Unsportsmanlike Conduct: 15 Professional Athletes Turned Into Murderers
Sports heroes are typically held up as role models, even though some of their behavior away from the game can be a bit unheroic. The athletes in this book did more than just party hard and sleep around...they became murderers.
This book profiles 15 cases of athletes who brought the violence from the game into their homes. Some hired hitmen to kill off someone, while others did the job themselves. Some were at the top of their game while others were washed-out and struggling to get by. All fell victims to their own rage and lost everything. Some may think that OJ Simpson was an isolated case. This short book shows otherwise.
This book profiles 15 cases of athletes who brought the violence from the game into their homes. Some hired hitmen to kill off someone, while others did the job themselves. Some were at the top of their game while others were washed-out and struggling to get by. All fell victims to their own rage and lost everything. Some may think that OJ Simpson was an isolated case. This short book shows otherwise.
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Excerpt
Introduction
In today’s world, professional athletes are considered to be the ultimate heroes and celebrities. They’re admired and worshipped by everybody from factory workers to intellectuals. Even people that don’t follow sports are fascinated by the lives and careers of elite athletes.
Not surprisingly, nothing seems to generate as much media attention as an athlete who commits, plots, or gets accused of the ultimate crime: murder. The recent media frenzy around Oscar Pistorious is a perfect example of the popular fascination with killer sports stars. Reporters from all over the world travelled to South Africa to cover the disabled Olympian’s downfall. More news people headed to Pretoria to see Pistorious’s hearing than went to Seoul even with the threat of a second Korean War in early 2013.
The fact that Pistorious competes in sports (the Paralympics and track and field) that most people ignore didn’t seem to matter. The idea of an elite athlete dragged down to Earth by a sordid affair is just too appealing. Perhaps the real reason we love killer athletes is that we love to see the rich, successful, and capable destroy their lives’ work. The only thing more fun than putting a sports hero up on a pedestal seems to be dragging him off of it.
Darryl Henley: From NFL Star to Drug Trafficking and Conspiracy to Murder
Darryl Henley is a football player who shattered the stereotype of the violent, poorly educated African American gangbanger in pads. He was a well-educated honors student, and he came from a good family.
Henley went all the way, earning All-American honors at UCLA and graduating with a 3.3 grade point average before going on to become a starting cornerback for his hometown NFL franchise, the Los Angeles Rams (now the St. Louis Rams). Yet it all went terribly wrong in 1995 when Henley was arrested for conspiring to smuggle cocaine. A year later, Henley was convicted again for trying to hire hit men to kill a federal judge and a witness against him.
The golden boy and All-American is now among the most corrupt of former athletes. He ended up as a professional gangster and killer. He will also have to spend most of his life (41 years) in federal prison.
Not the Cosbys, but Close
Unlike most football stars, Darryl Henley came from an upwardly mobile family. Both of his parents had college degrees, which was unusual for African Americans in the 1960s and ’70s. Unlike most African Americans, Henley attended parochial schools and lived in a suburb, rather than a ghetto or a small town.
One of Henley’s brothers graduated from Stanford, an elite university considered on par with the Ivy League schools, and another attended Rice. Sportswriters compared Henley’s background to the Huxtables, the fictional, almost perfect upper-middle class black family shown on the hugely popular 1980s situation comedy The Cosby Show.
Henley himself was an overachiever, rather than the classic beer-swilling, womanizing college football player. He attended an elite school, UCLA, and took a difficult course of study: finance. Henley spent his spare time in the weight room or running sprints, even in bad winters. The slightly undersized player was determined to make the NFL, even though scouts and coaches said he was too small.
Despite the odds, Henley made it all the way to the NFL and became a starter. Then something happened to him that has never been adequately explained. Some people contend that Henley was framed, but prosecutors demonstrated that he was a willing participate in a drug smuggling conspiracy.
The Cheerleader and the Linebacker Smuggle Drugs
The year was 1993, and Henley encountered a 19-year-old cheerleader named Tracy Ann Donaho. It isn’t exactly clear what happened next, but while some reports indicate that Donaho seduced Henley, others claim that he seduced her.
What is clear is that in July 1993, Drug Enforcement Agency operatives arrested Donaho at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. When the agents searched her, they discovered that she was carrying 12 kilos of cocaine.
To reduce her prison sentence, Donaho immediately began ratting out her accomplices. One of those she named was Henley, whom she claimed was one of eight people who had paid her $1,000 to bring the cocaine into the United States.
