Athlete arrests reveal the dark underbelly of fame, wealth, and excess in pro sports
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Sports fans have seen athletes get caught up in all kinds of off-field drama over the years, but every now and then, a story comes around that makes everybody stop and say, “Wait…what?” Not just because somebody got arrested, but because the details sound too wild to be real.
That’s where Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper comes in. Cooper and his girlfriend, Jade Fiegen, were both arrested after what authorities described as a domestic dispute at Cooper’s Colorado residence. According to reports, the argument allegedly started over cheating accusations and Cooper’s phone, with Fiegen allegedly throwing his phone before the situation turned physical. Cooper was booked on domestic violence and criminal mischief charges, while Fiegen was also booked on domestic violence and criminal mischief charges.
The part that sent the internet into full disbelief, though, was the phone detail. According to TMZ, Cooper allegedly admitted to damaging Fiegen’s phone by biting and cracking it after threatening to break it if she refused to leave. Fiegen also claimed the phone had irreplaceable messages and voice notes from her late mother on it.
According to the latest reports, Cooper appeared in court on Friday (June 5), was released on a personal recognizance bond, and is due back for a Monday disposition hearing. The Broncos said they were aware of the matter and gathering more information, while the NFL could still review the case under its personal conduct policy. Online, the reaction was exactly what you’d expect: people were stunned, confused, and stuck on the idea of a grown NFL linebacker allegedly biting an iPhone during a relationship argument. Social media quickly turned the “put it in his mouth” detail into meme material, even while the actual allegations remained serious.
And while Cooper’s situation is fresh, sports history has no shortage of arrests that made fans ask the same question: How did we even get here?
Check out a list of the wildest sports arrests of all-time.
Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley has plenty of legendary stories, but his 1997 Orlando arrest is still one of the wildest. According to AP and an excerpt from Timothy Bella’s Barkley: A Biography, Barkley was accused of throwing a man through a plate-glass window at an Orlando bar after ice was allegedly thrown toward him and women at his table. He was charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest without violence. The wildest part is that Barkley never really ducked the story; years later, it still gets brought up because it sounds like something straight out of a movie.
O.J. Simpson
There may not be a more infamous athlete arrest than O.J. Simpson’s in 1994. Simpson was wanted in connection with the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, then ended up in the back of a white Ford Bronco during a slow-speed police chase that took over television. AP noted that he was arrested and charged with murder after the chase on June 17, 1994. It was dark, surreal, and one of the biggest media moments in American sports history.
Plaxico Burress
Plaxico Burress’ arrest became infamous because the whole thing started with him accidentally shooting himself. In 2008, the Giants receiver brought a gun into a Manhattan nightclub, and it went off inside the club, hitting him in the leg. ESPN later revisited how the incident helped derail a Giants season that had Super Bowl-level expectations. The “he shot himself and still went to jail” part made it one of the strangest legal stories an NFL star has ever been involved in.
Maurice Clarett
Maurice Clarett’s 2006 arrest sounded like the final score of a crime thriller. The former Ohio State star was arrested after a highway chase in Columbus, and police said they found four loaded guns in his SUV. Reports also noted that officers had to use Mace during the arrest. For a player who once looked like a future NFL star, the whole situation became one of the most dramatic falloffs sports fans had seen.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods’ 2017 DUI arrest shocked people because of the visual alone: one of the most famous athletes ever, found asleep behind the wheel. ESPN reported that police found Woods asleep in the car, and AP later noted that he said the incident involved a bad mix of painkillers. He eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving in connection with the case. It was wild in a loud, chaotic way — it was wild because it was Tiger Woods, looking completely human and vulnerable in a way fans weren’t used to seeing.
Tonya Harding
Tonya Harding’s case remains one of the most infamous scandals in Olympic history. In 1994, Nancy Kerrigan was attacked before the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and the investigation eventually connected the plot to people around Harding, including her ex-husband. Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution and was banned for life from U.S. Figure Skating. It was messy, theatrical, and so unbelievable that Hollywood eventually turned it into a movie.
Michael Vick
Michael Vick’s 2007 case was one of the most shocking falls from grace the NFL has ever seen. The Falcons quarterback pleaded guilty in a federal dogfighting case connected to Bad Newz Kennels and was sentenced to 23 months in prison. What made it so stunning was the contrast: Vick was one of the most electric athletes alive, and then, suddenly, he was at the center of a brutal criminal case that changed his career and public image forever.
Sam Hurd
Sam Hurd’s arrest still feels unreal because of the scale of what prosecutors accused him of trying to do. The former NFL wide receiver was later sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for his role in a cocaine and marijuana distribution conspiracy. The Justice Department said Hurd was sentenced in 2013 for that role, while NFL.com noted the case ended his football career. Plenty of athletes have had off-field trouble, but very few stories jump from the locker room to federal drug conspiracy like that.
Nate Newton
Nate Newton’s case belongs here because getting caught once with a huge amount of marijuana would already be wild — but he got caught twice in six weeks. In November 2001, the former Cowboys lineman was arrested after police found 213 pounds of marijuana in a van. Then, in December, he was arrested again with at least 175 pounds of marijuana in his car. That’s the kind of story where even sports fans who lived through it still have to double-check the numbers.
Adam “Pacman” Jones
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Adam “Pacman” Jones had multiple legal issues over the years, but the 2007 Las Vegas strip club incident remains one of the wildest. Jones was connected to a melee that preceded a triple shooting, and ESPN later reported that a jury ordered him to pay $11 million in damages to two injured strip club employees. He was not accused of being the shooter, but the scene, the fallout, and the NFL suspension made it one of the most chaotic athlete arrest sagas of that era.
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Strawberry’s 1999 arrest was one of those sad, messy moments that showed how far a superstar could fall. The former MLB slugger was arrested after allegedly offering an undercover officer money for sex, and police said they found cocaine in his wallet. Strawberry’s story had layers — addiction, legal trouble, health issues, and a career that had already seen incredible highs. As wild as the arrest sounded, it also became part of a much bigger story about how badly he needed help.
Jonathon Cooper
Cooper’s arrest is the reason this whole conversation is back on the table. The Broncos linebacker and his girlfriend were both arrested after an argument that allegedly started over infidelity accusations and a phone. The allegations include physical claims from both sides, but the detail that took the story viral was Cooper allegedly biting and damging her phone. It’s one of those modern damaging arrest stories that sounds like a group char joke until you realize there’s a real court process behind it.
