In today’s society, professional athletes are the subject of numerous scandals and public scrutiny. From Kobe Bryant’s cheating scandal, to Tiger Woods’ double-digit mistress count, there is no shortage of athletes creating headlines with their sexual exploits. Here is a list of five athletes racking up illegitimate offspring.
6. Former NFL Running Back Travis Henry
Henry played Running Back for the Bills, Titans and Broncos from 2001-2007. Currently engaged to his second to-be-wife, Henry is said to have fathered at least 11 children by 10 different women., and his lawyer estimates that he pays about $170,000 a year in child support. “I’ve lost everything in this mess I’ve gotten myself into,” Henry said. He was arrested in 2008 for his part in an interstate cocaine trafficking ring, but with 11 young mouths to feed and no more NFL salary, who can blame him?
5. Former NBA Power Forward Shawn Kemp
Nickynamed “The Reign Man,” Kemp played Power Forward for the Supersonics, Cavaliers Trailblazers and Magic. With a confirmed seven illegitimate children with six women, rumors now put that number at 11 children with nine different women. Kemp event had a short stint with professional Italian basketball team Premiata Montegranaro in 2008, which many speculate he signed with so he could afford his child support payments. With six All-Star appearances and atleast 7 children under his belt, who knows whats hes got left?
4. Former Professional Boxer Evander Holyfield
Often regarded as one of the most notorious figures in professional boxing history, former Word Undisputed Champion Evander Holyfield is said to have fathered 11 children with an unidentified number of women. Having earned an estimated $100 million, $34 million of which came from getting his ear bit off by Mike Tyson, Holyfield had his home foreclosed in 2009 after failing to repay a $10 million dollar loan. He has even started his own record label and line of cooking appliances in an effort to feed his family, who knows what he’ll do next?
3. New York Jets Cornerback Antonio Cromartie
Fathering at least nine children with eight women living in six different states all by the age of 27, Cromartie could just be getting started. He has been named in at least five paternity suits in the past two years, and in March 2010, the New York Jets provided him with a $500,000 advance so he could pay off outstanding child support payments. In her new memoir called “Love, Intercepted: A Tale of Football, Falling and Failing in Love,” one of Cromartie’s baby mamas Rhonda Patterson claims that Cromartie dumped her just days before their $200,000 wedding and left her to raise his sixth child on her own. Unluckily for him, she also happens to be a corporate lawyer, and as the only active professional athlete on this list, he better hope he has a long career to get himself out of this hole.
2. Former NBA Point Guard Calvin Murphy
NBA Hall-0f-Famer Calvin Murphy is confirmed to have fathered 14 children by nine different women. In 2004, he was charged with sexually abusing five of his daughters but was later acquitted of these charges. He has since been involved in the NBA’s mentoring program (go figure) and had his own radio show with a Houston ESPN affiliate called “The Calvin Murphy Show.” He still holds many NBA and Houston Rockets offensive records, and holds our record for the most illegitimate children fathered by a professional American athlete.
1. Brazilian Soccer Player Manuel Francisco dos Santos a.k.a. Garrincha
Widely considered the best Brazilian soccer player ever behind Pele, Garrincha was an immensely popular right winger and forward with the Brazilian national team, leading them to victory in the 1958 and 1962 World Cups. He is known to have fathered 14 children, and many more suspected through numerous affairs, many of which drew notable media attention. Unfortunately for them and his millions of supporters, he died at the age of 49 due to cirrhosis of the liver caused by his heavy drinking and chaotic lifestyle; in one drunken spree he ran over his own father, and in another car crash killed his mother-in-law. His legend puts him atop our list of athletes with the most illegitimate children.
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