Wayne Rooney Tumbles from Football's Elite

Colleen Rooney

Has there been a steeper and quicker slide from grace than Wayne Rooney's?

To say the bulldog-ish Manchester United scorer had the world by the short-hairs a year ago is a Biblical understatement. Rooney in the penalty area was an automatic goal. Always in the right spot. Always open. Always scoring. He was destined to be a World Cup hero.

Hero? How about zero?

In the span of nine short months, Rooney has gone from the best forward on the planet, to the planet's most disappointing striker. The goals have dried up. England was a bust at the World Cup. Rooney has a bad wheel and a bad sense of what's right and wrong. He cheats on his wife--with prostitutes--putting his personal life on display for all wave their finger at. The trickle down, coupled with a bad ankle, has made Rooney a pariah.

And to top it off, he and his manipulative agent hold United hostage for the ultimate salary double-down and loud public pleas for more talented players. Nice to hear your team's supposed best player and on-field leader telling you the status quo sucks, and be damned with strangling debt--sign more players.
Rooney is a blockhead, but he scores goals and apparently, that is good enough for Man. U. to be manipulated into shelling out 150,000 a week for No. 10.

In the meantime, United is level with Arsenal in second in the Premier League with 17 points, 5 behind Chelsea. Rooney has one goal in five games. He did not score in South Africa at the World Cup, and has scored just twice since March.

So to recap, Rooney has alienated his teammates, cheated on his wife, was woeful in the biggest event of his professional life and he's rewarded with a 60,000 raise. Only in America, er, football.