Since 1994, July 7 has marked Global Forgiveness Day. In honor of Global Forgiveness Day in 2023, let's take a look at some athletes who have overcome personal challenges or redeemed themselves after scandals to regain public support.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods held the world No. 1 golf ranking for the majority of the 2000s, and by 2008 he had already accumulated 14 major wins. It seemed like only a matter of time until he caught up to Jack Nicklaus' record of 18, but things fell apart for Woods in 2009, when his infidelity scandal came to light. He subsequently admitted to cheating on his wife, Elin Nordegren, and they got divorced in 2010. The fallout from the scandal included the losses of sponsorships from companies such as AT&T, Gatorade and General Motors.
Tiger's on-course performance suffered in the wake of the personal turmoil, and while he remained among the world's top golfers, he failed to win another major and underwent back surgery in 2014. Perhaps time allowed Woods' scandal to move to the back of people's minds, or his loudest detractors simply lost motivation once he was no longer near the top of the game, but the reaction to Woods' miracle run at the 2019 Masters was almost universally positive. Tiger earned his first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open, overcoming his injuries and scandals to lift a major trophy one more time. While the 47-year-old Woods is no longer dominant on the golf course in the present day, he became the first golfer to surpass a net worth of $1 billion in 2022 and is still the biggest draw at any tournament he plays.
Michael Phelps
This may not seem like such a big deal nowadays given the contemporary shift in views on marijuana usage, but a photo of Phelps using a smoking device emerged in 2009, and it was a monumental scandal at the time, leading to the loss of his Kellogg's sponsorship and a three-month suspension by USA swimming. The most decorated Olympic athlete in history issued an apology and worked his way back into the public's good graces by the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he earned four gold medals and six medals overall, bringing his career totals to 23 gold medals and 28 Olympic medals.
It took Phelps even longer to earn forgiveness from himself, as he revealed in 2018 that he has struggled with anxiety and ADHD. The 38-year-old got married to former Miss California Nicole Johnson in 2016, and Phelps does extensive philanthropic work through the Michael Phelps Foundation to promote healthy lives for children, both physically and mentally.
LeBron James
It seems like a distant memory now, but LeBron James earned a lot of vitriol for leaving his hometown of Cleveland to sign with the Heat as a free agent while making the announcement in a 2010 TV special called "The Decision." After winning a couple of championships in Miami, James returned to the Cavaliers and brought a long-awaited title to Cleveland in 2016. With that title, James skipped right past forgiveness to being the most celebrated athlete in the city's history. Since winning with the Cavs, it's been smooth sailing for LeBron in the PR department, and he even managed to bolster his legacy by adding a fourth ring with the Lakers in 2020.
Tom Brady
During their extended period of dominance from 2001 onward, the Patriots routinely skirted the line between gamesmanship and cheating. Seven years after New England was docked a first-round pick in the 2008 for secretly videotaped opposing teams' signals in "Spygate," star quarterback Tom Brady was at the center of a 2015 cheating scandal called "Deflategate." Brady allegedly directed equipment personnel to deliberately under-inflate footballs relative to minimum NFL requirements to make them easier to catch. Brady was suspended four games while the Patriots were fined $1 million and a couple draft picks, but Brady gained redemption by returning from his suspension and leading New England to a championship in Super Bowl LI. Now retired, Brady's remembered much more for his seven Super Bowl wins than his scandals.
David Ortiz
Brady isn't the only alleged cheater among Boston-based athletes to quickly gain forgiveness. While steroid usage has disgraced the reputations of countless baseball players, David Ortiz's happy-go-lucky personality helped Big Papi avoid public backlash after testing positive for a banned substance during spring training in 2003. Ortiz's positive test suspiciously coincided with his improvement from waiver fodder to elite power hitter, but he managed to stay clean after the league implemented more stringent testing and punishment from 2004 onward. The increased ambiguity over Ortiz's positive test, which wasn't brought to light until a New York Times article in 2009, has earned him more leeway and forgiveness in the public eye compared to the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez. Those other players have remained barred from the National Baseball Hall of Fame despite far superior career numbers, but Ortiz was elected in 2022.
