Four of the Most Terrifying Athletes Ever to Hit the Field

Deep down, we all know that sports should be fun. While you may not want to hear “it’s only a game” from someone after your team suffers a devastating loss, most of us understand that it is only a game. With that being said, however, sports can certainly elicit a whole host of feelings, including passion, pain, joy, and loathing.

They can also make you scared as hell. Have you ever felt a chill run down your spine when a terrible free-throw shooter on your team stepped to the line in a tight game? Or a relief pitcher with a penchant for giving up home runs was called in to close a big game? Or the coach with a questionable track record decided to go for it on a fourth down?

Not only can moments be scary, so can certain players. Every fan has been haunted by at least one boogeyman, a player that always filled them with sheer terror. For me, it was two: Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller. I still have nightmares about the torment they caused me (and the Knicks) in the 90s.

While most players can be frightening for what they do on the court or field, others can produce fear just because they’re frightening people. Mike Tyson and Lawrence Taylor are commonly cited as two of the scariest athletes of all time. I think others deserve some recognition, and here are four guys you probably wouldn’t want to face in the heat of battle or at any other time.

Conrad Dobler

While Dobler may not be a household name, his name almost certainly conjured fear with his opponents. Over the course of 10 years starting in the early 70s, he played offensive guard for three different teams, and “offensive” is definitely the key word. In 1977, Dobler made the cover of Sports Illustrated, but perhaps not for the best of reasons, as the headline was “Pro Football's Dirtiest Player.”

In a more recent article from ESPN, he’s described as “someone who made his reputation as the maestro of a nasty little karate kick technique called the leg whip, [he was] known for using his helmet, his feet, his knees, his fingers, a plaster cast, and – perhaps most famously – his teeth as lethal weapons.”

He was also notorious for punching people in the solar plexus, and once made a player cry after doing this. He even made Merlin Olson, described as a “mild-mannered Morman” in that article, a life-long enemy, to the point that on Olson’s short-lived TV show in which he played the titular “Father Murphy,” a prop tombstone had Dobler’s name on it.  

Bill Romanowski

Something tells me that Dobler might’ve been a fan of Romanowski. He was also considered a dirty player, and was fined repeatedly over his career for illegal hits, including one in which he broke the jaw of quarterback Kerry Collins in two places. During training camp one year, Romanowski got into a fight with teammate Marcus Williams and fractured his eye socket, essentially ending Williams’ career.

In his autobiography, Romanowski recounts a lovely little anecdote involving Giants running back Dave Meggett and a fumbled ball:

“I am pissed. And I am down there just trying to rip that ball out of his hands. And all I could get was a finger. And at the time I thought it was his. But, just, whatever it was … I just snapped it. And I could hear a scream at the bottom of the pile.”

Above all, Romanowski was full of fury, saying: “I felt I could take myself to a place where other guys weren't willing to go because come Sunday after a game, I already started hating the next opponent. I started hating the guy I was going to go against. I hated the coaches. I hated their fans. I hated their family. You name it. And by the time I got onto that field come Sunday, watch out because there was rage.”

Nolan Ryan

Ryan had a remarkable – and remarkably long – MLB career, and still holds records for most career strikeouts and no-hitters, along with most strikeouts in a single season. Another record that certainly instilled some nervousness in the batters he faced was most career walks.

He regularly threw over 100 mph, but the ball didn’t always go over the plate. In his career, he hit over 150 batters. In 1974, Doug Griffin received a fractured jaw – along with a concussion and temporary hearing loss – from one of Ryan’s fastballs. This could be what led to Reggie Jackson saying this about him: “He's the only guy who puts fear into me. Not because he can get me out but because he could kill me.”

Another reason why Ryan was so dreaded is because he was just so tough. In 1990 at 43 years old, he took a comebacker to the face off of the bat of Bo Jackson. He suffered a split lip that required six stitches. Not only did Ryan stay in the game, he ended up pitching seven innings and only allowing one run to get the win.

Then, of course, is the infamous Robin Venture incident in 1993. After being hit by a pitch from Ryan, Ventura charged the mound. Although Ryan was 20 years older, he quickly and easily put Ventura in a headlock and punched him repeatedly in the face. Ventura was ejected and – to no one’s surprise – Ryan stayed in the game, pitched seven innings, and got the win.

Albert Belle

Belle was perhaps the surliest player to ever play baseball. Even before he started terrorizing players (both teammates and opponents) in the big leagues, he was a terror in college. At LSU, he made a habit of throwing bats and helmets and body-checking fielders when he was on the basepaths. There was also an incident in which he went into the stands to confront a heckling fan.

Belle was actually a fantastic player – he’s a career .295 hitter with 381 home runs – but to say he was disliked is a bit of an understatement. This clip of him breaking up a double play by trying to break the face of second baseman Fernando Viña is the perfect example of how Belle played the game.

Perhaps the strangest incident with Belle actually took place in the offseason far from a baseball field. On Halloween in 1995, while home in Ohio, teen trick-or-treaters knocked on his door. Belle’s father was there and told them they had no candy. As teenage boys are wont to do, they didn’t take kindly to this news and proceeded to throw eggs at the house.

Belle called the police and told the dispatcher: “You better get somebody over here, because if I find one of them, I’ll kill them.” He then proceeded to get into a car to chase the boys through the neighborhood, even hitting one with his vehicle, though he wasn’t injured.

Happy Halloween!