The 25 most spectacular sports meltdowns of all time

McEnroe remains the all-time bad boy of tennis, and the British tabloids labeled him "Superbrat" early in his career. He authored his signature meltdown moment in 1981 at Wimbledon when he erupted after a shot of his was called out. McEnroe unloaded on the umpire, screaming, "You cannot be serious; that ball was on the line." The first half of his protestation became legendary in both the tennis world and the sports world at large, and despite all his accomplishments, this remains arguably the most famous — or infamous — moment of his career.

On Nov. 19, 2004, a hard foul on Ben Wallace by Indiana's Ron Artest sparked pushing and shoving between the teams, and when a Pistons fan threw a drink at Artest, all hell broke loose, as players from both teams fought fans in the crowd. The league handed out a total of 146 games in suspensions, five players faced assault charges and five fans faced criminal charges and were banned from Pistons home games for life. The spectacle was a low moment for the NBA, and as a result of the melee it changed both its alcohol and security policies.

On Dec. 23, 1979, after the Bruins held on to beat the New York Rangers, 4-3, tensions grew heated on the ice. That's when Rangers fan John Kaptain hit a Bruins player with a rolled-up program, stole his stick and sparked a melee in the crowd. The most infamous moment of the brawl came when Boston's Mike Milbury removed Kaptain's shoe and hit him with it before throwing it on the ice. Milbury's six-game suspension wasn't even the longest handed out — his teammates Terry O'Reilly and Peter McNab got eight apiece, but his role in the incident remains the most well known.

Domi had a reputation as one of the most feared men in the NHL, and after he was sent to the penalty box in a Leafs-Flyers game in Philadelphia, fans threw things at him. He squirted water in return, then a Flyers fan, Chris Falcone, fell through the glass and into the penalty box, where Domi promptly gave him a few more shots for good measure. The fan needed stitches for a gash on his forehead and was issued a citation, but Domi escaped with only a $1,000 fine from the NHL. 

Evander Holyfield bullied and battered Mike Tyson in their first fight, eventually stopping him in the 11th round. Things weren't going much better for Tyson in the rematch on June 28, 1997. Holyfield was dominating the early rounds, and Tyson was upset about headbutts, as he felt that Holyfield had gained an advantage with them in the first fight. Tyson bit a chunk out of Holyfield's ear late in the third round, and then after the fight resumed after a delay, he bit Holyfield again. The round was finished and then Tyson was disqualified, which sparked unrest in the ring. Tyson lost his boxing license for the incident and was fined $3 million. 

It's impossible to pick any one of Piniella's many meltdowns over the years, so instead we'll grant him a sort of lifetime achievement award. Perhaps no manager or coach in sports history has lost it on the officials as spectacularly or as often as Piniella did. He had a special knack for visually spectacular meltdowns, usually with his hat as the main prop, plus plenty of dirt-kicking and profanity. He did this so frequently that fans came to expect regular eruptions, and that's exactly what they got. Despite his hot temper, Piniella compiled a 1,835-1,713 record during stints with five different teams.

McClendon went 499-607 during his time managing the Pirates and Mariners, but no win or loss made as many headlines as what he did on June 26, 2001. After Jason Kendall was called out at first base, McClendon argued the call and was ejected. He proceeded to pry first base out of the ground and storm off with it, to the delight of Pirates fans. McClendon hurled the base into the tunnel, and rather than go and retrieve it, the umpires decided to use a replacement base instead. The 2001 Pirates finished 62-100, so it's not a stretch to say that McClendon's outburst was the highlight of the season.

Like Lou Piniella, Owens has multiple outbursts to choose from. Also like Piniella, Owens will receive something of a lifetime achievement award. A brief summary of his meltdowns, tantrums and outbursts would include his celebration on the Cowboys midfield logo, his popcorn celebration — ironically enough, while a member of the Cowboys — his driveway sit-ups after being sent home from Eagles training camp by Andy Reid, and my personal favorite, his tearful defense of Tony Romo after a January 2008 playoff loss to the Giants. Owens cried and said, "that's my quarterback," when defending Romo, and the whole spectacle got so famous that it is still used as a meme over a decade later.

