The NFL's 10 Biggest Villains Of All Time

A great story needs a worthy villain to sustain interest in the plot. It works the same way in the sports world. There’s nothing more satisfying for a team’s fans than when they’re beating an opponent that’s nearly universally despised (except by its own rabid fan base).

Villains in sports can be an individual or team; owner, coach or player. The best of those villains aren’t oafs like Albert Haynesworth, who was too dim-witted to realize that at 6 feet, 6 inches tall and 320 pounds he was supposed to be intimidating.

The best ones realize the role they play and are good at it.

The following ten played the villain role better than anyone else in NFL history.

The Nesser Brothers, All Positions – Columbus Panhandles

The Nessers were the first “first family” of the NFL. The six football playing brothers of the 12 siblings (John, Phil, Ted, Frank, Fred and Al) grew up in Columbus, Ohio and all eventually worked in the Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

In 2007, Joe Carr (who would be named commissioner of the NFL in 1921) formed a team of railroad workers featuring the Nessers and called them the Columbus Panhandles. During the week they practiced during their lunch hour after quickly eating. On the weekend they travelled to play that week’s game. Since workers for the railroad could ride the trains for free the Panhandles played almost all of their games on the road.

The Nessers were big for their day. They were strong as the forged steel they worked at the railroad and played a ruthless brand of football. They left beaten up and injured opponents behind them whenever they played. Former end and Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne said of them, “Getting hit by a Nesser brother was like falling off a moving train.”

By the time the Panhandles joined the American National Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922) the Nessers were on the downside of their pro careers. Still Ted Nesser had one more milestone to achieve. In 1921 he played for the Panhandles with his son Charlie, the only father and son teammates in league history.

Jack Tatum, Safety – Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers

On a team that took pride in their reputation as a team of outsiders, misfits and outcasts Jack “The Assassin” Tatum stood out. His reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the NFL had every receiver cutting across the middle of the field looking over their shoulder. His hit that paralyzed Darryl Stingley of the Patriots turned him into a football villain for the rest of his life.

Tatum wasn’t as much a dirty player as scary. While most of his signature hits would be illegal in today’s NFL there were well within the rules of the time.

The first of those came in Super Bowl XI against the Minnesota Vikings. Tatum collided head-to-head with receiver Sammy White after he caught a ball over the middle. White’s helmet flew five feet from the force of the impact.

In 1978 is the one he’s most notorious for. In a preseason game against the New England Patriots' Darryl Stingley leapt to catch a pass as Tatum drilled into him. Stingley landed with two broken vertebrae and was paralyzed for the rest of his life.

To seal his reputation as a football villain Tatum wrote three books after retirement, They Call Me Assassin in 1980, They Still Call Me Assassin: Here We Go Again in 1989 and Final Confessions of an NFL Assassin in 1read more6.

George Trafton, Center – Chicago Bears

Trafton was one of the most hated players throughout the NFL for his entire career. Hall of Fame running back Red Grange once described him as, “the toughest, meanest, most ornery critter alive.”

In one 1920 game against Rock Island he knocked out four players in the space of 12 plays while fans yelled threats from the stands. One of those was a Rock Island halfback who he hit so hard it bounced him against a nearby fence, breaking his leg.

The second that game was over Trafton sprinted past the Bears’ bench, grabbed a sweatshirt to hide his uniform and dashed for the exit with Rock Island fans in hot pursuit. Trafton jumped into a cab but leapt out when rocks came crashing through the windows and raced away on foot.

The next time the Bears played in Rock Island George Halas let him carry the $7,000 game share back to Chicago. He said, “I knew that if trouble came Trafton would be running for his life. I would only be running for the $7,000.

Conrad Dobler, Guard – St. Louis Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills

Even in an era when offensive line players could get away with a lot more in the effort to protect their quarterback Conrad Dobler was one of the dirtiest players to ever take the field. Dobler was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth round of the 1972 NFL Draft but was waived near the end of the preseason. When he was re-signed he decided to do whatever it took to stay.

He spat, bit, gouged eyes, head slapped and more. If an opposing lineman got his hands in the air Dobler would deliver a series of quick punches under his chest padding. He was also a master of the “leg whip” move.

When Dobler wrote his autobiography he titled it “They Call Me Dirty”. Rams Hall of Fame defensive tackle Merlin Olsen said that Dobler was the only opponent that he really hated. Dobler had once kicked him in the head during a game.

In their July 25, 1977 issue, Sports Illustrated named Dobler the dirtiest player in pro football.

The Dallas Cowboys – America’s Team

Bob Ryan of NFL Films was preparing the Cowboys’ 1978 highlight film and wrote the following for the opening, “They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys, "America's Team". From that point on they became the symbol of football arrogance and despised by fans throughout the league.

Adding to the dislike many felt towards the Cowboys was they were one of the best teams on the field and one of the best organizations in the NFL when it came to evaluating and acquiring talent.

Playing the Cowboys made the Steelers national favorites in the two 1970’s Super Bowls were they faced each other and turned the Steelers heroes when they won.

The animosity the Cowboys as a team and their players generated didn’t ease when they fell on hard times in the late 1980’s and intensified when Jerry Jones bought them and Jimmy Johnson coached the team to two straight Super Bowl victories.

