18 Sports Guarantees That Backfired Miserably

Basketball, football, the other kind of football, baseball, and even horse racing — it appears the ill-fated sports guarantee isn’t new to any corner of athletics, whether professional or amateur.

There’s a fine line between confident and cocky, and these individuals from the world of sports tripped over it and fell right onto their faces. Here’s 18 sports guarantees that backfired terribly.

Matt Hasselbeck

“We want the ball, and we’re gonna score!” the Seahawks quarterback said after winning the overtime coin toss in a wild card playoff matchup with the Green Bay Packers in January 2004.

Instead, Hasselbeck threw an interception to Al Harris, who ran the pigskin back 52 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Dan Gilbert

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After LeBron James took his talents to South Beach in 2010, the Cavaliers owner fired up a word processor and in his beloved Comic Sans declared in a memo that his franchise would claim an NBA title before James: “The Cleveland Cavaliers will win an NBA title before the self-titled former ‘King’ wins one.” The Heat won the first of consecutive titles with LeBron in 2012.

Jalen Ramsey

“We are going to the Super Bowl, and we are going to win that b—-,” the talkative Jaguars cornerback said before his team’s 2017 AFC Championship matchup with the New England Patriots.

“We are going to win that b—-.” Through 51 minutes of the game, it seemed Ramsey’s prediction would come true — until Tom Brady led the Patriots on two touchdown drives in the final nine minutes for a 24-20 victory.

Lane Kiffin

“I’m really looking forward to embracing some of the great traditions at the University of Tennessee,” Lane Kiffin told reporters after being hired to coach Tennessee in 2009.

“For instance, the Vol Walk, running through the T, singing ‘Rocky Top’ all night long after we beat Florida next year. It’s going to be a blast.” The Vols opened SEC play with a 10-point loss to the Gators and finished 4-4 in conference play. It wasn’t a blast.