Fernando Gallo:

Michael Irvin

It’s hard to feel very sympathetic for professional athletes who get arrested, especially since it’s always for the stupidest things. It feels like once a month some millionaire athlete gets arrested for a DUI because he decided it would be a great idea to drive home drunk from a bar or club. If you have enough money to call a helicopter to come pick you up after a night of drinking, why would you endanger your life and the lives of others by driving yourself home? Athletes have this in common with child movie stars: you give them millions of dollars and they’re bound to get into trouble sooner or later.

Long before Michael Vick was the poster child for criminal-athletes, former Cowboys Wide Receiver Michael Irvin was famous for being on the wrong side of the law. “The Playmaker,” as Irvin was called, was arrested in 1996 for cocaine possession at a hotel during a party for his 30th birthday. Irvin was able to escape with paying a $10,000 fine and four years of probation, but was suspended for the first five games of the 1996 season.

You would think he learned his lesson, but Irvin continued to find his name in the newspaper for all the wrong reasons. He was a regular at the “White House,” an establishment near the Cowboys’ training facility where players were known to cheat on their wives and freely use drugs, but was never arrested in connection with any activities there.

In 2000, he was arrested again for drug possession when police found him and an unidentified woman in a Dallas apartment, but charges were later dropped. Apparently trying to go for the drug charge trifecta, Irvin managed to get arrested in 2005 for having drug paraphernalia in his car after police found a marijuana pipe when they pulled him over for speeding. Although he claimed the pipe was not his, he was charged with a misdemeanor and was suspended from his job as an NFL analyst on ESPN for a week.

Despite all of his transgressions and drug arrests, Irvin was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. His induction sends a great message to kids everywhere: You can achieve the highest honor in football, even if you like to get high.

Andrew Eggers

Mike Tyson

This guy is so crazy he looks mean even when he smiles. I thought so even before he got that ridiculous tattoo on his face a couple of years ago.

Mike Tyson had a promising boxing career before he decided to rape a beauty queen in Indiana in the early 1990s. He looked like an idiot when he was caught on tape smiling as he walked out of the courtroom showing off his handcuffs to the press.

After spending three years in prison, Tyson was never the same boxer he once was – the boxer who used to knock guys out in the first round. He claimed to have converted to the religion of Islam while serving time in the joint, but who really bought that?

Later in his life, he was charged with assault in a road rage incident which put him back behind bars for another year.

Then there’s the incident when Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear in a heavyweight championship match. I’m guessing human cartilage wasn’t on the menu that night at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, but who’s counting, right?

Even after a warning from famous boxing referee Mills Lane for excessive chewing, Tyson still took a chunk out of Holyfield’s left ear and spat it onto the mat. He was losing the fight badly and decided to pull off one of those moves he learned while spending time in the can.

I really think he was a great boxer at one point. Maybe not a great human being, but a great boxer. When he was in his prime, he was exciting to watch because he swung his heavy hands like lightning, knocking out most of his opponents in the first round.

With so much talent, it is a shame that Tyson never got his life together. Can you believe he went bankrupt in 2003 after squandering over $300 million in earnings?

It does not look good for Tyson. He might be back in prison soon, so look out for his new mug shot with that stupid tattoo on his face.

Jordan Guinn

Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit intimidated opponents in the wrestling ring with his roughneck style of fighting and his menacing stare, complete with chipped tooth. The 5’10”, 220-pound Benoit held numerous titles during his successful wrestling career that was split between WCW, ECW and the WWE.

Benoit’s soft-spoken and withdrawn personality made it nearly impossible for anyone to predict the bizarre double homicide/suicide that would be his fate.

True wrestling fanatics adored him despite never having adopted a gimmick. He had no stage presence, nor was he charismatic. But he could take a beating as well as he could dish one out. Benoit was just himself.

The muscle-bound grappler would often force his opponents into submission with his trademark move, “The Crippler Crossface,” one in which Benoit would lay on his opponents’ back with his legs wrapped around their lower body and both of his forearms pulling back on their face.

He used the same technique to smother his 7-year-old son Daniel while sleeping. Benoit then left a Bible next to his son’s body. An autopsy performed on Daniel showed Xanax in his system.

On Friday, June 22, at least 12 hours before he killed his son, Benoit bound his wife’s hands and feet together in an upstairs family room and choked her to death. Investigators at the scene found blood underneath her head and determined that she did struggle to fight Benoit off. She also had a Bible laid next to her.

Benoit began his killing Friday night and it lasted through Saturday. He then committed suicide Sunday afternoon by hanging himself with his weight equipment. He did not have the foresight to place a Bible by his own body.

Some people have said that Benoit acted in “roid rage” and write that off as the sole excuse for his actions. They are fools. “Roid rage” killings happen in a split-second with someone being beaten to a bloody pulp. What Benoit did showed deliberation and intent. Authorities are quite certain that he stayed inside the house with both bodies all weekend.

We will never know what drove Benoit to commit these heinous acts. The steroids played a part, but he was also taking anti-depressants and painkillers. Even though he didn’t actually go to the big house, he is still the most prolific criminal athlete.