The nickname given to the Cowboys continues to stick and still keeps most from rooting against their finding success, but it hardly seems worth it. With Jerry Jones actively running the team they’ve lost the veneer of excellence that made them so satisfying to root against. Being pathetic doesn’t become a villain.

James Harrison, Linebacker – Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals

Harrison struggled to establish himself in the NFL but once he did he rocketed to the top of the league’s “most wanted” list of violent players.

In 2010 Harrison was fined a total of $125,000. A majority of that money was the $75,000 he was assessed for a crushing hit against the Browns’ Mohamed Massaquoi.

The following summer, when interviewed for the August 2011 issue of Men’s Journal, Harrison cemented his reputation as the man the NFL loved to hate when he embraced his style of play, along with a pair of handguns against his chest for the cover photo.

During the 2011 season Harrison faced his first suspension, for one game, after a Week 14 violent helmet to facemask hit against Browns quarterback Colt McCoy.

Harrison’s latest episode shows that he has no intent of changing his approach on the field even after moving to the Bengals from the Steelers prior to the 2013 season. Near the end of the third quarter of the 2014 Wild Card game against the Chargers he attempted to twist the head off of running back Danny Woodhead. He ended up with his helmet and a 15-yard personal foul penalty.

Bill Belichick, Head Coach – New England Patriots

From the summer of 2000 when he was named head coach of the New England Patriots to Week 1 of the 2007 NFL season Bill Belichick was hailed as a coaching genius, a curmudgeonly, sour-faced one but a genius all the same.

Forced by injury to turn to a sixth round draft choice to be the team’s starting quarterback he had brought his team to the postseason five times and recorded three Super Bowl victories in four seasons.

Then at the beginning of the 2007 season the “Spygate” scandal broke. In New England’s Week 1 game against the New York Jets the Patriots were caught videotaping their defensive signals. While attempting to steal offensive and defensive signals is an active practice by all teams, recording them is against the rules set down in the NFL’s Constitution and Bylaws.

All accomplishments by the Patriots under Belichick up to that point and everything that has happened to the team since has been viewed under the cloud of Spygate accusations. That episode has also made the Patriots the team that football fans outside of New England love to hate.

Al Davis, Owner – Oakland Raiders

Every time former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle turned around Davis was behind him, scheming of ways to burrow under his skin.

To begin with, Davis was named commissioner of the AFL for a brief period in 1966 and he was prepared to lead that league in a full-out signing war with the NFL for top players. The merger went forward though. It was negotiated behind his back and Pete Rozelle was named commissioner of the new NFL.

In 1980 Davis fired another shot in his war with the NFL, this time from within. He attempted to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles without the league’s consent. The NFL filed an injunction to block the move and Davis responded with an anti-trust suit against the league.

Davis won the suit and the NFL was forced to pay him $35 million in damages. To add further insult, in their second season in Los Angeles the Raiders won the Super Bowl, which meant Rozelle would have to award the Lombardi Trophy to Davis on national television. Then, after the 1read more4 season he moved the team back to Oakland.

He continued to enjoy his reputation as a maverick until his death on October 8, 2011.

Bill Romanowski, Linebacker – San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders

Throughout his 16 years in the NFL Romanowski was a danger to both teammates and opponents. His main career accomplishment was to earn the reputation as a violent player who intimidated others through fear.

In 1read more5 he was ejected from a game against the Cardinals after kicking Larry Centers in the head. In 1read more5 he did the same to Chiefs’ tight end Tony Gonzalez. In a 1read more7 preseason game he hit Panthers’ quarterback Kerry Collins so hard that he broke his jaw.

The first of two incidents he’s most known for happened in a Monday Night Football game when he spit in the face of San Francisco 49ers’ receiver J.J. Stokes. That made him the target of outrage nationwide and earned him a $75,000 fine from the NFL.

The second was when he broke teammate Marcus Williams’ left orbital bone in a training camp altercation. Williams was awarded $415,000 in a civil suit against Romanowski but never played in the NFL again.

As a final middle-finger salute to fans and the NFL, on an October 16, 2005 episode of 60 Minutes he admitted to using steroids and human growth hormone his entire career.

Art Modell, Owner – Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens

For Modell’s opening act as owner of the Browns he drove franchise legends, Paul Brown and Jim Brown away from Cleveland. For his Grand Finale he made the entire franchise disappear.

Paul Brown had been Cleveland’s head coach from the time of its 1946 founding in the All-American Football Conference. When Modell bought controlling interest in the Browns in 1961 a power struggle escalated between the two men. After a 7-6-1 finish in 1962 Paul Brown was fired as head coach.

Jim Brown, one of the greatest running backs in NFL history ran afoul of Modell prior to the 1966 season. Brown’s second movie, The Dirty Dozen, had run into production delays and finishing the movie meant he would miss the first part of training camp. When Modell threatened to fine Brown $1,500 for every week of camp missed Brown decided to retire instead.

Finally, after a series of bad financial moves, he asked for $175 million from the city of Cleveland for improvements to Municipal Stadium. While that initiative was on the ballot he was negotiating with the city of Baltimore. The day before the initiative was approved he announced that the team was moving.

To add insult to injury, it also took some last minute negotiating to convince Modell to leave the Browns’ name, colors and franchise records behind in Cleveland.

Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration, no! Hall of Shame and/or Hall of Financial Incompetence; Modell is a first ballot inductee.

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