I name the Top 10 divas in the NFL. These are players who cry when things do not go their way, or cause disruption over the smallest things.
The NFL has more than its share of diva players. These are players who complain incessantly about not getting the ball, or about not having things go their way. They can bring negative energy into a locker room and cause a lot of frustrations.
Divas can be detrimental to the team chemistry. They cause a lot of friction on the team, and a lot of times players have to walk on eggshells when they are around them.
I decided to go over a list of the Top 10 divas who have complained their way to the top. They are not necessarily bad people, but don’t let them get angry. You wouldn’t like it when they’re angry.
So let’s take a look at these ten NFL divas and what got them on this list.
10. Cam Newton
Cam Newton is a terrific player. After a turbulent college career at the University of Florida and Auburn University, he burst onto the NFL in 2011 and had a record breaking rookie season.
It was after his rookie season that Newton exhibited diva tendencies. In his first Pro Bowl, Newton acted standoffish and big-timed other players by not signing autographs or taking pictures with their families.
Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com asked the players there about Newton’s behavior. “He was a total —-hole,” one AFC player said. “Who did he think he was? He acted like the big s—. Here he was at his first game and he acted like he was the star. Guys didn’t like that.”
As a result, AFC defenders, who usually don’t rush the quarterback, rushed Newton hard and even sacked him.
Newton’s diva personality has also been on display on the sidelines. When the Carolina Panthers are losing, Newton’s body language is awful. He is hanging his head, he stays away from everyone, he checks out. When things are going well, he’s great. When things aren’t so good, you cannot speak to him.
9. Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace’s first three seasons were great in Pittsburgh. He rose to become one of the NFL’s premiere receivers. Because of that, he felt that his rookie contract was beneath him. He grunted and groaned and missed training camp when he did not get the contract he wanted.
When he became a free agent, he bolted Pittsburgh and signed a huge deal with the Miami Dolphins.
In Miami, Wallace has continued his diva ways. He has not gotten on the same page with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and has complained about it, even after victories.
After his first four games in Miami, Wallace spoke about his unhappiness. “I’m definitely worried about it because it’s game four,” Wallace said Wednesday, via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. “I’m not paranoid or anything but in Week Four it’s not the way I imagined my first four weeks going. Definitely not. I’m pretty sure it’s not the way anybody imagined it going.”
How were the Dolphins doing after those four games? They owned a 3-1 record. The team is winning games, but because Wallace wasn’t getting thrown long bombs, he was worried and disappointed. Pretty diva-like action.
By the way, Tannehill and Wallace still haven’t gotten the long ball figured out yet.
8. Aaron Rodgers
Okay, this one may cause some ways. How could I list a guy who many consider to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL? In terms of age and ability, he may be the best right now, right? Yes, I agree with that, but Rodgers is still a diva.
In 2012 during one of the many Green Bay Packers blowout wins over the Chicago Bears, Rodgers stepped back to make a throw. His receiver, James Jones, ran a bad route and the ball was intercepted. Rodgers proceeded to go out and undress Jones on the field of play for making Rodgers look bad.
After the blown “Failed Mary” touchdown call against the Packers by the replacement refs a couple of seasons ago, a photographer was trying to get video of Rodgers, who hits the camera.
Rodgers receives no criticism for those actions. Let’s say someone like, say, Jay Cutler was to do the same. Critics may call for his banishment from the NFL.
It isn’t just on the field where Rodgers is a diva. He gets upset at any perceived slight.
In an interview done on 60 Minutes, we got to see how sensitive Rodgers is. He doesn’t like people talking about his height (a fan in the video meets Rodgers and comments about how he looked shorter than on television and Rodgers seemed visibly upset). Former teammate Greg Jennings spoke about how the players had to be careful about what they said about Rodgers so as not to offend him.
Of course, Rodgers did not like 60 Minutes talking about how sensitive he was and publicly denounced the interview, thus proving them right about him being so sensitive.
R-E-L-A-X Aaron, don’t be such a sensitive diva!
