The Worst Betrayals in NFL History..

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The Worst Betrayals in NFL History From shocking trades and contract holdouts to loyalty shattered by unexpected moves, the NFL has seen its share of jaw-dropping betrayals. This deep dive uncovers the most infamous moments when trust was broken—between players, teams, and fans alike. Whether it’s a franchise legend turning rival, a coach walking out, or a front office decision that left supporters stunned, these betrayals forever changed careers, legacies, and entire fanbases. Brace yourself for the darker side of football loyalty.

Transcript

00:00These are the worst betrayals in NFL history.

00:03And first, one player's betrayal cost him two Super Bowl rings.

00:07Tyreek Hill used to have it all.

00:09After the Chiefs drafted him, he made six consecutive Pro Bowls.

00:12He became the league's fastest player and even won a Super Bowl.

00:15But in 2022, he dropped a bombshell that no one saw coming.

00:19It would be some games where, like, I get two targets, I get three targets.

00:23We'll go into meetings and my coach will be like,

00:25hey, we got to get you involved, we got to get you involved.

00:27And I'm like, nah, y'all need to get me involved yesterday.

00:29Don't tell me about it today.

00:30Exactly.

00:30Like, you know how to, like, you know the feeling.

00:32So I'm calling my agent every week after they say some crazy stuff like that.

00:36Like, bro, I got to get out of here.

00:37So let me ask you a question.

00:37See, my man was jealous.

00:39Instead of becoming the game's top receiver, he became the dreaded third wheel.

00:43You signed this huge contract and now they want to wrap you in bubble wrap.

00:46Kids having some fun with each other.

00:49We got to keep fighting as a...

00:51After everything the Chiefs accomplished, Hill was willing to throw it all away.

00:55And so the Chiefs traded him to the Miami Dolphins for a whopping five draft picks.

00:59And after losing his best wide receiver, Patrick Mahomes was devastated.

01:03That's when Hill decided to make it personal.

01:05You had an opportunity to pick between Tua or pick between Zach Wilson.

01:09What was the determining factor in that?

01:11I say it once and I say it again.

01:13You know, Zach Wilson is a dog, but I really play with the most accurate quarterback in the NFL.

01:17As if things weren't bad enough, Hill had the best season of his career.

01:21But in the playoffs, Hill's worst fear came true.

01:24Against his former team, the Chiefs clapped back, holding Hill to a single catch.

01:29And ultimately, Mahomes got the last laugh.

01:31The Chiefs didn't just send the Sioux to Cancun.

01:33They won the Super Bowl.

01:35Then in 2023, Hill watched a demise as his former team won their second straight championship.

01:40Meanwhile, Saquon Barkley's betrayal turned his former team into the league's biggest laughingstock.

01:45Heading into the 2024 offseason, all Giants fans prayed for one thing.

01:49Saquon Barkley's return.

01:50Heck, even the owner started praying.

01:52I'm going to have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia.

01:55I'll tell you that.

01:56He's the most popular player we have by far.

01:58Little did they know, their dream would turn into a nightmare.

02:01Saquon didn't just leave the Giants.

02:03He joined their biggest rival, the Philadelphia Eagles.

02:07And afterward, no one was more pissed than the Giants' all-time lead rusher, Tiki Barber.

02:11But the fact that Saquon would even contemplate going to play for that team in Philadelphia

02:18is insulting to his Giant history and legacy.

02:22It turns out, Barber had it all wrong.

02:24Saquon didn't turn his back on the Giants.

02:26The Giants turned their back on him.

02:28I already told you that where I'm going to be.

02:30Okay.

02:31All right, well, let's do that.

02:32We'll go out and see what the market says.

02:34I think it's the right thing to do.

02:36I love you, man.

02:37I appreciate everything you did for the organization.

02:39You know, the two years I was here, and I'm not saying we're not going to get something

02:42done, but I think it's right if for some reason it doesn't work out that you know that the

02:47organization thinks the world of you and everything you've done.

02:50How could the Giants not pay their top player when their quarterback, Daniel Jones, was making

02:54three times his asking price?

02:56That was only the beginning.

02:57In the ultimate sign of karma, Barkley made history, becoming the eighth running back to

03:01rush 2,000 yards in a season.

03:03Meanwhile, the Giants released Daniel Jones before the season was even over.

03:06Another player is proving everyone wrong.

03:09When the Rams selected Jared Goff first overall in 2016, fans expected him to be their franchise

03:13quarterback of the future.

03:15In his first five seasons, he led the Rams to the playoffs three times, even leading them

03:19to the Super Bowl.

03:20But Goff failed to win a championship, and the entire organization doubted him.

03:25So in 2021, the Rams traded their franchise quarterback to the Lions for a shiny new prize,

03:30Matthew Stafford.

