Football Fans Turned Into All-Out Haters Because Of These NFL Stars

Darren - July 6, 2022

Football Fans Turned Into All-Out Haters Because Of These NFL Stars

Darren - July 6, 2022

46. A.J. Brown

Fans rarely react well when one of their star players leaves a franchise. However, this doesn’t justify sending them death threats or racial slurs. Brown received both types of horrible messages from his onetime supporters in Tennessee after he departed for the Eagles in a shocking trade on the opening night of the 2022 NFL Draft.

The wide receiver tweeted that he was sorry he disappointed some children but this didn’t justify their parents abusing him. It’s also a stark warning to the rest of the NFL that fans are fickle. Once they leave, they hate them more than anyone else in the entire world (via Sports Illustrated).

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45. Damon Arnette

Most players receive hate because their fanbase has irrational expectations. Usually, the athlete hasn’t done anything that justifies taking a lot of abuse. However, Arnette is a special case because he acts like a psychopath in the public domain (via The Athletic).

Sometimes fans leave anonymous death threats in a cowardly move on social media. But this time Arnette brandished guns and threatened somebody’s life in a shocking video. In the end, the Raiders cut him because he brought the franchise into disrepute.

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44. Joe Burrow

Burrow is one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the NFL. His partnership with Ja’Marr Chase inspired the Bengals to a surprise Super Bowl appearance against the Rams in 2022. He narrowly missed out on winning his first ring yet still became one of the hottest stars in the football world in the process.

But some people hate Burrow more than anyone else because he spoke out about guns. Burrow advocated common-sense gun laws and aggravated a lot of people in the process. Others simply hate the Bengals and automatically despise Burrow by association (via NBC Sports).

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43. Daniel Jones

Perhaps Jones doesn’t receive hate more than anyone else but he still takes a lot. One of the main reasons why some Giants fans can’t stand him is because he’s not Eli Manning. The younger Manning brother helped bring two Super Bowls to the franchise despite his middling talent.

Jones shows no signs of guiding the Giants to the same success. It appears as though he’s treading water in New York with no chance of stepping up to the next level. This is extremely frustrating for the fanbase because they are one of the most lucrative and famous franchises in the NFL (via Clutchpoints).

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42. Fred Warner

Many fans think Warner is low-key and one of the dirtiest players in the NFL. That’s why some Seattle fans hate him more than anyone else in the league. The Rams support added themselves to people with a grudge against the linebacker in 2022 (via Sporting News).

That’s because Warner slammed helmet first into their star quarterback Matthew Stafford. It was a late, dirty hit but Warner didn’t receive any punishment for his actions. The officials missed it but Twitter didn’t and roundly abused the 49ers’ linebacker.

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41. Aaron Donald

Many people consider Donald one of the dirtiest players in the NFL. They also think that the media has a fetish for him and refuses to acknowledge his misdemeanors when they’d lead a witch hunt against other players. That’s why some fans hate him more than anyone else.

The Super Bowl winner is a brilliant player but there’s no denying that he’s a master of the dark arts. However, that’s why Rams fans adore him and why he’s a perennial defensive player of the year. But it’s also easy to see why other franchises despise him and want him to retire (via New York Post).

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40. Daniel Sorensen

Despite their recent success, not many Chiefs players received a lot of personal hate. However, Sorensen was an exception to the rule before the move to New Orleans. Many Kansas City fans can’t stand him and think that he’s holding some kind of leverage over the coaching staff (via Fansided).

The reality is that the safety was one of the weak links on the roster. Somehow he still maintained his spot and continued to play for the team. Other franchises don’t like him either because he has dirty tendencies. But these could be a result of his inherent clumsiness.

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39. Jimmy Garoppolo

Niners fans hate Garoppolo because he catfished the organization. Everybody thought that he was the next Tom Brady after the Patriots drafted him. But he proved that there were many flaws in his game. He lacks arm strength and isn’t capable of making deep throws (via KNBR).

