The Five Most Notorious Killers in Football History

With yesterday’s arrest of ex-Nebraska running back Thunder Collins on murder charges, it got us thinking. Doesn’t this seem to happen a lot? So we thought we’d compile a list of the top five most notorious killers in football. And no, OJ is not number one.

Be sure to check out the gallery to the right.

5. Jimmy Wilson 

Chalk this one up to possible noble heroism. In 2007, Univeristy of Montana corner back Jimmy Wilson was arrested for shooting his aunt’s boyfriend to death. He pleaded not guilty, and said that he was acting in self-defense. His relatives came to his aide, saying that the boyfriend was abusive, and had at one point urinated on the aunt. The case still appears to be underway.

4. Loren Wade

There wasn’t really any question about this one back in 2005. Arizona State running back Loren Wade was sentenced to 20 years for the second degree murder of former ASU player Brandon Falkner. How did it all go down? Apparently the fight was over a girl, specifically Falkner’s girlfriend, ASU soccer player Haley van Blommestein. In front of several different witnesses including police deputies, Wade reached into the open window of Falker’s car and fired a small caliber handgun into his face. As the nearby police took him into custody immediately, he said to van Blommestein “I did this ‘cause of you and I ****ed up.”

3. Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis played for the Univerity of Miami and West Virginia and was drafted in the NFL in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens, but on January 1st, 2000, all that changed. Lewis was indicted on murder and assault charges stemming from a stabbing outside of a Super Bowl party. As he was leaving the scene, one of his friends dumped a laundry bag full of his bloody white suit in a dumpster, which police promptly found. Lewis was actually Super Bowl MVP that year, but the charges eclipsed his accomplishment. He eventually settled out of court for $1M.

2. OJ Simpson

If you were alive in the ‘90s, you watched the OJ Simpson trial on TV. The USC superstar was a national celebrity when he was arrested on double homicide charges after his wife Nicole Brown and her “friend” Ron Goldman were found dead outside her condo. After a brilliant, and often logic-bending defense by Johnnie Cochran, Simpson was found innocent, a decision which sharply divided the nation across largely racial lines. OJ was then taken to civil court where he was found guilty for the murders, and had to sell nearly everything he owned to pay the damages. Recently he found himself in even more trouble for his involvement in a Las Vegas robbery.

1. Robert Rozier

In what’s perhaps the most disturbing account of a football player gone wrong is the story of Robert Rozier, who played for UC Berkley and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979. He was kicked off the team after only six games for drug use, and went off and joined a cult. The “Temple of Love,” founded by Yahweh ben Yahweh, was a black supremacist organization, and Rozier was asked to join “The Brotherhood” a secret group that required the presentation of a body part (someone else’s) to join. Rozier eventually admitted to killing seven people to appease Yahweh. He only served 10 years of his 22 year sentence, but after an unrelated three-strikes arrest, now faces 25 to life.