Denver Broncos players took a team boat trip this week, and not everyone thought it was a great idea. Washington Commanders insider Nicki Jhabvala posted a clip of the excursion on X with a two-word caption: “Oh no.”
It’s not hard to see why. NFL history is littered with boat-related incidents that went sideways fast. The most infamous might be the 2005 Vikings scandal, when Daunte Culpepper, Bryant McKinnie, Fred Smoot, and Moe Williams were each charged with three misdemeanors after a party on Lake Minnetonka. Indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, lewd conduct — the whole thing became a league-wide punchline and a legal headache.
Boats and NFL players haven’t mixed well
Then there was the 2017 Giants trip. Odell Beckham Jr. and a few wide receivers flew to Miami after a win over the Redskins to party on a boat with Justin Bieber and Trey Songz. Eli Manning later told the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast he wasn’t invited and wouldn’t have gone anyway. But he didn’t hold back on the optics.
“I don’t think they prepared to go to Miami. They’re all on a boat in jeans and Timberlands. I think it was a last-second deal,” Manning said. “It’s just a bad look… It’s just kind of the psyche around it. ‘Hey, it’s playoff time, let’s take it up another notch, get more focused, more serious; not let’s go party in Miami.’”
The Giants lost their wild-card game that year to the Packers, 38-13.
Yes, but this Broncos trip might be different
To be fair, Denver’s outing doesn’t appear to involve criminal charges or midseason timing. Sean Payton has already dismissed any concern about Bo Nix’s health, and the team seems pumped about the rookie quarterback’s new receiver options. But the reaction from Jhabvala — and the collective shudder from anyone who remembers those Vikings or Giants yacht disasters — shows how quickly a harmless team-bonding moment can get re-lit through a very specific NFL lens.
Maybe the Broncos trip stays just a boat ride. Maybe it becomes a meme if the season stumbles. Either way, it didn’t take long for the bad memories to surface.
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