Professional athletes deal with a lot of pressure and stress from countless training, practice, and perfecting movements. They invest a ton of effort in making sure they can perform well and help their team win.
Sometimes, even with countless practices, something goes wrong and athletes become the center of attention. From ridiculous facial expressions to falling, sliding, and other funny moments, even athletes at the top of their game can mess up. Here are some of the most embarrassing moments in sports you should know.
- Justine Kish Pooping on the MMA Mat
- Keegan McHenry’s Game-Losing Goal
- Nick Young’s Hilarious Layup Fail
- Mark Sanchez’s Butt Fumble
- Andre Parker’s Wrong-Way Run
- Alexis Normand Forgets US National Anthem Lyrics
- Gillian Cooke’s Ripped Pants
- LeBron James’ Accidental Junk Adjustment
- Sammy Ndjock’s Own Goal
- Ekaterina Rubleva’s Wardrobe Malfunction
Justine Kish Pooping on the MMA Mat
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is action-packed, and most of the time, unexpected moments happen as a result of the tough kicks or positions. Justine Kish’s match with Felice Herrig was the talk of the MMA world following an unexpected and embarrassing incident on the mat—popping herself to get out of a bad spot.
This incident isn’t entirely new as there are fighters who also experienced it as a result of the gastrointestinal technique of exhaling tremendously, putting pressure on the lower abdomen. By doing so, the muscles holding the stool can ease out and release it.
After the match, Kish just made fun out of the situation and tweeted, ‘I am a warrior, and I will never quit #ShitHappens.’ She lost the fight in Oklahoma that night.
Keegan McHenry’s Game-Losing Goal
A heavy dose of embarrassment was experienced by University of Denver goaltender Keegan McHenry, following a distraction while talking to a fan. He was seen on the side, leaving the goal, which caused the loss to the Utah State University.
McHenry didn’t notice that the play had resumed from overtime, and left the goal unattended. Robert Biedron took advantage of the situation, lighting the lamp from 200 feet away — a breezy shot requiring little effort to score.
The video of McHenry talking to the fans on the side went viral and caused became hilarious footage in hockey sports. He took responsibility for his mistake, saying he’s ashamed of himself for letting the team down.
Nick Young’s Hilarious Layup Fail
Basketball is a popular sport for a reason, and that’s because of the amazingly talented and charismatic players. In the NBA, even though players have an out-of-this-world talent for playing, there are some mishaps and epic fails that are unavoidable.
For instance, there’s a hilarious layup fail by Los Angeles Lakers Nick Young, attempting a 360-degree layup under the rim. It’s a cool move when done right, but in Young’s case, it’s rather a remarkable failure and definitely hilarious.
On a turnover that became a breakaway, Young was relatively unmanned when he took a layup to sink an easy basket, but instead seemingly threw the ball into the air, soaring much higher than the hoop itself, causing the Lakers a missed shot that could’ve added to their scoreboard.
Mark Sanchez’s Butt Fumble
In the sporting milieu, butt fumbles are rather common. But, one hilarious butt fumble of Jets Mark Sanchez and guard Brandon Moore has gone down in history.
With possession of the ball, Sanchez takes off for the melee, running directly into the falling backside of Brandon Moore. The ball popped free and was collected by the Patriots who went on to score and widen their lead even more, all the while leaving Sanchez a messed-up memory and the tag #ButtFumble going viral on social media.
New England Patriots’ Corey Hilliard cited how Sanchez felt bad, saying he messed up. Others saw the incident as a good performance even with a fail fumble, as Sanchez is doing his job when accidentally running into someone else’s backside.
Andre Parker’s Wrong-Way Run
Another candidate for the most embarrassing moments in sports is Kent State’s linebacker Andre Parker who advanced 58 yards in the wrong direction. Picking up the muffed punt, he was called on for the wrong direction and a field goal.