7. Johnny Manziel
Johnny Manziel comes into the NFL as one of the biggest divas in college sports. He got away with getting paid for his autograph (half a game suspension? Ha!). He got away with being too drunk to perform at Peyton Manning’s football camp. He got away with a variety of things in college.
Manziel then went to the NFL and is now trying that same act there. He is finding things different as a professional.
Manziel flipped the bird in a preseason game against Washington, and he got dinged $12,000 for it. He spent some of training camp partying it up, while Brad Hoyer spent his time working on the playbook and, surprise, Hoyer ended up winning the starting quarterback job for the Cleveland Browns.
Manziel says he will not change for anyone, not even for the NFL. That’s fine. If he doesn’t work on improving, however, he will be another in a long line of players who thought they could be bigger than the NFL and found out otherwise.
6. Steve Smith Sr.
Steve Smith Sr. looks like he is mad at the world, like the world did him wrong. For a guy who is a star receiver in the NFL, he should lighten up.
Smith is a player who takes anything that does not go his way as a personal attack on him. He did not like the changes going on in Carolina back in 2011 when the Panthers drafted Cam Newton and hired Ron Rivera, a move that most would welcome after a horrible season. Not Mr. Smith.
Smith got so upset, he cleaned out his locker and put his house up for sale. That move did not work for him, though, and he returned and had some good seasons with Cam and company.
The team decided to part ways with Smith this offseason and they released him. They wanted to get younger receivers, and quieter receivers. Smith eventually signed a 3-year, $11 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens.
After that incident in 2011 where he wanted to get out of Carolina, and after fights he had with teammates, Smith was now upset that he was not going to be in Carolina anymore. That apparently did not sit well with him.
The Ravens met up against the Panthers, and Smith promised blood and guts. He fulfilled that promise, making 6 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns in a Ravens blowout.
After the game, Smith continued his verbal barrage on the Panthers, apparently not satisfied with embarrassing them on the field.
He called a Charlotte radio station to continue the trash talking. “Now that I play well you’re going to try and say that I’m a distraction…i’ve always been a distraction, but I didn’t beat my wife. Yeah I hit some teammates six or seven years ago but I never beat my wife.”
That was in reference to Greg Hardy being convicted (it is currently under appeal) for beating his wife, one of the cases this season that highlighted the domestic violence problem that hit the NFL.
Stay classy, Mr. Smith!
5. Percy Harvin
Percy Harvin is on his third team now after being traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the New York Jets last week.
The talented receiver was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings. He became a deep threat, and was just a super talented receiver. Then he started to miss games because of migraines and he started to fight with both head coaches he had and he rehabbed his injured ankle away from the Minnesota trainers. Most importantly, he wanted a big new contract.
The Vikings grew tired of Harvin’s act. Surprisingly, the Seahawks swooped in and gave up three draft picks — one of them a first round pick — to acquire the talented playmaker.
The Seahawks then turned around and signed Harvin to a 6-year, $67 million contract. A season later, they dump him for a conditional pick. Depending on how he plays, the pick could be anywhere from a second round pick to a fourth round pick.
The Seahawks invested a lot into Harvin, then dump him for a conditional pick? What happened?
It was reported that Harvin was a time bomb ready to blow. He complained about touchdown receptions being called back because of penalties. He also got into a fight with Golden Tate (now with the Detroit Lions) before the Super Bowl, and another with Doug Baldwin before the last exhibition game this preseason. He also reportedly refused to get into the game in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys two weeks ago.
Will this diva learn his lesson? Stay tuned to find out.
4. Geno Smith
Percy Harvin’s new teammate Geno Smith is next on this list.
Smith’s saga as a diva started right after the New York Jets drafted him. Smith thought he was going to be a Top 10 pick. He thought he might even be the first overall pick. Instead, E.J. Manuel was the only quarterback chosen in the first round, and Smith was chosen in the second round.
One would think Smith would use that as a chip on his shoulder and that he would work hard to prove the naysayers wrong, right? Not at all. What Smith did was blame his agents, and he fired them.
This season, as the Jets continue to slide, Smith has been in rare form. In the Jets’ game against the Detroit Lions in Week 4, a group of Jets fans were heckling Smith. He proceeded to drop the F-bomb on those fans. He was later fined $12,000 for those words.
