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The NFL is a hugely intense, competitive environment in which grown men sometimes don’t always get along. We like to live in an ideal world where every coach and player has a father/son relationship, but the reality is gravely different.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the most successful player/coach pairing in NFL history, but they didn’t always get along, and there are rumored to be still some bad feelings over Brady’s New England departure.
However, not everyone can keep these feelings of frustration to themselves or discuss them behind closed doors.
Some players let their emotions get the better of them, leading to some rather almighty bust-ups.
#5 – Cam Newton
Cam Newton and Ron Rivera had some incredibly good times working together in Carolina, even reaching the Super Bowl.
However, Newton was known to be a rather emotional player during the early years of his NFL career, and there were a couple of occasions where he let rip at Rivera.
More often than not, it was down to minute details, i.e., not going for a play on fourth down, or calling a timeout too early.
On one such occasion, when the Panthers coaching staff called a timeout and refused to go for a gamble on fourth down, Newton blew his top, shouting obscenities at both Rivera and his offensive co-ordinator, to which Rivera was seen on camera replying "Don’t you do that" to his star QB.
#4 – Charles Woodson
Bill Callahan’s time in charge of the Oakland Raiders isn’t really remembered fondly by anybody, not least NFL Hall of Famer Charles Woodson.
The team went into freefall in 2003, with tension bubbling below the surface between the coach and his defensive star.
Callahan elected to bench Woodson, citing a missed practice, in a year when the defender was set to hit free agency, which led to Woodson launching an astonishing verbal attack.
Woodson declared:
“He’s made this thing really personal. “He’s not the type of person you want to be around, he’s just really brought a negative vibe to this team. When things get personal, it’s not a good situation. I won’t play for him.”
#3 – Randy Moss
Randy Moss returned to the Minnesota Vikings after his spell with the New England Patriots, hoping to bring an NFL championship to the team that drafted him.
However, he immediately butted heads with head coach Brad Childress, which culminated in a rather bizarre press conference rant after a defeat to the Patriots.
“I salute coach Belichick and his team, so I’m actually stuck for words just because there are a lot of memories here. I tried to talk to the players and coaches about how this game was gonna be played, it hurts as a player to put hard work in all week and then they only acknowledge on a Sunday.
“I tried to take what the best coach in football history has given me and tried to sprinkle it to our guys, I wish we could have had that three at the end of the half, maybe things would have been different."
His implicit criticism of the play called by Childress was the truly shocking part, and Moss found himself cut the very next day.
#2 – Keyshawn Johnson
Keyshawn Johnson was brought in by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to finally give Jon Gruden’s offense the ‘pop’ it needed to succeed in the NFL.
The receiver was an expensive pick-up for the Bucs, but his relationship with coach Gruden collapsed in spectacular fashion.
This played out on national television for the entire world to watch, as Johnson seethed after the end of an offensive drive. He was unhappy with the lack of touches he was getting in the Gruden system, and let the coach know about it with a verbal tirade.
As he was coming off the field, he got right into Gruden’s face and shouted at him, all whilst the coach tried to keep his cool. The Bucs then deactivated Johnson from the roster for the remainder of the season, stopping him from joining another team.
#1 – Jeff George
Jeff George was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in 1996, but he fell out with coach June Jones, which ultimately led to a lengthy suspension.
It’s rare for a quarterback to not have a good relationship with his coach, but this was a unique scenario. Jones had built his entire offense around George in the hope he would drive the team forward, however, by September 1996, George would be benched.
He didn’t respond to the decision well, launching a verbal tirade towards Jones on the sidelines. It turned into a shouting match between the pair, with George’s anger on the sidelines visible from a distance.
George admitted after the game:
“I guess some of the things I said on the sideline, I’m kind of upset about that, I need to learn a little bit about that, I guess. In my mind, I think I could have brought the team back, we had the whole second half, there was a lot of football to be played.”
George’s rant would be punished by the Falcons, who deemed him guilty of conduct detrimental to the team and suspended him for one game, which was extended to the remainder of the 1996 NFL season.
