When he arrived at USC, he was known as “Robo Q” for the meticulous training his perfectionist ex-player father had given him. AP Todd Marinovichĭrug: Alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, marijuanaĬareer: 1991-92 (8 TDs, 1,345 passing yards, 66.4 QB rating) Boogaard fought frequently during his short-lived NHL career. But he was suspended in 1984 for alcohol and cocaine abuse, the first of a mind-bending seven bans in a career inextricably linked with drugs.
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He won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1980, saved the Dodgers’ World Series clincher the next year and was an All-Star the season after that. The name Steve Howe is synonymous with second chances … and third and fourth and so on. After the Mets won the 1986 World Series, he tested positive for cocaine the next year, and again in 1994. He might have been, if not for the partying and drugs he descended into in New York. AP Doc GoodenĬareer: 1984-2000 (194-112, 3.51 ERA, 2,293 strikeouts)Įveryone who saw Gooden follow up his NL Rookie of the Year award with a 1985 campaign for the ages - 24 wins, 1.53 ERA, 268 Ks - thought he would become one of the greatest pitchers ever. He died of an overdose at the age of 28 after mixing alcohol with Percocet. Once in New York, he relapsed with the painkillers and started drinking, spiraling into depression. He went away to rehab, and eventually signed with the Rangers. Derek BoogaardĪ renowned fighter from the plains for Canada, he got hooked on painkillers (Percocet, then Vicodin) while with the Minnesota Wild. The former Maryland star is one of the best talents to never play a second in the pros and one of the biggest tragedies in the sports annals. June 19 from cardiac arrhythmia, commonly associated with cocaine use. The next night, he overdosed on cocaine, and was pronounced dead at 8:55 a.m. 2 overall by the Celtics on June 17, 1986. AP Len Biasįirst on the list, alphabetically and every other way. Angels outfielder and recovering alcohol and drug addict Josh Hamilton’s admitted relapse that involved “at least” cocaine has again forced discussions about addiction, illness and self-destruction in the sports world.Īs we await a decision on possible discipline from Major League Baseball stemming from Hamilton’s confession, here is a look at some of the more prominent athletic careers hampered, cut short or destroyed before they even started by the cruel power of drugs and alcohol.