03:31And instead of proving the doubters wrong, Goff responded with one of his worst seasons.

03:35In 14 games with the Lions, Goff only won three games.

03:39And to make matters worse, the Rams ended up winning the Super Bowl.

03:42So heading into the following season, it became painfully obvious.

03:46Jared Goff was the problem.

03:47But two years later, the unthinkable happened.

03:50Goff turned his career around, leading the Lions through their first playoff appearance

03:54since 2016.

03:55It had been over 30 years since the Lions' last playoff win.

03:58And now, they were on the precipice of history.

04:01But standing in their way was a familiar opponent, the Los Angeles Rams.

04:05This was Jared Goff's opportunity to prove his doubters wrong and eliminate the team that

04:09kicked him to the curb.

04:10They are the three.

04:11Goff, stretch it.

04:12In the middle.

04:13Reynolds is on fire.

04:15Goff looking to throw.

04:16Throws back to the end.

04:17Look, hold on.

04:18The same guy who everyone counted out, successfully ended the Lions' 31-season playoff drought.

04:24Okay, I'll just say it like this.

04:26Hey, you're good enough for Detroit, Jared.

04:34Hey, I love and appreciate you guys more than you f***ing know.

04:37I promise you that.

04:37I love you guys so f***ing much.

04:39This is just the beginning, boys.

04:40But Goff isn't the only one proving the doubters wrong.

04:42Because Josh Allen?

04:43Yeah.

04:44He's having the best season of his career.

04:46Making him the MVP frontrunner.

04:47However, fans can't help but notice who's missing.

04:51Stefan Diggs.

04:52The guy who turned Allen into a superstar.

04:54The man who's been his go-to weapon for years.

04:57The Diggs-to-Allen connection was supposed to be unstoppable.

05:00But in the 2023 playoffs, when Allen needed Diggs the most,

05:03his star receiver threw a temper tantrum.

05:05Against the Bengals, Diggs started yelling at Allen on the sidelines.

05:08Following the loss, he stormed out of the stadium just minutes later.

05:12In the offseason, tensions only heightened.

05:14Diggs skipped mandatory minicamp.

05:15A year later, the Bills decided to finally end Stefan Diggs' experiment

05:19by trading him and drafting his replacement, Keon Coleman.

05:22That's when Allen said this.

05:24Steph's a great player, and what he brought to this team was special.

05:29Miss is, I don't know if I'd say miss.

05:32You know, he was a guy that was reliable.

05:33You can look to.

05:35He's going to have the juice each and every day.

05:36I'm sure he's bringing it over there in Houston.

05:38So definitely, yeah, you can't say that you don't miss that.

05:40But I am very happy with what we got going on here and how hard the guys have been working.

05:44It's crazy to think they went from this.

05:46Playing with this guy, practicing with this guy.

05:48He's a guy that can do it.

05:49You just want to play for him, you know?

05:51He works hard.

05:51He busts his...

05:52Oh, not the A-word.

05:53He busts his A-word.

05:55And I just love this guy, man.

05:56That's it.

05:57To this.

05:57But Bill Belichick got the opposite of karma, because he ditched his team in less than 24 hours.

06:07To many, Belichick will go down as the greatest coach of all time.

06:10In 24 seasons with the Patriots, he won an unprecedented six Super Bowls.

06:15But he almost never coached the Patriots to begin with.

06:17In 1999, he was the associate head coach of the New York Jets under the legendary Bill Parcells.

06:22But once Parcells abruptly retired, Belichick was thrust into action as the new head coach.

06:26That said, there was a major question mark.

06:29When Jets owner Leon Hess passed away, it turned into a massive bidding war.

06:33Suddenly, the Jets' leadership became a huge enigma.

06:35That's when a napkin changed everything.

06:38On this fateful napkin, Belichick wrote the sentence that would haunt Jet fans for years.

06:42I resign as head coach of the New York Jets.

06:45And what happened next left everyone speechless.

06:48The new owner, yet to be determined, is a question mark.

06:51The leadership from the new owner, yet to be determined, is a question mark.

06:55And my role in all of them is another question mark.

06:58Less than 24 hours after taking over, Belichick officially resigned.

07:02Four weeks later, he became the head coach of the New England Patriots.

07:06In the 25 years since, the Jets have made the playoff just six times.

07:10Whereas the Patriots have made the playoff 17 times.

07:13But one betrayal that few expected was the downfall of two teammates.

07:17Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens.

07:19By 2004, McNabb had led the Eagles to three straight NFC Championship games.

07:23Only in the come-up short every single time.

07:26So the Eagles made a power move and brought in Terrell Owens.

07:29McNabb and Owens already had a connection from past Pro Bowls where they'd hit it off.