That’s why San Francisco’s fanbase wants him out of the equation. Trey Lance will likely oust him as the starter in 2022. Questions remain over Garoppolo’s future but he promises to polarize the masses wherever he goes. At times he’s great but he infuriates people as often.

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38. Michael Thomas

Thomas is one of those players that many fans find easy to hate. He also has his defenders who observe that he has elite talent and was Drew Brees’ only Pro Bowl receiver. However, many critics maintain that analysts overrate Thomas. They also think that he’s a crybaby and despise his attitude.

The latter aspect is probably the main reason why some people despise him more than anyone else. Thomas has had problems with the Saints organization but doesn’t deserve all of the abuse he gets. Good luck trying to explain that to his many detractors on social media (via USA Today).

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37. Mac Jones

Jones is the Patriots’ quarterback so that’s enough of a reason for many fans to hate him. Yes, the franchise went off the boil in recent years but they still dominated for longer than anybody outside Boston cared for. Now Jones threatens to help Bill Belichick build another generation of winners (via Sportschasers).

Rival fans hate Jones’s unflappable confidence and his uncanny resemblance to Tom Brady. They hate the comparisons to the Patriots’ icon and want Jones to fail. It doesn’t matter that he’s just a young man making his way in the world. He repulses them more than anyone else.

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36. Josh Allen

Allen plays for the Bills and that’s the reason many people hate him more than any other quarterback in the league. It doesn’t help that he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Football fans either appreciate everything that the Bills bring to the table or they despise them (via People).

The franchise underwent a franchise in recent years and with that came more resentment. Allen’s critics called him a crybaby after the Bills crashed out of the playoffs against the Chiefs in 2022. They lost the game when Patrick Mahomes instigated the winning drive in overtime.

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35. Zach Wilson

Quarterbacks receive a disproportionate amount of hate and Wilson is no exception. He arrived in New York with a lot of weight on his shoulders after Gang Green brought him to town. However, he endured a rollercoaster of a season after first-year head coach Robert Saleh threw him into the deep end.

Wilson’s baptism of fire proved that NFL rookies often struggle. Many fans rolled their eyes and thought that the Jets wasted another great quarterback prospect. Others thought that Wilson created the problem himself and gave him a lot of unnecessary abuse online (via FOX Sports).

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34. Lamar Jackson

Many critics wrote Jackson off before his first NFL down with the Baltimore Ravens. They felt that he was a glorified running back and assumed that he would suffer many injuries. Following a decent start with the team in 2018, he proved them wrong with his MVP form in 2019 and his phenomenal displays in Baltimore.

Now some people hate him because he missed OTAs and refuses to commit his future to the Ravens. But that’s also down to the Ravens’ inability to step up and accept that they should pay him his dues. However, fans don’t care about that side of the story and target the player (via Yahoo! Sports).

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33. Tim Tebow

Most NFL fans don’t hate Tebow but he makes them roll their eyes because he’s a parody-like figure. However, there are some who loath him more than anybody else. That’s because of his “praise the Lord” personality and the way the media fixates on him whenever he does anything.

There was a mass feeling of disbelief in 2021 when Urban Meyer tried to bring him back to football. That’s why Tebow makes this list because the Jaguars put him through their training camp. Before that, he went to baseball which is where most fans would prefer he stayed (via Bleacher Report).

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32. Sam Darnold

Perhaps hate is too strong of a word for people’s feelings toward Darnold. Many people pity him because he was so out of his depth in New York. Adam Gase ruined the young quarterback’s confidence and failed to build a strong team around his charge (via The Athletic).

However, some fans hate Darnold more than anybody else because he brought the team to a new low. The Jets haven’t enjoyed much success over the past decade but they reached rock bottom with him. Then he flopped with the Panthers when he moved to the Carolina team in 2021.

