15 Craziest Fan Tattoos in Sports

The word fan derives from the larger term fanatic: a person filled with excessive zeal towards a certain cause. In the world of sports, fans go to extreme measures to show support for their favorite team. Some take them far beyond extreme, to the point of permanently altering their body in a show of support or passion.

To that end, here are 15 of the craziest fan tattoos in the world of sports for your amusement and, occasionally, horror.

The most recent addition to the wild world of fan tattoos in sports and the inspiration for this post, a Toronto Raptors fan decided to honor their first title in franchise history by getting a tattoo of Kawhi Leonard’s infamous laugh.

With Kawhi’s smirk and wide eyes, the tattoo is what nightmares are made of. Whether he lost a bet or not, it takes a certain kind of a person to get a tattoo like this.

A Detroit Lions fan was so confident that the team would win their first Lombardi Trophy in 2015 that he decided to get it inked prior to the season. Although the Lions went 11-5 and secured a spot in the playoffs, they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, 24-20, in the NFC Wildcard game.

Luckily for this fan, all he had to do was cross out the date and put down 2016, because the Lions were definitely going to win then. So that’s exactly what he did. Well, the team ended up faltering from their success the year before, missing the playoffs with a 7-9 record. So, I guess just keep editing it each year, and the Lions are bound to win eventually.

Right?

Washington Redskins superfan Kevin McCarthy has stuck with the team through the good times and bad. In honor of his favorite football team, McCarthy got a full back tattoo with the name of every player inducted into the Redskins Hall of Fame.

It’s interesting to note that he didn’t leave much room on the bottom to add more names. Lucky for him, based on the Redskins product on the field over the past few seasons, it looks like he won’t be adding more names anytime soon.

Many love America’s Pastime, but avid baseball fan Mike McWain took his passion to another level. McWain, inspired by the famous film Field of Dreams, spent over $10,000 on a full back tattoo with the faces of various baseball legends. The 11-year project includes the likes of Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Joe DiMaggio, and many others.

A die-hard New England Patriots fan decided to honor the GOAT himself, Tom Brady, by getting a tattoo of his face on his body. It’s hard to think of a better way to honor Brady than by getting his likeness permanently engraved on your body. However, the location was less desirable.

Yes, that is a tattoo of Brady’s face on a man’s bottom. Out of every spot on the body to get a tattoo, why would you honor your favorite player by putting him on your rear end? If anything, it’s quite disrespectful.

New England Patriots superfan Victor Thompson is such an avid fan that he had a replica of the team’s helmet tattooed around his head.

A first of its kind, Thompson’s “Patriots helmet” includes the logos on both sides and “Riddell” written on the top of his forehead. Definitely one of the wildest fan tattoos of all time, Thompson is permanently wearing his own version of a Patriots helmet.

Formerly known as Marin Zdravkov, This Manchester United superfan formally changed his name to Manchester Zdravkov Levidzhov-United. Mr. Manchester United himself is such an avid fan, that he has a tattoo of the team’s crest on his forehead.

After changing his name and tattooing his forehead to honor the club, it’s hard to find a crazier superfan than Mr. Manchester United.

Max Talbot Shushing

In Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Max Talbot and Philadelphia Flyers winger Daniel Carcillo dropped the gloves. After the refs skated in and stopped the skirmish, Talbot headed to the penalty box much to the delight of thousands of Flyers fans. While skating to the box, Talbot engaged with the Flyers fans by shushing back at them as they cheered.

The Penguins went on to win Game 6, 5-3, winning the series en route to their 2009 Stanley Cup title. Talbot’s action became a signature moment in playoff history, and one so popular with fans that one decided to get the moment tattooed on his leg.

Among the many ridiculous fan tattoos on this list, this one might take the cake as the ugliest and worst of them all. Juan Contreras, an avid Denver Broncos fan, agreed with a friend to get a Tebow tattoo if he won more than 5 games as the starting quarterback in 2011. Although it seemed unlikely in the beginning, it happened, and Contreras was forced to forever live with one of the worst tattoos of all-time.

It would have been one thing if the image was of Tebow’s face or him in game action, but the fact that it’s a centaur-style Tebow tattoo makes it even worse. Big props to Contreras for staying true to his word, despite… well, everything about this.

Although it took five years to finish, this Pittsburgh Steelers fan’s tattoo sleeve is quite remarkable. The image quality of the tattoo is incredibly realistic and features iconic Steelers including Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, and Jerome Bettis.

Chicago Cubs superfan Ricky Rainey is such an avid fan, he has two Cubs tattoos on his head. After breaking the Curse of the Billy Goat in 2016, Rainey got a tattoo of the Wrigley Field marquee with the words “World Series Champions” on the top of his head.

Most recently, Rainey decided to honor the team’s legendary announcer, Harry Caray, by tattooing his face on the back of his head.

Rainey also added legendary Cubs infielder Ernie Banks to the fold. With three tattoos already on his noggin already, it looks Rainey is fresh out of head space.

The O.J. Simpson murder case and all the drama that came with it was one of the most memorable moments in American history. In honor of what is known as the “Trial of the Century,” a Buffalo Bills fan paid homage to this former member of the team by getting a tattoo of his 1994 mug shot.

With Simpson recently arriving to the world of Twitter and threatening others who portray him in a bad manner, this fan better be careful. The Juice is loose and you don’t want to be on his bad side if he truly does have “some gettin’ even to do.”

After finishing with an NBA-worst 17-65 record this past season, the New York Knicks had a 14% chance of landing the first overall pick. While the odds were quite low, this did not stop one Knicks fan from getting a Zion Williamson tattoo prior to the NBA Lottery Draft.

With the Pelicans receiving the first overall pick in the draft, Zion is heading to New Orleans barring something crazy. The best bet for this Knicks fan is that Zion signs with the team when he becomes a free agent in a few years. Based on the Knicks’ recent luck in free agency, this doesn’t look likely.

If you were looking for the most disturbing tattoo on this list, here it is.

With many fans saying they bleed the colors of their favorite team, this superfan took that saying to the next level. Although incredibly and impressively accurate from a 3D point of view, it’s definitely quite unappealing to have your chest look like it’s ripped open. One can only imagine the looks and the reception he gets from others when he takes his shirt off at the pool.

Often mocked for being out of shape and overweight for a professional athlete, a Pittsburgh Penguins fan celebrated Phil Kessel winning his first-ever Stanley Cup with a hilarious tattoo.

The tattoo shows Kessel riding a giant hot dog while holding the Stanley Cup in one hand and a bottle of ketchup in the other. Make fun of Kessel all you want, but with two Stanley Cup titles to his credit, he gets the last laugh.

Yet another wild tattoo from a soccer fan, this Tottenham Hotspur fan inked the words, “Tottenham Til I Die” on the back of his head, accompanied by the Hotspur logo on each side.

I hate to criticize this work of art, but the words on the back of his head are not accurate. With the text and logo permanently engraved on his head, it looks like this fanatic will one day be taking a piece of Tottenham with him to the grave.