Leaf's professional career was not good, to put it kindly. He made all the wrong moves in the NFL, performing poorly on the field and even worse off it. After a miserable performance in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs during his rookie year, Leaf erupted at San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Jay Posner in the locker room, screaming expletives at him and needing to be removed from the situation by linebacker Junior Seau. To make matters worse, the whole incident was caught on video. Leaf had several other incidents mar a brief, failed pro career, but none was as ugly as that altercation.

Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever and possibly the greatest female athlete ever, and in addition to being revered for her greatness, she is also closely followed because of her fiery behavior during matches. Perhaps her most famous incident occurred at the 2018 U.S. Open final when she had major issues with the chair umpire, Portugal's Carlos Ramos, resulting in multiple penalties, including one that helped seal the title for Williams' opponent, Naomi Osaka. An angry crowd booed through Osaka's victory celebration. Fans hotly debated whether Williams or Ramos was more in the wrong, but either way the incident was one of the most talked-about stories of 2018.

Patrick's career included multiple incidents and outbursts, many of them somewhat humorous because of her fiery, demonstrative way of expressing her displeasure. But her run-in with Denny Hamlin at the Budweiser Duel No. 2 in February 2015 took the cake. After Patrick spun out, she exited her car and got in Hamlin's face, blaming him for the wreck. Patrick went so far as to shake him and bop him in the chest with the backs of her hands, before verbally dressing him down for a few minutes. Hamlin tried to get Patrick to calm down, but it was no use, and instead, one of NASCAR's most famous moments of the past decade was born.

Griner is the preeminent physical force in the WNBA, and in August the Phoenix Mercury star went after members of the Dallas Wings, attempting to throw punches after chasing multiple Wings players across the court. The entire incident resulted in multiple players from both teams being ejected, including Griner, and is noteworthy in that it appears no one on the Wings really wanted to try her luck at confronting Griner one-on-one. In addition to the ejection, Griner was also suspended three games for the brouhaha. 

Backman played 14 years in the big leagues, most of them with the New York Mets, and he was a light-hitting second baseman. If his bat was anything like his temper, he would have been a big-time power hitter. Backman's most famous ejection came when he was manager of the South Georgia Peanuts of the South Coast League. Backman erupted on an umpire in a spectacularly profane tirade, tossed equipment onto the field and then famously ended his rant by announcing his plan to go have a beer. Video of the incident is easy to find. Just don't watch it with the sound up at work.

For pure entertainment value, no meltdown can top what Wellman did on June 1, 2007. While managing the Braves' Double-A affiliate, Wellman got himself tossed for arguing balls and strikes and then proceeded to go ballistic. He covered up home plate with dirt, screamed and yelled like crazy, grabbed bases and tossed them, and then, to cap things off, crawled across the infield grass like a soldier in battle, then grabbed the rosin bag and hurled it like a grenade at the home plate umpire before blowing a kiss to the fans in attendance. The best part? The whole thing was caught on video. 

Cowher was one of the league's fieriest coaches when he was the boss of the Steelers, and the apex of his anger may have come during a 1995 clash with the Vikings. Pittsburgh was already down, 10-6, when Minnesota's Fuad Reveiz missed a field goal just before halftime. However, a phantom 12-men on the field penalty gave him another try, which he converted. Cowher pleaded his case to no avail, and before running into the tunnel, jammed a picture proving his point into the pocket of referee Gordon McCarter. It did nothing to help the Steelers' cause, but it did make for a surreal visual.

In 2007 Gundy, head coach at Oklahoma State, responding to a column about the quarterback situation for the Cowboys — one that was critical of recently demoted Bobby Reid — went off at his press conference after a 49-45 win over Texas Tech. Gundy laid into the reporters in attendance, encouraging them to lay off his players and instead focus any criticism on him. He was loud, he was angry, and most importantly, he uttered the now-immortal phrase, "I'm a man! I'm 40!" A clip of the rant went viral before going viral existed, and to this day, that phrase is still heard at tailgates or at just about any gathering where college football fans are present.

Just prior to the end of the first-round playoff series that would mark the end of their 2001-02 season, the Sixers had issues between head coach Larry Brown and Iverson, their star guard. The two had been butting heads yet seemed to get on the same page. But when Iverson had a press conference to discuss the situation, he ended up getting defensive about his practice habits and said the word "practice" 22 times. His exasperated tone and repeated use of the word made headlines around the sports world, and various snippets of the rant are a fixture in sports talk radio, frequently used for comedic effect.