From Cornerback to Front Man
Federal prosecutors charged that Henley was the front man for the cocaine smuggling ring. Henley’s attorney, Roger Cossack, charged that Tracy Ann Donaho’s father, former police officer Terry Donaho, was the real mastermind behind the crime. Cossack claimed that the Donahos were trying to frame Henley. He didn’t say why they wanted frame Henley. Also unclear is why Henley, who was drawing a good salary as an NFL player, would want to participate in such activities.
Cossack also tried to portray Henley as a model citizen who was the victim of a racist conspiracy. The jury didn’t buy Cossack’s claims, although author Michael McKnight believes racism, or at least some backlash from the O.J. Simpson debacle in Los Angeles, led to Henley’s conviction. Simpson was acquitted for murder by a mostly black jury in Los Angeles, while Henley was convicted by a mostly white jury in Orange County in 1995.
Interestingly enough, some attorneys believe that Henley might have gotten off on an appeal if he had simply acted like a model prisoner. Unfortunately, he decided to compound his crimes behind bars.
Imaginary Hit Man
Anger became Darryl Henley’s ultimate undoing after he was convicted of drug trafficking charges. In 1995, Henley began plotting revenge. Witnesses allege that he began trying to hire assassins to kill Tracy Ann Donaho and the federal judge who had sentenced him to 20 years in federal prison.
Darryl Henley was a very poor criminal. The contacts he reached out to in prison turned out to be snitches that ran straight to the federal prosecutor. Instead of revenge, Henley received another 21 years in federal prison. He ended up pleading guilty to the murder-for-hire charges. Neither the judge nor Tracy Ann was in any danger from the imaginary hit men.
Twenty years after his downfall, Darryl Henley is still in federal prison. He now claims to have reformed and offers advice through his website. The advice includes lectures on morality and attacks on the flashy lifestyles of professional athletes.
Henley also operates the Distress Foundation, a charity that asks his fans to pay his legal bills. Why Henley needs such charity is questionable – he presumably gets an NFL pension that would easily cover his legal bills. Despite the foundation’s work, Henley won’t walk free for a very long time.
Bibliography
Littlefield, Bill. "Darryl Henley: An NFL Cornerback's Rise and Fall." 17 November 2012. onlyagame.wbur.org. Book Review. 26 March 2013.
Miller, Martin. "Henley's Lawyer Says Ram Star Framed in Drug Dealing Charge." 28 January 1995. articles.latimes.com. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 26 March 2013.
Smith, Shelley. "Backed into a corner." n.d. static.espn.go.com . ESPN feature article. 26 March 2013.
In today’s world, professional athletes are considered to be the ultimate heroes and celebrities. They’re admired and worshipped by everybody from factory workers to intellectuals. Even people that don’t follow sports are fascinated by the lives and careers of elite athletes.
Not surprisingly, nothing seems to generate as much media attention as an athlete who commits, plots, or gets accused of the ultimate crime: murder. The recent media frenzy around Oscar Pistorious is a perfect example of the popular fascination with killer sports stars. Reporters from all over the world travelled to South Africa to cover the disabled Olympian’s downfall. More news people headed to Pretoria to see Pistorious’s hearing than went to Seoul even with the threat of a second Korean War in early 2013.
The fact that Pistorious competes in sports (the Paralympics and track and field) that most people ignore didn’t seem to matter. The idea of an elite athlete dragged down to Earth by a sordid affair is just too appealing. Perhaps the real reason we love killer athletes is that we love to see the rich, successful, and capable destroy their lives’ work. The only thing more fun than putting a sports hero up on a pedestal seems to be dragging him off of it.
Darryl Henley: From NFL Star to Drug Trafficking and Conspiracy to Murder
Darryl Henley is a football player who shattered the stereotype of the violent, poorly educated African American gangbanger in pads. He was a well-educated honors student, and he came from a good family.
Henley went all the way, earning All-American honors at UCLA and graduating with a 3.3 grade point average before going on to become a starting cornerback for his hometown NFL franchise, the Los Angeles Rams (now the St. Louis Rams). Yet it all went terribly wrong in 1995 when Henley was arrested for conspiring to smuggle cocaine. A year later, Henley was convicted again for trying to hire hit men to kill a federal judge and a witness against him.
The golden boy and All-American is now among the most corrupt of former athletes. He ended up as a professional gangster and killer. He will also have to spend most of his life (41 years) in federal prison.