No note. No explanation. What a waste.

Galen Kusic

Nate Newton

The best criminal-athlete of all-time has to be Nate “The Kitchen” Newton, former offensive lineman of the Dallas Cowboys. Newton was a six-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time Super Bowl champion.

Unfortunately, what he is most memorable for are his drug busts. Yes, that is plural. On Nov. 4, 2001, Newton was arrested for driving a van filled with 213 pounds of marijuana on a highway just east of Lafayette, La.

Along with three others, Newton was booked and released on $200,000 bail. It seemed like a one-time thing and Newton would probably pay a fine, do some community service and it would be over with.

Not exactly. On Dec. 12, 2001, not even six weeks after he was out on bail, Newton was arrested for transporting 175 pounds of marijuana just south of Dallas.

To be caught once with 213 pounds of weed is bad enough, but to be caught a month later with almost the same amount is…unbelievable, to say the least.

Newton was not just a football player. He was a drug kingpin. This man was pushing weight like Big Worm. Hey, at least it was just weed and not coke. It’ll stimulate your mind man! I can hear Chris Tucker in “Friday” now.

Newton ended up pleading guilty to drug distribution charges and served two and a half years in federal prison. He had to pay a $25,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service, talking to kids about the dangers of drugs. If Newton had gone to trial, he could have faced up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

After his release in 2004, Newton was quoted saying that he was always competitive and that he couldn’t see himself not being the biggest dope man. Newton stated that he made around $75,000 for each deal.

While incarcerated, Newton said he didn’t find religion and that prison doesn’t help you unless you help yourself. He hasn’t gotten into any more trouble and works with the youth at a football camp in Texas.

Newton was a big man in all aspects, especially when it came to moving that green dope. He should be a Hall of Fame selection, but his drug convictions might strip him of that right. If he doesn’t make the hall, he’ll at least be remembered as one of the greatest and most reckless criminal-athletes ever.

Alicia de la Garza:

Mike Tyson

It seems that no matter how much media attention an athlete receives, he or she is always wanting more. Whether it is good or bad media, his or her name is in the spotlight and that is what matters.

Having your name in the media means more money for you, unless you are Mike “Iron Mike” Tyson and you currently owe the IRS more than $12 million.

Now you might want to feel a little sympathetic for him, but really try to fight that urge.

On one level I do feel bad for him, considering he lost his mother at the young age of 24. Other than that, the guy made horrible decisions throughout his athletic career.

In 1992, he was convicted of raping Miss Black Rhode Island, Desiree Washington, and served three years of a six-year sentence. I mean really, if the girl said no, then he should have just backed off.

Three years after being sent to prison, Iron Mike was out and ready to fight again. The fight between him and Evander Holyfield was highly anticipated, but no one expected Tyson to bite off a piece of Holyfield’s ear in the third round.

Now the story gets interesting. He was disqualified from the match and fans started losing faith.

He then assaulted two people after getting into a car accident. Tyson was arrested again in 2006 in Scottsdale, Ariz., for nearly t-boning a sheriff’s vehicle. When questioned, Tyson told Reuters that he was an avid cocaine user and uses “whenever I can get my hands on it.”

Tyson apparently blew $400 million he earned throughout his career from purse winnings and endorsements. Now he has filed for bankruptcy.

The real question is: How does someone who is bankrupt purchase a $2.1 million home in Arizona? And who pays for the gas in that BMW coupe he was driving when he almost took out a sheriff?

Matthew Beltran

O.J. Simpson

Remember the good old days when athletes were just suppose to be athletes and sub-par role models for kids who never picked up a history book, because I don’t. No, no, in my youth it was the height of criminal activity among athletes.

Mike Tyson went one round with his wife, Tonya Harding was taking a mafia-style approach to dealing with Olympic teammate Nancy Kerrigan and O.J. Simpson showed a court room the glove didn’t fit.

As teams like the Bengals continue to show that crime does pay, you start to wonder if college coaches should stop recruiting players from juvenile halls. In reality, the bad apples in sports are in a small minority, but they do end up getting the biggest media attention.

Among this current crime wave of paid-off refs and what Jamie Foxx describes the Michael Vick’s case as “a cultural thing,” O.J. just couldn’t help himself from joining the fray. It really does take a special individual to get involve in not only one, but two highly publicizes incidents.

Out of revenge for alleged stolen sports memorabilia or just plain boredom, I would be disappointed in O.J. if:

A. I didn’t expect any less from him.

B. I wasn’t so entertained by this whole thing.

If any thing, he was trying to upstage the Vick brothers on how to really commit a crime. I will give O.J. credit because armed robbery does trump brandishing a weapon, but he should’ve aimed for higher game if he wanted to top an underground dog fighting ring and a backyard described as a “Dog Holocaust.”

What O.J. lacks in common sense, he makes up for in hours of entertainment. I get to see a little bit more material on “YouTube” and I got some good material the next time I’m having a drink at a bar. I may have a personal problem enjoying O.J.’s misery so much, but seeing celebrities go to jail is almost as hot as girls making out.

The State Hornet Staff can be reached at [email protected].