Move Back
![Michael Vick]()
Michael Vick nearly lost everything after being behind bars from November 2007 to July 2009 for running a dogfighting ring. Since he got out of jail, he has tried to reinvent his image, becoming a spokesman for PETA. He also got a second chance at football, being named the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2010 season.![OJ Simpson]()
Many people thought O.J. should have been jailed years ago for his infamous murder trial in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Instead, "The Juice" was sentenced to 33 years in prison in December 2008 for kidnapping and armed robbery for busting into a Las Vegas hotel room and holding a sports memorabilia dealer at gunpoint.![Pete Rose]()
Baseball's all-time hit king got busted by the feds and served five months in prison from October 1990 to January 1991 for filing false income tax returns. He was found guilty of not showing income he received from memorabilia shows and from horse racing winnings.![Mike Tyson]()
The former "baddest man on the planet" was convicted in February 1992 for raping an 18-year-old woman in an Indianapolis hotel room. He was sentenced to six years in prison, but ended up serving three. He was released in March 1995.![Travis Henry]()
The former NFL running back was arrested by the DEA in September 2008 for being involved in a cocaine transaction. In July 2009, he was sentenced to three years in a federal prison for financing a cocaine trafficking operation.![Jamal Lewis]()
The former Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns running back was busted in February 2004 for helping to set up a drug deal. He served a four-month prison term in February 2005 for being involved in setting up the cocaine deal.![Lawrence Phillips]()
The troubled running back who had a standout career at Nebraska before fading into obscurity in the NFL was consistently in trouble in the law. He is currently serving 31 years in prison for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teenagers. He was sentenced in December 2009.![Willie Mays Aikens]()
Willie Mays Aikens went from playing in the World Series with the Kansas City Royals in 1980 to selling crack cocaine. The former baseball star was indicted in March 1994 for distributing crack cocaine. He served 14 years in prison before being released in June 2008.![Orlando Cepeda]()
The baseball hall-of-famer served 10 months in prison in 1978 on drug possession charges. He was originally sentenced to five years for helping drug dealers deliver marijuana after coming back from Colombia to Puerto Rico. After being released from prison, Cepeda got back into the game, becoming a scout for the San Francisco Giants in 1987. He has since been recognized for the humanitarian and community work he has done for Major League Baseball.![Mike Danton]()
The bizarre turn of the career of the former New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues player seems to have come straight out of a movie script. In April 2004, Danton was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. In July of that year, he pleaded guilty of attempting to hire a hitman to kill his agent. He was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. He ended up being transferred to a Canadian prison in March 2009. He was granted parole and is now playing hockey for the Saint Mary's Huskies.![Bernard Hopkins]()
Before the former middleweight boxing champion began his road to redemption, he had to serve some hard time. When he was 17, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for armed robbery. He served five years before being released in 1988. Since then, he has turned his life around, becoming one of the greatest boxers to step in the squared circle.![Allen Iverson]()
Before he was known as "The Answer," Iverson was involved in a racially motivated case in Virginia in 1993. He and his three friends, who were black, were arrested after getting into a fight with a white crowd at a bowling alley. Iverson allegedly struck a woman in the head with a chair and drew a 15-year prison sentence, with 10 years suspended. Iverson ended up spending four months in jail before being granted clemency by then Gov. Douglas Wilder. His conviction was overturned in 1995 due to a lack of sufficient evidence.![Darryl Strawberry]()
Darryl Strawberry could have been one of the greatest basebally players to ever step out on the diamond, but drugs and personal problems got in the way of a potential Hall-of-Fame career. In November 2000, Strawberry received a 40-day jail sentence after violating his house arrest, leaving a Florida rehab center to use drugs with a friend. In March 2002, he was sent back to jail for violating several no-drug rules at the treatment center. He was then ordered to serve a 22-month suspended prison sentence from 1999 where he was caught soliciting sex from an undercover cop. "The Straw" has gotten his life back on track, currently serving as a baseball analyst for SportsNet New York.![Denny McLain]()
McLain won the American League Cy Young Award, the MVP Award and the World Series title while pitching for the Detroit Tigers in 1968. In 1985, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for racketeering, extortion, conspiracy and cocaine possession. He ended up spending 27 months in prison. In 1996, the former 30-game winner was convicted of conspiracy, theft, money laundering and mail fraud for looting a meat-processing company's pension fund. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but served six.![Donte Stallworth]()
The current wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens pleaded guilty in a Florida courtroom in June 2009 to manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol after fatally striking a 59-year-old construction worker with his car. Stallworth only received a 30-day sentence for the crime, even though the average jail sentence for similar crimes in that state is 10 years. He also reached a confidential financial settlement with the man's family.![Nate Newton]()
The former offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys received a 30-month federal prison sentence in August 2002 after pleading to drug charges. Newton was caught driving with 175 pounds of marijuana in Louisiana in November 2001. He was released from prison in 2004 and has since put his drug life behind him, speaking to children in the Dallas area about his former past.![Maurice Clarett]()
Maurice Clarett once had a bright football future ahead of him. He was on top of the world in 2002 after leading Ohio State University to the national championship. Afterwards, his life crumbled. OSU suspended Clarett in 2003 after he was charged filing a false police report saying he had $10,000 worth of items stolen from a car. After being drafted by the Broncos in 2005, he was released August of that year before playing an NFL down. In January 2006, Clarett was arrested on aggravated-armed robbery charges. In August of that year, he also led police on a chase in an SUV reportedly belonging to his uncle. The next month, he was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. In April 2010, a judge granted early release for Clarett. He is currently playing with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.![Plaxico Burress]()
Plaxico Burress went from Super Bowl hero to felon in a heartbeat. Burress caught the game-winning touchdown pass for the New York Giants against the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in 2008. In September 2009, he was sentenced to two years in prison for violating New York's gun law after accidentally shooting himself in the leg after sneaking a gun inside a nightclub. He could serve 20 months for good behavior and is expected to be released next spring.![Rae Carruth]()
The former wide receiver had a bright future ahead of him for the Carolina Panthers, but that all turned in November 1999. He was sentenced up to 24 years in prison for plotting to kill his pregnant girlfriend. Cherica Adams, 24, was fatally shot while eight-months pregnant. Doctors were able to save the baby. Carruth was convicted on conspiracy to commit murder, discharging a firearm into occupied property and using an instrument to destroy an unborn child.Athletes Trading in Their Jerseys for a Prison Jumpsuit
Some had it all before losing everything, others had a bright future whittled away due to a life of crime. FoxNews.com takes a look at athletes who have served hard time, with some learning from their past. Others have not been able to redeem themselves.
Move Forward
- Athletes Trading in Their Jerseys for a Prison Jumpsuit