Not the Cosbys, but Close
Unlike most football stars, Darryl Henley came from an upwardly mobile family. Both of his parents had college degrees, which was unusual for African Americans in the 1960s and ’70s. Unlike most African Americans, Henley attended parochial schools and lived in a suburb, rather than a ghetto or a small town.
One of Henley’s brothers graduated from Stanford, an elite university considered on par with the Ivy League schools, and another attended Rice. Sportswriters compared Henley’s background to the Huxtables, the fictional, almost perfect upper-middle class black family shown on the hugely popular 1980s situation comedy The Cosby Show.
Henley himself was an overachiever, rather than the classic beer-swilling, womanizing college football player. He attended an elite school, UCLA, and took a difficult course of study: finance. Henley spent his spare time in the weight room or running sprints, even in bad winters. The slightly undersized player was determined to make the NFL, even though scouts and coaches said he was too small.
Despite the odds, Henley made it all the way to the NFL and became a starter. Then something happened to him that has never been adequately explained. Some people contend that Henley was framed, but prosecutors demonstrated that he was a willing participate in a drug smuggling conspiracy.
The Cheerleader and the Linebacker Smuggle Drugs
The year was 1993, and Henley encountered a 19-year-old cheerleader named Tracy Ann Donaho. It isn’t exactly clear what happened next, but while some reports indicate that Donaho seduced Henley, others claim that he seduced her.
What is clear is that in July 1993, Drug Enforcement Agency operatives arrested Donaho at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. When the agents searched her, they discovered that she was carrying 12 kilos of cocaine.
To reduce her prison sentence, Donaho immediately began ratting out her accomplices. One of those she named was Henley, whom she claimed was one of eight people who had paid her $1,000 to bring the cocaine into the United States.
From Cornerback to Front Man
Federal prosecutors charged that Henley was the front man for the cocaine smuggling ring. Henley’s attorney, Roger Cossack, charged that Tracy Ann Donaho’s father, former police officer Terry Donaho, was the real mastermind behind the crime. Cossack claimed that the Donahos were trying to frame Henley. He didn’t say why they wanted frame Henley. Also unclear is why Henley, who was drawing a good salary as an NFL player, would want to participate in such activities.
Cossack also tried to portray Henley as a model citizen who was the victim of a racist conspiracy. The jury didn’t buy Cossack’s claims, although author Michael McKnight believes racism, or at least some backlash from the O.J. Simpson debacle in Los Angeles, led to Henley’s conviction. Simpson was acquitted for murder by a mostly black jury in Los Angeles, while Henley was convicted by a mostly white jury in Orange County in 1995.
Interestingly enough, some attorneys believe that Henley might have gotten off on an appeal if he had simply acted like a model prisoner. Unfortunately, he decided to compound his crimes behind bars.
Imaginary Hit Man
Anger became Darryl Henley’s ultimate undoing after he was convicted of drug trafficking charges. In 1995, Henley began plotting revenge. Witnesses allege that he began trying to hire assassins to kill Tracy Ann Donaho and the federal judge who had sentenced him to 20 years in federal prison.
Darryl Henley was a very poor criminal. The contacts he reached out to in prison turned out to be snitches that ran straight to the federal prosecutor. Instead of revenge, Henley received another 21 years in federal prison. He ended up pleading guilty to the murder-for-hire charges. Neither the judge nor Tracy Ann was in any danger from the imaginary hit men.
Twenty years after his downfall, Darryl Henley is still in federal prison. He now claims to have reformed and offers advice through his website. The advice includes lectures on morality and attacks on the flashy lifestyles of professional athletes.
Henley also operates the Distress Foundation, a charity that asks his fans to pay his legal bills. Why Henley needs such charity is questionable – he presumably gets an NFL pension that would easily cover his legal bills. Despite the foundation’s work, Henley won’t walk free for a very long time.
Bibliography
Littlefield, Bill. "Darryl Henley: An NFL Cornerback's Rise and Fall." 17 November 2012. onlyagame.wbur.org. Book Review. 26 March 2013.
Miller, Martin. "Henley's Lawyer Says Ram Star Framed in Drug Dealing Charge." 28 January 1995. articles.latimes.com. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 26 March 2013.
Smith, Shelley. "Backed into a corner." n.d. static.espn.go.com . ESPN feature article. 26 March 2013.