The night before he struggled and ultimately got benched in a 31-0 loss to the San Diego Chargers, Smith missed a team meeting, claiming he was thrown off by the three hour time difference between New York and California. Where was he while the meeting was taking place? At the movies.
Not moves befitting a leader, huh?
3. Robert Griffin III
Robert Griffin III came into the NFL and had a historic season, not just for a rookie but for any player. He led his Washington team to the NFC East title. They eventually fell in the playoffs, and Griffin hurt his knee. That is when things became unhinged.
During his rehab, Griffin decided that he would continually talk about being ready for the next season’s opening game, even though it was too optimistic. It ended up being so, and Griffin struggled throughout last season.
Many think that the success he had in his rookie season got to Griffin’s head. He boasted about how close he was to owner Dan Snyder. That relationship may have cost Mike Shanahan his job when his own relationship with Griffin soured.
Some have taken to calling Griffin “RG-Me” rather than the more customary RG-3. There were reports from unnamed players(video) that Griffin became a locker room diva. It became all about him, instead of all about team. He started to blame other players for bad plays that he was responsible for.
This season Griffin said he felt healthy until he dislocated his ankle. He was struggling still, before the injury. There was talk about backup Kirk Cousins being a better fit in Washington than Griffin. Griffin may be back this season to try to resurrect his career and his image.
2. Dez Bryant
Dez Bryant is a supremely talented wide receiver. He gets to balls that not many could, and he can beat defensive coverages like no one’s business. But he is also a diva to the supreme power.
After getting drafted by the Cowboys, Bryant got into some trouble, including an incident where he shoved his mother. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones grew tired of the act, but because he was so good, he wasn’t going to cut Bryant. Instead, he hired some babysitters and gave Bryant a midnight curfew, trying to teach him how to act like an adult.
Jones also gave Bryant some other rules. Among them were: 1-No alcohol, 2-No strip clubs, 3-Nightclubs had to be approved by the team, 4-Therapy sessions twice a week.
The three-man babysitting crew followed Bryant everywhere he went and took him to and from practices and games.
All of this didn’t protect him from his outbursts on the sidelines. On more than one occasion, he’s gotten into it with teammates and coaches alike. He wants the ball, and if he doesn’t get it he will pout. In one game he walked out before the end of the game because he was so upset.
This guy could qualify for the Diva Hall of Fame!
1. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears
Ladies and gentlemen, here is the top diva in the NFL, Jay Cutler.
Cutler has been the face of divahood for years by opponents and teammates, and by opposing fans and home fans.
There are so many stories about Cutler around that they can’t all be false. As a friend of mine once said, “Cutler has that face that you just want to punch.”
When things have gone bad on the field, Cutler has taken his rage out on coaches and teammates. In a game against the Packers a few years ago, he pushed around J’Marcus Webb after he did not block properly. In another game, as a coach was talking to him about a certain play, Cutler ignored him and got up and left while the coach was still talking.
What hurts Cutler is that while he sometimes shows that fire (in a bad way), there are other times when things are going downhill and it seems like he doesn’t have a care in the world. That infuriates fans.
In the 2010 NFC Championship game, Cutler suffered a sprained knee that sidelined him for the game. He tried to get on the stationary bike for awhile to try to loosen up the knee, but when team doctors ruled him out, he sat on the bench with a blank look, like the game didn’t matter. The decision may have been the correct one, but his body language sent the wrong message. He might have been better served to stay in the trainer’s room for the rest of the game.
Things have gotten so bad for Cutler these days that his own best friend, Brandon Marshall supposedly called Cutler out last week after an ugly loss to the Dolphins. He showed no life in that game and in the press conference afterward, he seemed nonchalant about the whole season. There were a lot of “I don’t know” and “I don’t have the answers” in that presser.
Cutler looks like a guy who is sitting down with his new family and counting his money rather than working on getting to a Super Bowl.
He’s got one top spot this year. The NFL’s number one diva.
Let me know who you think are the top divas in the NFL.
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