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31. Ben Roethlisberger

Technically, we cheated by including Roethlisberger because he retired in 2021. But it’s still close enough for him to merit a place on this list. Unlike other players, “Big Ben” deserves the hatred that some NFL fans maintain for him. That’s because he’s an alleged sexual abuser with numerous blemishes on his record.

Roethlisberger experienced multiple allegations and lawsuits on charges of rape and sexual assault. He’s also settled some of these disputes with the victims out of court. Some football fans hate him more than anybody else because of the disgraceful way he allegedly treated women (via CBS Sports).

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30. Le’Veon Bell

It’s no surprise that most of the NFL hates Bell now because he makes it very easy. He turned from hero to villain in the blink of an eye in Pittsburgh after he skipped the entire 2018 season. Bell refused to play because of a contract dispute as he refused the franchise tag (via The Guardian).

Then he made another stupid mistake by joining the Jets. It may be too strong to say that the Gang Green despises him because he failed to deliver. But he disappointed the fanbase and skipped town as soon as possible. Now he annoys supporters more than anyone else in the league.

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29. Jamal Adams

If there’s one thing that fans hate it’s dirty players. Adams is one of those athletes who live on the edge and doesn’t mind leaving a mark on an opponent. He infamously wiped out John Wolford in 2022. The previous year he also took out Carson Wentz in brutal style.

There’s nothing wrong in calling out a player for dirty tactics. Nonetheless, some fans took this to the next level and went too far with the abuse. We’re sure Adams will be delighted to listen to people who racially abuse him and call him horrendous names (via BroBible).

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28. Tua Tagovailoa

Many NFL fans hate Tagovailoa more than anybody else because of his career path. He had a phenomenal supporting cast at Alabama that made him look brilliant. Then he arrived in Miami with a fantastic situation but struggled to settle as a starter (via Miami Herald).

There are some horrible people out there who sneer at the fact that his father abused him. They also think that he’s a failure and refuse to give him a chance. He may not be the brilliant QB that Miami dreamed of but he’s still a human and doesn’t deserve that level of hate.

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27. Russell Wilson

Wilson departed Seattle in 2022 after he spent almost a decade as their starting quarterback. He was one of the most stable presences in the NFL but cut ties with the franchise. Wilson said that he wanted to move to a city that knew how to win. This was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

Fans responded with hate mail and death threats. Some of them even burned his jersey and promised to violate his family members in awful ways. It’s safe to say that an element of the Hawks fanbase hates him more than anybody else in the world right now (via NFL.com).

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26. Chase Claypool

Some people hate Claypool more than anybody else in the NFL because of his online persona. They see him as immature and childish because of his antics on social media. It doesn’t help that he made a lot of mistakes when playing for the Steelers in 2021.

Claypool is one of those players that makes it easy for people to focus their hatred. It doesn’t matter that he’s a young man with a big personality and having a good time. They can’t abide his personality and wish that Pittsburgh picked somebody else (via CBC).

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25. Isaiah Wilson

There’s a strong argument that Wilson is a top-10 worst pick of all time. The Titans used their first-round selection on the former Georgia offensive tackle. It appeared to be a good move because he had fantastic physical attributes and performed well for the Bulldogs (via Sports Illustrated).

But he only made a single appearance for the Titans after a season of legal trouble. He went on a high-speed car chase and also violated NFL health policies. In the end, Tennessee had enough and cut ties with the player. He wasted his talent more than anybody else over the past few seasons.

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24. Lane Johnson

Johnson knows that the Patriots hate him more than anybody else. But in his own words, he doesn’t care because that means he’s doing something right. The Eagles star received an incredible amount of hate mail from Pats fans after his role in their 2018 Super Bowl win.

He said that the Eagles had more fun winning their ring than New England’s five (at the time). The right tackle had no problem stirring up a hornet’s nest online. Johnson also riled up other fanbases because he committed multiple PED violations (via Clutchpoints).