07:32These two were supposed to be unstoppable.

07:34And at first, they were.

07:36In their first season together, they powered the Eagles all the way to the Super Bowl.

07:39But in the biggest game of their lives, McNabb threw three interceptions and even started puking.

07:44That's because the night before, this man was too busy partying.

07:47Personally, I didn't see it.

07:49But there are guys, and I know that there are teammates that I've talked to recently

07:52that said that they saw him throw up in the huddle.

07:54I've talked to teammates since then and know for a fact that he was out the night before.

07:59And Owens was fuming.

08:01So he put this man on blast.

08:02The following season, things got even worse.

08:05As Owens claimed he would rather have Brett Favre at quarterback.

08:07Your friend, Michael Irvin, recently said that if Brett Favre was the starting quarterback

08:13for the Philadelphia Eagles, they'd be undefeated right now.

08:16What do you think of that comment?

08:19I mean, that's a good assessment.

08:21I would agree with that.

08:22But in the offseason, Owens completely imploded.

08:24He demanded a new contract, criticized McNabb and the media,

08:27and even staged a driveway workout when the Eagles suspended him.

08:31The helicopters and everybody was around my house.

08:33I just tried to have fun with it, you know, entertaining the reporters,

08:36and I was working out at the same time.

08:38This left the Eagles with no choice but to release Owens.

08:41What once started as a friendship had turned into the ultimate betrayal.

08:44As bad as that is, Aaron Rodgers once got betrayed by the person he least expected.

08:49In 2004, many expected Rodgers to be the first overall pick by the 49ers.

08:53But instead, he fell over 20 picks to the Green Bay Packers.

08:56We draft based on what we consider to be the best player available, or we try to.

09:01I told him at the time when I made the call, and I told him we were going to pick him,

09:05that I thought maybe some divine intervention had played a part.

09:08With the 24th selection in the 2005 NFL draft,

09:13the Green Bay Packers select Aaron Rodgers, quarterback, California.

09:16When everyone passed on him, there was one man who believed in him.

09:20Packers general manager Ted Thompson.

09:22Fast forward 15 years later, and Aaron Rodgers was a two-time MVP and a Super Bowl champ.

09:27That said, there was one major dilemma.

09:30By 2020, it had been a decade since the Packers made the last Super Bowl.

09:33And heading into the draft, the Packers desperately needed receiver help.

09:36They hadn't picked a first-round receiver in nearly 20 years.

09:40By the 26th pick, they couldn't wait any longer.

09:42The 26th pick in the 2020 NFL draft, the Green Bay Packers select Jordan Love, quarterback.

09:49Instead of helping Aaron Rodgers, they did the exact opposite.

09:52I can just imagine you there, that you're, you know, you got tequila there,

09:56and the Packers, and they're going to take a wide receiver here.

09:58Of course we are.

09:59And the Packers take Jordan Love.

10:01Did you know they were taking him prior to the pick?

10:03No, I found out five seconds before the, uh, the Packers stabbed Rodgers in the back.

10:10And just when it couldn't get any worse, Rodgers learned this.

10:12I don't think a lot of people, at least in our camp, thought that Jordan would have been there

10:17when we were picking, and the opportunity presented itself.

10:20And it was an opportunity that Ted Thompson thought was too good to pass up.

10:25The same guy who advocated for Rodgers advocated for his replacement.

10:28But just when his team wrote him off, he responded with the greatest statistical season of his career.

10:33Rodgers completed a league-high 71% of his passes, over 4,200 yards, and 48 touchdowns.

10:39Instead of getting benched, he won his third MVP.

10:42That said, Gino Smith didn't just get written off.

10:44He suffered a career-altering injury.

10:46By 2015, Gino was at a crossroads.

10:49After two unsuccessful seasons as a starter, this was his last chance to secure the starting job.

10:54Little did he know, his chance would be over before the season even began.

10:58See, in the offseason, Gino did his teammate dirty.

11:00His teammate, I.K. and Impali, invited him to help with his youth football camp.

11:04But at the last minute, Gino bailed for personal reasons.

11:07His only problem?

11:08His teammate already paid for his $600 plane ticket.

11:11So naturally, the right thing would be to refund his teammate for the plane ticket.

11:14But nah, Gino was so selfish, he didn't bother to pay for his ticket.

11:17That's when Impali confronted him in the locker room.

11:20And sucker punched him.

11:21And Impali must have been livid, because Gino ended up with a broken jaw.

11:25Safe to say, Gino has come a long way since this incident.

11:28On the other hand, Bill O'Brien's betrayal costed him his reputation and future.

11:32See, O'Brien established himself as one of the league's top coaches.

11:35In his first six seasons, the Texans only had one losing season.

11:38Yet, the Texans were desperate for a championship.