The sophomore player had joined the infamous line-up for wrong-way runners, with fans making hilarious remarks about Parker. It began when the punt bounces on returner Derrick Joseph when Parker snagged the punt and ran on the other side.
He went on for 93 yards instead of simply running seven yards to its goal. As seen on the footage, if the Towson players left Parker alone, he would’ve been in the right direction. Even then, the coach, trainer, and GA are all pointing to Parker that he’s in the wrong direction.
Alexis Normand Forgets US National Anthem Lyrics
Though this isn’t related to any sports player, it’s still worth mentioning how Alexis Normand’s embarrassing moment in sports while singing the U.S. national anthem at the OHL Memorial Cup game. The Canadian singer had a hard time remembering the lyrics and even paused as she forgot entire phrases.
Hockey players and fans helped Normand finish the song. It was later revealed that she was only asked to sing the song hours before the tournament, hence, the inability to prepare appropriately in time.
Following the incident, Normand has apologized through a tweet, saying“I’m embarrassed and deeply sorry. I wish I’d had more time to learn the American anthem.” She followed the song with the Canadian national anthem, sang in full perfection.
Gillian Cooke’s Ripped Pants
Wardrobe malfunctions aren’t only common for artists and performers, but also in sports. At the World Championships in Switzerland, Gillian Cooke became an Internet sensation following the unfortunate footage of her ripping her pants right before her bobsled race.
The British female bobsleigh rider has joked about the situation, saying it was an ice-breaker for the new teammates to get a good laugh. The malfunction revealed her backside and a sexy black G-string, and with her admitting she’s grateful to have worn underwear at all.
Despite the embarrassing incident, Cooke said a lot of people have sent their support. She also received a bunch of marriage proposals, in addition to raising the profile of her sport.
LeBron James’ Accidental Junk Adjustment
There’s a handful of embarrassing moments in sports that involved wardrobe malfunctions. But for LeBron James, the case is different as he unintentionally showed the world his private parts while adjusting his basketball jersey.
James was seen tucking his undershirt into his underwear, and for a split second, it appeared that he exposed his private parts. Initially, there was no buzz about it, until someone from Twitter dropped the observed mishap in the live telecast.
A user named Rob Passarella said, “Did LeBron James just flash us on national TV?” Obviously, people are going to pick up on it, knowing that he is a crowd magnet and a lot will be interested. This happened during Game 4 of the NBA Finals in 2015.
Sammy Ndjock’s Own Goal
The crowd went nuts after Sammy Ndjock of Minnesota United threw the ball into his own net—calling it the blooper of the year in 2016. He was seen blocking the ball, and then a few seconds later, accidentally throwing it into his own goal.
Minnesota United coach wasn’t happy about the result, but who can blame Ndjock for doing the sudden field antic. The ball slid off his hand and flew straight into the bottom corner of the Minnesota goal.
Bournemouth won the game with a flashy 4-0, thanks to the honest mistake of Ndjock. Following the incident, he made the headlines for the epic and embarrassing move.
Ekaterina Rubleva’s Wardrobe Malfunction
Another round of wardrobe malfunction has immortalized Russian figure skater Ekaterina Rubleva, showcasing her breast. In the middle of the routine, Rubleva suffered a nip slip, after being twirled by her partner Ivan Shefer.
Right after raising her hand, the dress slid down to revealing part of her chest. The revealing backless pink dress didn’t stop the performance, as the two skaters continued with the dance at the European Championships in Finland.
The duo finished at the respectable 12th spot, with a score of 29.04. This also meant that a new Internet sensation was born, with people sharing videos, pictures, and memes about the wardrobe malfunction.
Bottom Line
Embarrassing moments can happen in sports when the pressure is on. Athletes, and national anthem singers, can only pick themselves up, shrug it off, and try to forget about it.
This list contains only some of the most talked-about moments in sports, revealing that no matter how professional you are or how hard athletes train, they can still commit mistakes because they’re simply human too.