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23. Blake Bortles

There aren’t many backup quarterbacks on this list but Bortles earned his place. It’s easy to forget that he’s still an active NFL player because nobody likes to think about it. As well as having one of the worst names ever, Bortles was a terrible signal-caller for the Jaguars.

The main reason why Bortles received so much hate was that he is a bad player. It’s harsh but it’s true and this made it easy for fans to pile on. Bortles didn’t deserve all of the abuse on a human level but people don’t think about this when they unleash their outrage (via New York Post).

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22. Tom Brady

A few years ago, Brady would have been on top of this list. But he’s no longer playing for the ruthless, cheating Patriots so it’s not as easy to hate him. Furthermore, he earned the goodwill of many fans after he won an incredible seventh Super Bowl with the Bucs.

Terrell Suggs still despises Brady more than any other human being on earth. It’s safe to say that several NFL supporters maintain this feeling for the football icon. Success creates jealousy in all walks of life so it’s no surprise that Brady still receives a lot of it (via Fox Sports).

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21. Joe Mixon

Mixon hit a woman in the face and that’s exactly why many NFL fans can’t stand him. It’s always tricky when a franchise employs somebody with dubious moral integrity. Unfortunately, Mixon fits into this category because of his brutality in an Oklahoma diner.

Many supporters justifiably despise assaulters more than anyone else. Mixon will never be able to convince some people that he’s a reformed character. It doesn’t matter what he does on the field because they will still hate him. To be fair, it’s not that surprising really (via Cincinnati WCPO).

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20. Kirk Cousins

Few players polarize NFL fans like Cousins. A large contingent believes that he’s one of the most underrated passers in the game. They think that the right system would bring the best out of the Vikings star. However, others despise his personal views and think he’s a garbage player.

The reality is that his status here is the same as his quarterback level. Fans hate him but he still doesn’t make the top 10 in the league. Others point out that he commands ridiculous money despite his abilities. Cousins is one of those players who’ll never have everybody on his side (via Audacy).

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19. Mitchell Trubisky

Trubisky is one of those players fans love to hate after the Bears traded up for him. To say that he disappointed Chicago is an understatement as he left the organization with his tail between his legs. However, unlike other athletes on this list, Trubisky isn’t a bad person (via Yardbreaker).

But that doesn’t mean anything to ruthless NFL fans spewing their opinions online. As far as they’re concerned Trubisky is only a level or two above the perpetrator of genocide. There was widespread relief in Illinois when he departed to become the Bills’ back-up behind Josh Allen.

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18. Cole Beasley

Beasley experienced a lot of fan hate throughout his career. He first riled up the Bills against him in 2014 but things settled down and he continued to play for the franchise. However, they came to a boil again in 2021 as he criticized the Mafia for booing him at home (via USA Today Sports).

The wide receiver had strong opinions on the NFL’s vaccination stance. This didn’t please some fans who believed that he was a moron and they made their voices heard. Beasley called them out after the game and said that he thought the Bills fanbase was supposed to be the best in the world.

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17. Carson Wentz

Philadelphia Eagles fans are infamously some of the least forgiving in the NFL. They hate Wentz more than anyone else in the league because he let them down badly. It appeared as though he was the next big thing and their new generation’s leader. But then he had a stark decline and took 50 sacks in 2020.

They wanted him out of the organization but he came back to haunt them. The Colts promised the Eagles a first-round pick if Wentz reached a 75 percent snap threshold. However, he suffered injuries and then fell ill after violating NFL health regulations. No wonder they can’t forgive him (via The Guardian).

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16. Jameis Winston

Many NFL fans don’t have much respect for Winston because he is an interception machine. That’s why he lost his starting spot in Tampa Bay and moved to New Orleans. He spent time as Drew Brees’ back-up before the franchise gave him a chance to stake his claim as a starter.

