Sports

The brief, glorious history of the middle finger in sports

Johnny Manziel isn’t the first athlete to break out the middle finger; he’s just the most polarizing.

He easily joins the ranks of the most recognizable birds in sports. Here are nine others that make the list:

Jack McDowell

It was quite the season for “Black Jack” in The Bronx.

The former Cy Young Award winner highlighted it by saluting Yankees fans after giving up nine runs on 13 hits in 4 2/3 innings in the second game of a doubleheader against the White Sox.

McDowell would later give up the game-winning run in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Mariners.

Sjinkie Knegt

Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands flips off Russia’s Viktor Ahn, left, after Russia won the men’s 5,000-meter relay at the European Speed Skating Championships in Dresden, Germany.Getty Images

The speedskater won the award, somewhat easily, for angriest double bird when he showed what he thought of losing to Russia’s Victor Ahn at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships.

Michael Vick

Another hockey stick directed at the home crowd, as Vick let Falcons have it after being jeered for most of a 30-13 loss to the Saints in 2006.

“I broke a rule, and now I’m paying the price,” said Vick, whose $20,000 fine was split between the NFL and a charity of his choice.

“The good thing is I get to donate a portion of it to charity.”

Bud Adams

Adams, who passed away last year, unleashed this celebratory middle finger after his Titans crushed the Bills, 41-17, in 2009.

He gets extra points because NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in the stands after spending the first three quarters in Adams’ suite.

Rex Ryan

This one finger cost the Jets coach $50,000 after he unleashed it in 2010 at an MMA event in Miami, where he was getting heckled by Dolphins fans.

Chris Gardocki

The Browns punter let Steelers coach Bill Cowher know he felt about a late hit by linebacker Joey Porter in a 2000 game.

Luckily Cowher and the Steelers did not hold a grudge, and signed Gardocki in 2004.

Mike Ditka

One of the famous photos of “Iron” Mike is him casually flipping the bird in a Bears jacket, but he also let Saints fans have it when he coached in New Orleans.

In 1999, he gave the finger to the home fans at halftime and followed it up with an emphatic crotch grab.

Joe Glenn

Really, the Wyoming coach should have pointed the finger at himself.

He guaranteed victory over Utah in 2007 and then showed opposing coach Kyle Whittingham what he thought of the Utes’ decision to try an onside kick up 43-0 in the third quarter.

Poor form on both ends, but one of the coaches won a game by 50 points.

Joe Mikulik

The minor league coaching veteran (jeez, wonder why he hasn’t made it to the big time) has a history of blowups, which continued this week when he went bananas during a game for his Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

In 2012, as coach of the Asheville Tourists, his meltdown included an aggressive middle finger to the face of the umpire.