The 9 Most Embarrassing Moments In Sports In The Past 20 Years

The high-level athletes we rely on for entertainment perform athletic feats most of us couldn’t even dream of, but sometimes they do the exact opposite. Plenty of players have embarrassed themselves on national television, but it’s hard to think of more mortifying moments from the past couple of decades than these.

These Are The 9 Most Embarrassing Moments In Recent Sports History

An embarrassing moment can happen at any time, but the more important the game, the more unforgettable it becomes. This list combines big-moment blunders with hilarious one-offs that will never leave our memory.

There are some great older moments that might inspire an all-time list down the road, but for now I tried to stay in the 21st century (You’re welcome, Bill Buckner).

Some of these also feature a good amount of bad luck, but that only does so much reduce their ability to induce some cringe. I’m not necessarily ranking all of these based on how brutal they were, but I’m sure most people can guess what the first one on the list is.

The Butt Fumble

The New York Jets hosted the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving Day in 2012, with all of America watching. Already losing 14-0 toward the start of the second quarter, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez decided it was time to make a play.

Trying to run the ball himself, he ran straight into his offensive lineman’s rear end, got leveled, and dropped the ball. The Pats promptly picked it up and ran it in for a scoop-and-score touchdown.

This was part of a 52-second span of game time that featured three Patriot touchdowns and ultimately led them to a 49-19 rout.

Thankfully, that was the most embarrassing situation Mark Sanchez has ever been forced to endure.

J.R. Smith Forgets The Score

In Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, the game was tied, and the Cleveland Cavaliers had a free throw to win with 4.7 seconds remaining.

The shot missed, but miraculously J.R. Smith grabbed the offensive rebound. Instead of putting it back up for the win, he ran out of the paint, dribbled the clock out, thinking the Cavs already had the lead.

The Cavs would go on to lose in overtime, and J.R.’s mistake cost them the game and gave us an all-time meme of LeBron screaming at him.

The Double Doink

We move to an NFL Wild Card Game for the 2018 season (which unfolded on January 6, 2019), where the Chicago Bears set up a potential game-winning field goal to beat the Philadelphia Eagles down 16-15 with ten seconds left.

The Bears were down one, so this kick decided the game make or miss. Kicker Cody Parkey blasted the 43-yard attempt; it started on a good line, drifted into the post, and then somehow off the crossbar and back out.

Hitting the post on a game-winner is tough, but catching two pipes on a ricochet out is brutal; not to mention, getting named the Double Doink makes it hard to forget.

Dan Orlovsky Runs Out Of The End Zone

A 2008 regular-season game featuring the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions gave us an all-time NFL blunder.

Now an ESPN analyst, former Lions QB Dan Orlovsky took a shotgun snap from his own end zone and rolled out to his right. He then ran out of his own end zone for safety.

Orlovsky ran so far out of his end zone and kept running out of bounds, not realizing he had already cost his team two points. The announcer even called him “poor guy” as he pranced around with the media members behind the end zone.

Indianapolis Colts Fake Punt

A Sunday Night football game in 2015 featuring the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots had what many consider the worst-designed play in NFL history.

On 4th and 3, the Colts went for it and tried to catch the Patriots off guard with a fake punt. They shifted into a formation no one had ever seen before, leaving one man behind the center and no one else near them. The ball was snapped, and immediately the play was blown up for a loss, obviously, because there was no offensive line.

Colts punter Pat McAfee later explained that the formation change was essentially a fake substitution to catch the Patriots with too many men on the field. The ball was never actually meant to be snapped.

Nick Young’s Premature Celebration

The Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the New York Knicks in a regular-season game in 2014 that didn’t have the highest stakes, but it gave us a meme we still see today.

Lakers guard Nick Young didn’t live up to his nickname, Swaggy P. He launched a 3-pointer he was so confident he’d make that he turned around and threw his hands up.

The shot rimmed out, and the image of Young celebrating the brick lives in infamy.

Sammy Watkins’ Premature Celebration

Staying on theme with celebrating too early, Buffalo Bills receiver Sammy Watkins joins in on the fun.

In a regular season game against the New York Jets, the rookie wide receiver held his arm up and slowed down, thinking he was home free as he celebrated what would have been an 89-yard touchdown.

Unfortunately for Watkins, Jets defensive back Saalim Hakim blended into the green turf, so he never saw him coming on the big screen and ultimately stopped him short of the goal line.

Michigan Has Trouble With The Snap

The 2015 edition of the Michigan State University-University of Michigan rivalry is potentially the most memorable of them all.

The Wolverines led 23-20 with ten seconds left on fourth down; essentially, they just needed to punt and not let it be returned for a touchdown.

They then infamously had trouble with the snap as punter Blake O’Neil bobbled the ball, which MSU’s Jalen Watts-Jackson scooped up and ran all the way back for a walk-off score.

Because it was a home game for Michigan, the shot of the home crowd in disbelief provided America with an all-time surrender cobra.

Jakobi Meyers Throws The Game Away

The New England Patriots under Bill Belichick were known for not making mistakes and playing the game the right way. But just the opposite happened in a regular-season matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022.

The game was tied, and New England was too far away for a Hail Mary; all signs pointed to overtime. The Pats handed it off, and running back rhaomdre stevenson found a little daylight. For some reason, he lateraled the ball to Jakobi Meyers even though they didn’t need to score.

Meyers then did the unthinkable; he launched the ball backward straight to Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones, who caught it, stiff-armed Mac Jones, and ran in the walk-off TD.