Biggest Sports Controversies of 2014
Here are some of the names that got attention for all the wrong reasons.
— -- It was another big year for sports, but some in the sports world got attention for all the wrong reasons in 2014.
The Biggest News Stories of 2014
Here are six people who did not have such a great year:
The Baltimore Ravens running back was indefinitely suspended by the NFL -- a decision that that was later thrown out by an arbitrator -- after he punched his then-fiancee Janay (now wife) in an Atlantic City elevator, an incident that was caught on surveillance camera.
The incident put a spotlight on athletes and domestic violence, especially in the NFL. Rice was released by the Ravens once the video went public. No team has signed Rice.
The Los Angeles Clippers owners was caught on a series of audio recordings making racist comments -- something that led him to lose his team after the NBA suspended him for life. Sterling was apologetic after the recordings went viral, but his mea culpa backfired when he criticized legendary basketball star Magic Johnson, who had been photographed with Sterling's girlfriend, as a bad role model for children because he has HIV.
The Clippers were eventually purchased by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.
The South African athlete known as "Blade Runner" went to trial this year after shooting his girlfriend. He never denied shooting Reeva Steenkamp -- saying it had been a case of mistaken identity. Pistorius said he fired four times through a locked bathroom door in the middle of the night because he thought there was an intruder in his house.
Pistorius was unemotional as he was driven away in a police van to begin a five year prison term for killing Steenkamp, but the paralympic champion could spend less than a year behind bars.
Adrian Peterson
The six-time All-Pro pleaded no contest with no jail time for beating his 4-year-old son with a switch. The NFL then suspended Peterson for the remainder of this season.
Peterson later apologized, saying, “I won’t ever use a switch again."
Tony Stewart
One of NASCAR's biggest stars, Stewart, was taking part in a small sprint car race in upstate New York on Aug. 9 when he struck and killed a 20-year-old driver named Kevin Ward Jr.
A grand jury subsequently decided not to bring criminal charges against Stewart, who skipped three NASCAR races as a result.
Luis Suarez
Americans may have been bitten by the World Cup bug, but it was a player from Uruguay who actually bit another player. The bizarre incident involving Luis Suarez, who had bitten players on two other occasions in the past, bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during a first-round match.
Suarez, who was later given a nine-match international ban, apologized, saying, "I deeply regret what occurred. I apologize to Giorgio Chiellini and the entire football family."
The Associated Press and ESPN contributed to this report.