(TNS) —Each Thursday for the remainder of summer, Post-Gazette columnist Joe Starkey will break down the quarter-century in Pittsburgh sports. This week’s category is five biggest sports villains since 2000.

First, a point of clarification: This category focuses on in-house sports villains such as Ron Hextall and Derek Bell, not outsiders. The Vontaze Burficts and Scott Hartnells of the world must wait for another day.

Second, “villains” take many forms. Some have only a brief heel turn. Others are branded for life. Some become objects of scorn for quitting, others for poor performance, one terrible mistake or off-the-field transgressions like insulting the home fans (paging a Mr. Rowdy Tellez).

Quitting never sits well.

Ben Howland, who upon signing a lucrative contract extension promised he’d be here for “the next seven years, without question,” was seen toting California real estate brochures around the office less than a year later. He became a villain, though one who did more good than bad.

One of Howland’s players, Donatas Zavackas, took off his sneakers late in a Sweet 16 game, indicating he was finished for the night. That’s never good.

LeGarrette Blount walked off the field before a game was finished and seemed to manipulate his way to New England, of all places.

Le’Veon Bell, though some of us defended him in his contract dispute with the Steelers, never showed up that year, causing multiple teammates to say he quit on them.

Jaromir Jagr claimed he was “dying alive” and twice asked the Penguins to trade him when he was their captain in 2000. That didn’t go over great. Neither did him choosing the Flyers over a return to Pittsburgh. In the end, however, there was a grand reconciliation.

George Pickens and Diontae Johnson — a special section here is reserved for Steelers receivers — famously quit on plays during games.

Pirates outfielder Derek Bell put a name to his threat to pull the chute if the Pirates made him compete for a starting job — “Operation Shutdown.”

Kenny Pickett also had no interest in competing for a job. He went from hero to goat — and not the good kind — when he asked out after the Steelers signed Russell Wilson and promised him pole position.

Todd Graham … well, you’ll read more about him below.

It’s never good to insult hometown fans, either, as Pat Narduzzi learned when he called this “Boo City,” and as ol’ Rowdy found out when he lectured Pirates fans on how to treat closer David Bednar.

Marian Hossa abandoned the Penguins, looking for a “better chance” to win the Cup in Detroit (how did that work out, Marian?).

Pitt quarterback Phil Jurkovec wore the black hat for a bit when he ripped fans for booing him, saying, rather humorously in retrospect, “I think if you’re a grown-ass man booing in that stadium, then you gotta look at things yourself. I think that’s pathetic.”

Plenty of others became objects of scorn at one time or another. Ben Roethlisberger did for off-the-field behavior. Devin Bush, Tristan Jarry, Tommy Maddox (people threw garbage on his lawn), and Kordell Stewart did for in-game performance.

Bruce Arians, Mike Mularkey, Kevin McClatchy, Kevin Stallings, Derek Shelton, Nasir Robinson, John Russell, James Harrison (when he left for New England), Art Rooney II, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin and others have all taken turns in the villain mobile.

In the end, though, none of them really came close to top-five status. None of them could, because the winners here have such solid cases.

There was one close call: Antonio Brown should probably be on this list. He rage-quit a practice late in the 2018 season, then forced his way out of town by repeatedly insulting, well, everyone, for two straight months. It feels like the anger eventually turned to sadness, though, as Brown’s descent intensified in recent years. Maybe I’m wrong, but he miraculously escapes the top five.

I have probably forgotten someone else. I always do. But we forge ahead, going five to one.

Envelopes, please …

5 — Ron Hextall/Ben Cherington

This usually isn’t a multiple-choice exercise, but I’m going to let you pick your bumbling GM here. It’s a photo finish, for sure, but Cherington has kicked into Secretariat mode with his unrelenting incompetence and insulting quotes (“We would never make a trade in order to save money.”). If he sticks around much longer, he could move all the way to No. 2. Hextall, a one-time Philly goaltender, was seen by the paranoid among us as a Flyers sleeper agent, meant to destroy the Penguins. Even if that was crazy talk, he hardly did anything to dissuade those people.

4 — Rashard Mendenhall

It was bad enough that Mendenhall might have frittered away a Super Bowl win, thus becoming the Neil O’Donnell of the 21st Century. It became way worse with all the things he did later. Like when he claimed he didn’t actually fumble but was “separated” from the ball. Or when he was forced to apologize for that Osama bin Laden-related tweet.

3 — Todd Graham

Oh man, this guy. He arrived spewing promises like a fast-talking televangelist — “Speed, speed, speed” — then sneakily skipped town after one miserable season. Mr. Righteousness didn’t even have the guts to face his players. He just left. The photo of him and wife Penni on that plane to Arizona was classic. “Obviously,” Graham told ESPN, “when you’re at a place one year, and you leave like that, you’re going to get your head kicked in.” He got that right. He also earned a forever nickname: “Fraud Graham.”

2 — Matt Canada

When a football coach has a hockey crowd chanting he should be fired, he has really arrived. In a very bad place. That happened at a Penguins game one night when the fans chanted “Fire Canada!” Canada was not unlikeable. He was not Graham. But his offenses were historically inept. He was great as Pitt’s offensive coordinator. He was horrifying in the same job for the Steelers.

1 — Bob Nutting

I have never felt less of a need to explain myself.