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The NFL has had some of the most intense rivalries over the years, and they haven't all been confined to being between two players on opposing teams. Often, it were teammates whose hatred spilled out into the public sphere, and it was those instances that were often worse.
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Over the years, it's been players sharing the same locker room turning out to be the ones with the most animosity between them.
To elaborate this point further, let's look back at five players who famously dissed their own teammates.
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#1 Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens made his way over from the San Francisco 49ers to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004. At the time, it was believed that the receiver joining Donovan McNabb in the 'City of Brotherly Love' would create a new NFC East contender.
The two made it to Super Bowl XXXIX and lost by a single field goal to a Tom Brady-led New England Patriots squad which took home its second consecutive Lombardi Trophy. Things appeared copacetic, but that couldn't be more untrue behind the scenes.
It got so bad between the QB/WR duo that Owens threatened McNabb to fight him:
"I’ll knock him out. It would be controlled anger. I’d be like a NAVY seal… There would be a fire burning inside of me.”
Ipso facto, Owens and McNabb had quite the tenuous professional partnership as NFL teammates...
#2 Peyton Manning and Mike Vanderjagt
“Here we are, I’m out at my third Pro Bowl, I’m about to go in and throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice, we’re honoring the Hall of Fame, and we’re talking about our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off."
Those were the words of Peyton Manning following Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt's criticism of both the Indianapolis signal-caller and then head coach Tony Dungy. He berated them for not being championship material. Here's what Vanderjagt had to say following a 41-0 loss to the Jets in 2003:
“Coach Dungy, he’s just a mild-mannered guy. He doesn’t get too excited, he doesn’t get too down and I don’t think that works, either. . . . I think you need a motivator, I think you need a guy that is going to get in somebody’s face when they’re not performing well enough.”
It's best not to piss off the QB when his last name is Manning. Vanderjagt learned that the hardest way possible. He retired from the NFL after the 2006 season.
#3 Bill Romanowski and Marcus Williams
To say there was tension between tight end hopeful Marcus Williams and established linebacker Bill Romanowski during Raiders training camp back in 2003 is severely understating it.
Romanowski ended up having charges pressed against him and paying out a total of $340,000—$300,000 for the NFL salary Williams would have made in 2003, and $40,000 for medical expenses.
"He's a fraud. He would have never gotten where he has without steroids."
Those were Williams' post-settlement words for Romanowski, proving that their shared bad blood will never subside.
#4 Geno Smith and IK Enemkpali
The quarterback position has been in flux for the Jets since the second year of the 'Sanchize' back in 2010. That's when Mark Sanchez was on top of the world before the 'Butt Fumble'.
Back in 2015, Geno Smith - picked in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft - was popped in the jaw. He ended up missing over six weeks because of a sucker punch from IK Enemkpali over an alleged unpaid debt of under $1,000.
Given the salaries NFL players make, this incident was almost incomprehensible then and still remains that way now. Smith is currently competing for the Seahawks starting QB job in 2022.
#5 Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin
The Dolphins had a massive issue in 2014 when offensive lineman Richie Icognito was accused of bullying and harassment by both Miami OL Jonathan Martin and another member of the organization.
According to the official press release for attorney Ted Wells' months-long investigation, Dolphins offensive linemen John Jerry and Mike Pouncey were also culprits along with Incognito. Also, an unnamed second Dolphins offensive lineman was harassed in addition to Martin:
"The Report concludes that three starters on the Dolphins offensive line, Richie Incognito, John Jerry, and Mike Pouncey, engaged in a pattern of harassment directed at not only Jonathan Martin, but also another young Dolphins offensive lineman and an assistant trainer."
"The Report finds that the assistant trainer repeatedly was the object of racial slurs and other racially derogatory language; that the other offensive lineman was subjected to homophobic name-calling and improper physical touching; and that Martin was taunted on a persistent basis with sexually explicit remarks about his sister and his mother and at times ridiculed with racial insults and other offensive comments."
Incognito would end up going to the Bills and Raiders before calling it a career following the 2020 NFL season.
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