However, there was one massive problem with this decision. The Saints and the Buccaneers are two of the biggest rivals in their division. Now Tampa fans hate Winston more than anyone because he plays for their enemy. It’s quite the turnaround for the former first overall pick (via Fansided).

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15. Josh Norman

Norman is one of the biggest heels in the NFL so it’s no surprise that opposition fans can’t stand the sight of him. One of the main things they hate is that he talks too much. This is very true because he’s not afraid to voice his opinions or to give his teammates abuse.

Meanwhile, he’s no stranger to a dirty tackle as Odell Beckham Jr. will testify. Norman is one of those players that NFL fans will always hate unless he plays for their team. Even some of his supporters find it difficult to appreciate him because of his personality (via New Jersey.com).

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14. Baker Mayfield

Mayfield receives a lot of hate and is one of the most divisive figures in the NFL. It’s fair to say that some Browns fans hate him more than the man who replaced him in 2022. The problem is Mayfield’s self-belief and personality because they think he’s too full of himself.

Furthermore, some NFL supporters doubt that the former Heisman winner will ever be an elite QB. This may be true but it’s not a reason to hate the signal-caller. Unfortunately, he also said that he’d love to boo fans at their jobs and this didn’t come across well (via N.Y. Post). After deciding he would no longer play for the Browns, Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers for the low cost of a 2024 fifth-round pick. We’ll see if he can reinvent his career in Charlotte.

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13. Jalen Ramsey

Some fans hate Ramsey because he talks too much. The Rams star is one of the NFL’s biggest trash-talker and not everybody appreciates it. Rams fans love him because he’s an electric talent but it’s easy for them to root for him. After all, he helped them to a Super Bowl win (via G.Q.).

If the cornerback played for another franchise, those fans would love him too. He’s that type of personality that makes everybody else think he’s as annoying as a dodgy Wi-Fi connection. Ramsey will never win everybody over but he doesn’t care as long as he succeeds on the field.

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12. Kareem Hunt

Hunt said that he’s “not that type of person” after a video emerged of him beating a woman in a hotel room. The footage proved that he was that type of person because he committed a heinous act. It’s also why many NFL fans hate him more than anyone else in the league.

The Chiefs cut the running back after the incident but the Browns didn’t have a problem snapping him up. They’re proving to be a landing ground for violent abusers of women. There’s nothing worse than a man who lays hands on a woman, or their feet in Hunt’s case (via Daily Mail).

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11. Tyreek Hill

Hill attracted a lot of hate after he left the Chiefs in 2022 and joined the Miami Dolphins. Some fans thought that this was ridiculous because he delivered on the field for the franchise. But others hated the thought of one of their best players leaving their team for pastures new.

But Hill has a horrible past as he abused his girlfriend. He hit her in the stomach when she was eight months pregnant in a sickening incident. Some football fans don’t forget these incidents and resent the high number of offenders in the NFL (via Bleacher Report).

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10. Richard Sherman

A large proportion of the NFL fanbase says that Sherman is the player they hate more than anyone else. His larger-than-life confidence and attitude get on some people’s nerves. Seattle fans loved him before he left and put them on full blast by saying that they hate accountability (via SBNation).

He isn’t afraid to say what he thinks even if it will turn an entire fanbase against him. That’s almost admirable in a way although the Seahawks don’t think so. Meanwhile, Sherman had his fair share of problems off the field. This added fuel to the fire and generated more criticism of the cornerback online.

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9. Cam Newton

Newton is another player that fans hate without a real reason. The Panthers loved him because he had elite talent and made them Super Bowl contenders. But he went off the boil because of injuries much to the delight of other fan groups. They delighted in his misfortune because they can’t stand him as an individual.

Yes, Newton had personal problems during his college days but he’s come a long way since then. They just hate that he’s an entertainer and likes to express himself on the field. It’s his style and the way he dances that winds up conservative older men who hate fun (via Sportscasting).

