, 1 of his 2 pit bulls bit an ear off his daughter, who was 4 at the time. She was also bitten on her lips, forehead and nose. Sprewell at first refused to put the dog down waiting 10 days. In February 2007, Sprewell was sued for $200 million by the girl's guardian for allegedly becoming abusive and skimping on child support. In 1997 Sprewell attacked and threatened to kill his coach. Sprewell has a long dark side from as far back as 1995 for fighting, threatening, reckless driving. He spent 4 months under house arrest for the reckless driving incident in California for forcing another driver off the road. |
| Coaches | |
| Todd McNair | USC running backs coach who is in his fourth season with the Trojans, was twice convicted on charges related to mistreatment of dogs in the 1990's. He was never convicted for dogfighting. McNair was charged with cruelty to animals, failure to obtain licence's and keeping animals for the purpose of fighting on March 30, 1996 on his property in East Greenwich, NJ. 17 adults and 5 puppies were found. McNair was convicted of cruelty to animals and neglect in October 1996, paid $25,000 in fines and performed 80 hours of community service. In March 1994, Police shot and killed a pit bull for biting and locking onto a neighborhood dog, while no charges were filed, the PD believed the dog belonged to McNair. McNair moved the 6 dog chained in his yard right after this incident. In July 1993, McNair was charged with animal neglect, found guilty, fined $500 and put on probation. He was also ordered to donate $250 to an animal shelter. A judge issued a warrant for contempt of court after the fine was paid but not the donation. McNair was fined $100 on the contempt charge and sentenced to community service. |
| Other Idols/Athletes but not involved with animal cruelty | |
| Boxers: | Tony Ayala, Ruben "Hurricane" Carter |
| Hockey: | Mark Bell, Mike Danton, Craig MacTavish, Bob Probert, Dany Heatley |
| Golfers: | Notah Begay, John Daly |
| Football: | Mossy Cade, Rae Carruth, Darryl Henley, Tank Johnson, Jamal Lewis, Leondard Little, Reggie Rogers, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Paul Hornung, Reuben Droughns, A.J. Nicolson, Fred Rouse, Leon Lett, Rodney Harrison, Luis Castillo, Ray Lewis, Chris Warren, Andre Rison |
| Pop Singers: | Robert Kelly aka R. Kelly, |
| Basketball: | Lee Nailon, Tom Payne, Charles Smith, Jason Kidd, Johnny Newman, Damon Stoudamire, Zack Randolph, Reuben Patterson, Rasheed Wallace, Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III aka C-Webb, Sebastian Telfair, Ricky Clemons, Sean Tagger, Jeff Robinson, Richard Dumas, David Harrison, Kurt Thomas, Robert Parish, Keon Clark, Tony Battie, Marcus Canby, Darnell Marcus Lamar Fizer, Joe Forte, Eddie Griffin, Sam Cassell, Jason Caffey, Gary Payton, Derrick Coleman, Jayson Williams, Sly Williams, Robert "Tractor" Traylor, Darrell Armstrong, Allen Iverson, Los Angeles Clippers team owner, Donald Sterling, Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson, Vernon Maxwell |
| Baseball: | Rafael Furcal, Uqueth Urbna, Brett Myers, Jose Offerman, Matt Beech, Jared Price, Denny McLain, Pete Rose |
| Coaches | Mike Smiddy, Wade Wilson, Ryan Wolf |
A 3 year study published in 1995 by researchers at Northwestern University found that while male student-athletes are 3 percent of the population, they represent 19 percent of sexual assault perpetrators and 35 percent of domestic violence perpetrators.
Roger Goodell, the new NFL Commissioner, has made it his mandate to crack down on athletes who misbehave. In April 2007, Goodell introduced a new conduct policy that stiffens penalties and holds franchises responsible when their players get into trouble.
In 1995, while only 8.5% of the general population was charged with assault, 36.8% of athletes were charged with assault. (Benedict/Crosset Study*)
The general population has a conviction rate of 80%. The conviction rate of an athlete is 38%. (Benedict/Crosset Study)
1 in 5 NFL players have been charged with a serious crime, yet no NFL player has ever been suspended for violence against another human being.
A year before Duke University's lacrosse team became the center of a scandal administrators and the school's athletic director were warned that the players had demonstrated "boorish" behavior. 15 of the team's 47 players have court records for drunken and disorderly behavior
"There is a mentality among athletes that 'we can get away with this, that no one is going to challenge us because we are student athletes'", said Richard Lapchick, professor at the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida.
In recent years there have been allegations made against rugby players that include improper sexual conduct and rape at San Diego State, against basketball players at South Dakota State and against football players at Penn State, the Coast Guard Academy, the Naval Academy, The University of Oklahoma and the University of Colorado.
These athletes begin to think they are privileged and have star status. "They become narcissistic" said psychologist William Pollack, director of McLean Hospital's Centers for Men and Young Men. "They feel like they are gods, they can do anything", Pollack said. "They lose touch and sometimes they get lubricated with alcohol and woman become a prize".
In a 3 year study ending in 2004, Chicago police found that 59 percent of people involved in dogfighting were known gang members and nearly all of the (86 percent) had been arrested at least twice.
* The Benedict-Crosset Study of sexual assaults at 30 major Division I universities over a 3 year period in the 1990's concludes that "male college student athletes, compared to the rest of the male population, are responsible for a significantly higher percentage of sexual assaults reported."