On July 24, 1983, Brett, thinking his two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning had just put the Royals ahead in their game against the Yankees, relaxed in the dugout. When New York manager Billy Martin protested the play, saying Brett had too much pine tar on his bat, Brett did nothing. Only when home plate umpire Tim McClelland pointed the bat at Brett and called him out did Brett react. And oh, how he reacted. He charged out of the dugout and berated McClelland and had to be physically restrained from going after him further. Despite his anger, nothing was initially done, but the Royals' protest was eventually upheld, Brett's home run restored and the game eventually won by Kansas City.

Green's 1-5 Arizona Cardinals were a big underdog against the unbeaten Chicago Bears heading into their Monday night tilt on Oct. 16, 2006. Surprisingly, the Cardinals jumped out to a 20-0 lead and held a 23-10 advantage and the ball with five minutes to go. Things went awry quickly, and the Cardinals ended up losing, 24-23. After the game Green erupted, questioning whether Chicago was really all that good and screaming, "The Bears are who we thought they were...and we let them off the hook" while pounding the podium. Green's rant made headlines and even got used in beer commercials a few years later.

Baseball managers get thrown out of games semi-regularly. It is not a surprising occurrence — except when it happens in Game 7 of the World Series. St. Louis' Whitey Herzog got run while the Royals were pummeling the Cardinals by double digits in the fifth inning. His anger was about home plate umpire Don Denkinger's strike zone but also likely connected to Denkinger's infamous missed call in the previous game and one that likely cost the Cardinals a World Series. No matter how righteous his anger, it was still surreal to see a manager get tossed in the biggest game of the season.

On June 9, 1999, Valentine's Mets were tied 3-3 with the Blue Jays, when in the 12th inning, Mike Piazza was called for interference for coming too far in front of home plate to catch a pitch-out. Valentine came out to argue, was quickly ejected and then did something amusing. After disappearing down the tunnel, he reappeared a short time later, wearing a fake mustache, dark glasses and a generic Mets T-shirt. The disguise fooled no one and got Valentine a $5,000 fine from the league. It isn't really a meltdown in the traditional sense but to this day is so absurd that it warrants mention.

Edwards' Jets were 2-5 in late October, 2002. They had just lost to the Browns. Things were spiraling. In response to a question about whether he needed to talk to his team about not giving up on the season, Edwards uncorked a huge rant, culminating in the now-famous, "You play to win the game! You play to win the game! Hello?!" quote. As ridiculous as the rant was, it actually worked. The Jets went 7-2 over their final nine games, beat the Colts in the wild-card round of the playoffs and then fell to the eventual AFC champion Raiders in the divisional round. Few people remember that though. Everyone remembers Edwards' rant.

Rodriguez's Pittsburgh Pirates were getting shut down by Jake Arrieta and the Cubs in the 2015 National League wild-card game, and after Arrieta was hit by a pitch, both benches cleared. Rodriguez was right in the middle of the situation, and when he got back to the dugout, he unleashed a barrage of punches on a Gatorade cooler, knocking it over. It made for both a humorous visual and was a manifestation of the frustration most Pirates fans were feeling all night. Also, considering the fact that team was shut out, 4-0, it may have been the best hit of the night by anyone wearing a Pirates uniform.

Mora's 2001 Colts were languishing at 4-6 after a loss to the 49ers in a game that saw them commit five turnovers. Mora was disgusted by his team's effort, and when a local reporter asked a question about Indy's chances to make the playoffs, Mora retorted in now-legendary fashion, his voice rising as he said, "Playoffs? Don't talk about — playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game! Another game!" The rant did not have its desired effect on the team, which finished 6-10 that year, the only time other than Peyton Manning's rookie season that the team missed the playoffs with him as quarterback. It did, however, make Mora something of a sensation and lingers as an oft-quoted line.

Singletary was the 49ers interim head coach in 2008, and in his first game the team was being beaten up by the Seahawks to the tune of a 20-3 halftime deficit. Singletary ripped into his players for their poor performances, then dropped his pants, turned around and pointed to his rear end to illustrate how bad they were playing. Though no video of the incident exists, Singletary confirmed what he had done, which touched off a tenure in the Bay Area pockmarked by strange incidents. Oh, and the 49ers lost the game, 34-13.