11:40Despite five winning records, they failed to make it past the second round.

11:43That's when the Texans gave O'Brien all the power.

11:46As of 2022, he became the team's coach and general manager.

11:50That's when he shipped away the team's best players for pennies.

11:53He traded four-time Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals

11:56for running back David Johnson and a second-round pick.

11:58And it didn't take long before it turned into one of the worst trades of all time.

12:02Hopkins had one of the best seasons of his career,

12:04with over 1,400 yards and the catch of the year.

12:07Six seconds.

12:08Murray heaves it downfield.

12:10It is.

12:11Oh, it's caught.

12:13It is caught.

12:15DeAndre Hopkins.

12:18Meanwhile, Bill O'Brien was fired only after four games.

12:21But that still wasn't even the pettiest trade,

12:24because Josh McDaniels crossed a line that no coach should ever cross.

12:27In 2023, he leaked Darren Waller's wedding to WNBA player Kelsey Plum.

12:32And Waller was pissed, because the last thing he wanted was paparazzi at his wedding.

12:36He was so pissed that McDaniels didn't even get an invite to the wedding.

12:39And instead of letting it go, his coach retaliated.

12:43Ten days after his wedding, McDaniel traded a star tight end to the New York Giants

12:46for a merely third-round pick.

12:48Daniel's personal vendetta ruined a man's career.

12:51But next up, Antonio Brown used his vendetta to ruin an iconic bromance.

12:56Brown used to be the league's best receiver.

12:57But everything changed with Juju Smith-Schuster.

13:00A.B. took Juju under his wing and turned him into a superstar.

13:03In their first year together, they combined for nearly 2,500 receiving yards.

13:07But in 2018, things took a dark turn.

13:10After leading the league with 15 receiving touchdowns,

13:12A.B. once again solidified himself as the league's best receiver.

13:16Or so he thought.

13:17But it came to pick a team MVP.

13:19His teammates picked Juju over him.

13:21Safe to say, A.B. didn't appreciate this.

13:24MVP is the most valuable player that, you know,

13:26go out there and put his soul on the line, heart on the line,

13:28and be able to help the team win.

13:29So in my mind, you know, that's how I look at it.

13:31And they guys are looking at it as I'll be trying to build up another player

13:34to try to be who I am.

13:35And in the midst of that, you know, I was just like,

13:37we ain't gonna never win with this type of energy.

13:39So I'm gonna just request, test the market, and do what's best for me.

13:42Dude was about to congratulate his teammate.

13:44That said, A.B. was about to lose his mind.

13:46During that week's practice, Big Ben snapped at his diva receiver.

13:49After A.B. ran the wrong route, Ben threw the ball on the ground and said,

13:53get him out of here, get somebody else in there.

13:55That's when A.B. went off the rails,

13:57refusing to play in their Week 17 matchup.

13:59Then in the offseason, he refused to answer calls from his coaches and quarterback.

14:03I was so hurt at that point, I'd probably just block his number.

14:07But...

14:07Leaving the Steelers no choice to move on from their eight-time Pro Bowler.

14:10Which brings us to the biggest portrayal in NFL history.

14:14Tom freaking Brady.

14:15Yeah, the guy who built the Patriots dynasty.

14:18Six Super Bowls, 20 years of dominance.

14:20And the Golden Boy of New England.

14:22But in 2020, everything changed.

14:24See, for years, Brady and Belichick have been the ultimate duo.

14:27The GOAT QB and the GOAT coach taking the league by storm.

14:30But behind the scenes, tension was building.

14:33Brady felt like he wasn't getting the respect he deserved.

14:35Instead, Belichick treated him just like another player.

14:38And failed to surround him with a better supporting cast.

14:40And then came the bombshell.

14:42Brady walked.

14:43After 20 years with New England,

14:45Brady left the only team he ever knew for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

14:48A team that hadn't even sniffed a Super Bowl since 2003.

14:51Patriot fans were stunned.

14:53He was supposed to be a lifer.

14:55But Brady wasn't done.

14:56In his first season with the Bucs,

14:57he took the team all the way to the Super Bowl.

14:59And won.

15:00For the Chiefs.

15:02Brady goes sideline.

15:03And he has his man.

15:05Announcer jinxes.

15:05Here's Brady's pass.

15:07It's Gronkowski.

15:08Looking.

15:09Third option.

15:10End zone.

15:11Pulled.

15:12There's the fake.

15:13There's the pass.

15:14And there's the catch for the touchdown.

15:16For Patriot fans, it was a dagger to the heart.

15:18Watching Brady host the Lombardi Trophy in a Bucs jersey?

15:22This wasn't just a betrayal.

15:23It was a full-blown nightmare.

15:24But do you know what the best medicine for...

15:26But do you know what the best medicine for...

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