Tiger Woods Plus Four More Sports Stars to Fall From Grace

Dec. 4, 2009 — -- How far the famous fall.

Tiger Woods is the latest sports star to mar his golden reputation with a scandal of supreme proportions. After ignoring rumors of infidelity that began running rampant following his Thanksgiving weekend car crash, Wednesday, the champion golfer finally fessed up -- sort of -- to doing wrong by Elin, his wife of five years and the mother of their two young children.

He's far from the first hero in the realm of sports to tumble from grace. Below, read up on Woods' "transgressions" and those of three other revered athletes who, thanks to recently revealed controversies, ended up not quite living up to fans' expectations. Then, check out the ones who fell, got back up, and soared again: a lesson to Woods and anyone hoping to overcome a PR disaster and get back to the game.