Survivor Tarnished Legacies

If you check out other Survivor websites like www.survivorpodcast.blogspot.com you might have seen a list there. You might have seen one on www.survivoroz.com as well. Basically, there are some Survivor players that started out pretty well and were memorable the first time they played. But then, they play again and basically fail at the game and people wonder why they were considered good in the first place. That’s the point of this blog post. I’m going to tell you about tarnished legacies in Survivor history by pointing out notable ones in my mind. I decided that this will not be a top ten; instead, this will just be a list of various contestants that I feel have tarnished legacies. To reiterate, this list is not arranged in any order. I may like people on this list. I also may have mixed feelings about any of these players due to their tarnished legacies in later seasons. But, I’ll get to my list.

We start with Sue Hawk. She was a memorable person the first time she played. Then, the second time, she’s mostly just remembered for complaining about an incident and quitting the game over it. While she did have a good reason for quitting, she’s not remembered as well in All-Stars because of that. Colby Donaldson was a good player the first time around. The second time, he didn’t do as well as he used to. But the third time, he totally sucked. He was no longer worthy of being a great player in Heroes versus Villains. He was just terrible at the whole thing and only outlasted the other heroes because he was so weak compared to them. Next up, we have Johnny Fairplay, or, as he could have been known after Micronesia: Johnny Wouldn’t Play. He could have done a lot in Micronesia. While some might have expected him to be the first person voted out that season, the way it happened just makes you hate this guy even more. It’s a shame that he was cast over all the other great applicants. But, he made his choice and might have done us a favor by sparing us a return visit to the show.

Next, we get to someone like Stephenie LaGrossa who may not be as obvious a choice as other people are. She was very well liked in Palau. But in Guatemala, she wasn’t that good and in Heroes versus Villains she was even worse. It’s sad really. Ozzy Lutch is also worthy of this list. While he was a great player the first time around, the second time didn’t do him any favors and the third time just had him coming off as egotistical. Of course, I should point out that I like some of these contestants on this list. But, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a tarnished legacy now. Take Yau-Man Chan. He was a wonderful contestant in Fiji. He was one of the very few bright spots in that terrible season. But in Micronesia, his tribe just got rid of him very quickly as his great game play just wasn’t there the second time around. Then we have someone like James Clement who was well liked the first two times he played. The third time? Well, he just came off looking like a huge ass to everyone before he was finally voted out of the game.

I’ll now mention someone I think is overlooked in the whole tarnished legacy thing: JT Thomas. He tarnished his legacy a lot in Heroes versus Villains. He went from being the first person to play a perfect game to being the dumbest player for a while. It’s a shame that he hasn’t been back to defend his win. I would add Russell Swan to the list, but his game the first time wasn’t actually as great as it could have been. Russell Hantz played two great games, but the third time showed his ways come up short and he left crying like a little girl. I would say that he would be more worthy of the list should his evil legacy from the first two seasons not still stand.

The last player that I’ll mention that has a tarnished legacy is one that should be pretty obvious for most people. In his first season, he got his entire tribe to give up immunity. In his second season, he whined and quit. Colton Cumbie has a terrible tarnished legacy because he just didn’t want to play the game with people who hated him. Of course they would hate him after his villainous ways in his first season. But instead of trying to play the game or take the free ride his tribe was having by constantly winning immunity, he decided to just up and leave the game. At least he’s sparing us from a future reappearance on this show. Well, sorry if you wanted a top ten. Sorry if you disagree with anyone on this list or if you think that I missed someone. I don’t hate everyone on this list. A lot of these people I like. But, I decided to post this anyways. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.