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8. Odell Beckham Jr

Beckham’s flamboyance is one of the main reasons why opposition fans hate him more than anyone else. Some people don’t appreciate his flashiness and diva-like personality. This means that he’ll always have his critics who root against him no matter what he achieves.

Many Browns fans don’t like him either because he flopped with the franchise. He spent most of his tenure there on the injury list before he quit to win a Super Bowl with the Rams. Others have questioned Beckham’s maturity and took glee from his Bitcoin losses in 2022 (via 257 Sports).

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7. Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers went from being one of the most idolized players in the NFL to being roundly hated. Many fans said that he was a better quarterback than Tom Brady and preferred him to the Patriots legend. Then he committed a heel turn in 2021 when he began to play the Packers for a new contract.

He turned the franchise against him when he held out for a new deal. The NFL thought that he was packing his bags to move to Denver but in the end, he stayed put. He also earned a lot of hatred when it became clear that he violated the NFL’s health policies (via Sports Illustrated).

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6. Ezekiel Elliott

There are two reasons why it’s easy to hate Elliott. First, he plays for the Dallas Cowboys and that’s more than enough for most people. “America’s Team” is one of the most loathed sporting organizations on the planet. However, there’s another valid reason not to respect Elliot.

That’s because he’s an alleged domestic abuser and this isn’t acceptable at all. Elliot has a lot of talent but it doesn’t matter if he lays hands on women. Some NFL fans hate him more than anyone else because of the combination of these two factors (via D Magazine).

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5. Colin Kaepernick

Yes, we’re stretching the truth by calling Kaepernick an active NFL player. However, he never retired from football and attempted to make a comeback several times. But franchises don’t want to know about the polarizing civil rights activist because of the baggage he brings.

There’s no denying that part of the NFL fanbase loathes Kaepernick more than anyone else because he represents everything that they hate. It’s also arguable that Kaepernick doesn’t want to play football again because he makes more money from endorsements (via Huff Post).

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4. Henry Ruggs III

In 2021, Ruggs lit up the NFL after he became the Raiders’ most important attacking outlet. It appeared that the future was bright for a young man with the world at his feet. Then he drank heavily before crashing his Corvette at a high speed into another vehicle.

A woman died as a result of the collision and Ruggs instantly became a hate figure. They went after him because he killed another human through his stupidity and carelessness. He will spend a long time behind bars but this won’t atone for his poor decision-making (via Yardbreaker).

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3. Ndamukong Suh

There are no prizes for guessing why Suh is on this list. He is one of the most hated figures in the NFL because of his spectacular dirtiness. Few players commit as many cynical fouls as the former Bucs star. He won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2020 but this didn’t clean his image.

Suh received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fines because of his dubious tactics. He infamously kicked off Alfred Morris’s helmet and had dozens of late hits. If he channeled his aggression into positivity, fans would praise his consistency (via Washington Post).

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2. DeShaun Watson

Watson has one of the most tumultuous career trajectories on this list. He became one of the top-performing quarterbacks in the NFL during his time with the Texans. Then he made it clear that he wanted to join a franchise that was able to compete for a Super Bowl (via CNN).

However, a scandal broke when dozens of women accused him of sexual assault and misconduct. He allegedly many masseuses to touch him against their will. This didn’t stop the Browns from swooping for him but he became one of the most hated players in the NFL.

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1. Antonio Brown

A majority of NFL fans hate Brown more than anyone else because they think he’s a moron. Firstly, there were the horrendous sexual assault accusations that stained his name. This instantly turned many people away from him. He received a second chance in the NFL but some fans still didn’t want to know.

It doesn’t help that he behaves like an idiot in real life. He infamously stormed off the field bare-chested in 2022. A stone-faced Bruce Arians said that Brown would never play for the franchise again. Brown rubs people up the wrong way because of his antics off the field (via NBC Sports).

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Football Fans Turned Into All-Out Haters Because Of These NFL Stars