But what about other drug stories? The ones where a player use marijuana, cocaine, or another recreational drug? It seems everyday you hear about some pro athlete getting caught with something illegal. Those stories are so commonplace, it’s basically a running joke and not news. But there is something deeper to these stories. For example, how are these substances affecting an athlete’s performance? There’s no easy answer. You can’t exact pinpoint a player’s lack of success on one factor. It’s not that simple. Still, it only seems logical to blame an athlete’s poor performance on drugs. At least in some circumstances. But which athletes? Certainly players like Lawrence Taylor, Michael Irvin, and Theo Fleury have had problems with drugs. Yet these guys  performed at high levels. Did their on-field performance even suffer? There’s no way to really tell. However, I’ll take my best educated guess and focus on the players that appear to have hurt their careers by drug use. Those that lost fame, fortune, and possibly a place in history. A grand what could have been?

This list looks at the ten athletes that damaged their career by substance abuse.  It attempts to factor in how much the drugs affected the athlete and how much it cost them. The better the athlete and the more damage done, the higher a player ranks on this list. But timing matters too. A guy like Ricky Williams, even as a notorious marijuana smoker, really didn’t run into legal problems until after he decided to quit football (the first time). So the damage wasn’t as significant for him. Now on to the list (sorry, no wrestlers):

10. Josh Hamilton, Baseball

Josh Hamilton

Hamilton represents both sides of the coin on this one, the fall from grace due to drugs and then the resurrection after kicking the habit. He was a blue chip prospect and first overall draft pick in 1999 by the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Rays then promptly signed him to a then-record $3.96 million signing bonus. At the beginning of the 2001 season, Hamilton was rated the best prospect in all of baseball. It was then that his career began to derail due to drugs and injuries. He would play only 27 games in 2001, and injuries limited him to 56 games in 2002. At the start of the 2003 season, Hamilton left the team for six weeks, later admitting that during that span, he tried every drug he could get his hands on. He would eventually take the rest of the season off for “personal reasons” after a 25 day suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s substance abuse policy. He would enter rehab, but it didn’t take. All told, Hamilton would quit and re-enter drug rehab eight times.

At the start of 2004, he was again suspended 30 days and fined for violating the MLB drug policy. The punishment indicated that Hamilton had already failed two or more prior tests. After failing yet another drug test, MLB had had enough, and on February 18, 2004, suspended him indefinitely. From 2004 until 2006, Hamilton did not play baseball at all. In June of 2006, MLB reinstated Hamilton, and he ended up playing 15 games for the short season A-ball Hudson Valley Renegades. Despite playing only 15 games since 2002, and having only 89 at bats above A-ball, the Chicago Cubs selected him third overall in the Rule 5 Draft after the season. The Cubs sold him to Cincinnati, and per the terms of the Rule 5 Draft he had to stay in the majors all year or risk being placed on waivers. Cincinnati decided to keep him in the majors, allowing Hamilton to finally make his major league debut in 2007, just short of his 26th birthday. A successful, but unspectacular rookie campaign followed. During the off-season he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Edinson Volquez. The redemption was complete in 2008 when he was named to the American League All-Star team. He also participated in the Home Run Derby, where he hit 28 home runs in one round, a record.

Hamilton will be 28 early next season and still has the time to put up an impressive career. But what might have been a Hall of Fame career was derailed for several years due to drug use. Unlike many on this list, Hamilton has a great opportunity for a post-drug use career.

9. John Daly, Golf

John Daly

Daly turned pro in 1987, later joining the PGA Tour in 1991. He has won two majors in his career, the 1991 PGA Championship and the 1995 British Open. The former helped him be named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1991. It also garnered him a fair bit of fame, as he won the event despite being the tournament’s ninth (and last) alternate. He was only allowed to play after Nick Price dropped out and no other alternates could make it.

Notwithstanding some success on the golf course, Daly was always a wreck off the course. The two majors he won earned him ten year exemptions, and allowed him to keep his PGA tour card despite inconsistent play. In December of 1992, while drunk, he shoved his wife into a wall while pulling her hair. The PGA pressured him to go to rehab, which he complied with. Nevertheless, he continued to drink heavily and push himself recklessly. He once claimed that he drank a fifth of Jack Daniel’s every day when he was 23. In late 1993, Daly was given an indefinite suspension and again told to seek treatment for his alcoholism. In 1994 he missed the cut in two majors, and was disqualified from the Greater Hartford Open. At the NEC World Series of Golf, he wrestled in the parking lot with a 62 year-old fan. With another suspension looming, Daly voluntarily left the tour for the rest of the season. He also lost millions after companies dropped their endorsement deals with him.

Despite being good enough to win two majors, Daly went from 1996 to 2001 without a professional victory. In total, Daly has just five PGA tour wins. And his problems aren’t over, just recently on October 26th, Daly was taken into custody by Winston-Salem police after he was found drunk outside an area Hooters restaurant. What could have Daly been as a clean and sober golfer?

8. Pelle Lindbergh, Hockey

Pelle Lindbergh

Lindbergh was a Swedish goalie that represented his country in the 1980 Winter Olympics. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2nd round, 35th overall pick of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He briefly played for the Flyers in the 1981-1982 season, before staying up full time for the 1982-’83 season. Lindbergh was named the goalie of the NHL All-Rookie Team that year. Two years later, he would led the NHL with 40 victories and win the Vezina Trophy, the NHL’s award for best goaltender. He would become the first European goaltender in NHL history to do so. He was also a first team NHLer and would help lead the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals.

On November 10, 1985, he drove his car into a wall, fatally injuring himself and also injuring two others. Toxicology reports disclosed that he had a blood alcohol level of .24 at the time of the accident, well above the .1 legal limit at the time. Despite his death, Lindbergh topped the fan voting for the 1986 NHL All-Star Game, becoming the first player chosen posthumously for an all-star team in a major North American team sport. Lindbergh’s brief, but successful career is another warning against the dangers of drinking and driving. Alcohol prevented a potentially great career from ever happening.

Continue reading for the Top 7……

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