Only Three NFL Players Have Officially Been Banned for Life
Three NFL players have previously been banned from competing in the league for life for several different reasons.
As the NFL Wildcard Weekend enters its final round on Monday (January 12), fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans will be hoping for a win.
Earlier in the Wild Card Round, the LA Rams defeated the Carolina Panthers 34-31, and the Chicago Bears won 31-27 against the Green Bay Packers.
The San Francisco 49ers beat the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 before the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3.
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And as the action draws to a close, SPORTbible has taken a look at some of the NFL’s most controversial historic moments, delving into the reason why three former players were banned for life.
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As reported by Sports King, back in 1947, Frank Filchock was banned for life for his part in a bribery scandal alongside Merle Hapes.
The pair were accused of taking bribes from a man called Alvin Paris to fix the 1946 championship game.
As per Vice, the duo were offered $2,500 each to throw the game and would receive winnings of a $1,000 bet placed for each of them on the Bears, as well as well-paid off-season jobs.
According to The Guardian, both were suspended by then-commissioner Bert Bell for not reporting the alleged bribe.
In a statement at the time, Bell explained how Filchock and Hapes were “guilty of actions detrimental to the welfare of the National Football League and of professional football”.
Paris was convicted of bribery.
Filchock played in the game, which the Giants lost 24-14 to the Bears, although Hapes was not permitted to take part.
Hapes never played another NFL game.
Although Filchock did end up playing with Baltimore around four years later, in 1950, after being reinstated by Bell, he appeared in just one game.
However, in the interim, he played four seasons in Canada.
Neither ever admitted guilt or taking the bribe.
Over two decades earlier, in 1925, Art Folz suffered a similar fate to Filchock and Hapes but for a different reason.
In 2015, the New York Times recalled the incident and explained how four high school students - Charles Richardson, William Thompson, Jack Daniels, and James Snyder - were recruited by the Chicago Cardinals star Folz to play on an opposing team for one game.
This was done in an attempt to pad the Cardinals’ record in the race for first spot with the Pottsville Maroons.
Folz was initially barred from the league for life, and Ambrose McGuirk, the owner of the opposing team, the Milwaukee Badgers, was forced to sell the franchise after the incident.
Folz accepted the blame and expressed regret. His ban was later redacted, but he never played in the league again.
Topics: NFL, American Football
Luke Davies