When Darnell Dockett Spent $100K on a ‘Pet Tiger’ That Nearly Landed Him in Jail

From Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson’s $100,000 semi-truck to Michael Vick’s $85,000 fish pond, NFL players’ fetish for bizarre purchases has time and time again made headlines. However, it was former NFL defensive end Darnell Dockett who crossed all the limits when he decided to buy a pet tiger.

Having a lifelong fascination for exotic animals, Dockett, who played with the Arizona Cardinals for the entirety of his playing career, already had a menagerie. The collection included lizards, alligators, and even a $30,000 monkey.

By spending $100,000 to buy a baby Tiger, whose name was Little Buddy, the former WR just added another feather to his hat.

Interestingly, Dockett did not hesitate to flaunt this cub and even posted pictures of the carnivore on X. His desire to show off reached new heights when he expressed hopes of bringing the “pet tiger” to practice to meet the team and the fans.

“I’m trying to bring him to training camp,” he said in July 2013. “I don’t know if they’ll let me, but we’re going to see.”

My pet tiger his name is “buddy” I’m gonna bring him to a practice in training camp atleast “one day” he’s handsome! pic.twitter.com/XiFHvzr7PC

— DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) July 23, 2013

However, the extravagant purchase came at a legal cost. Since Dockett hails from Arizona, owning a tiger is illegal there. It is also quite risky because wild animals can go into attack mode at any moment, which could put his life, his family’s, or his neighbors’ lives at risk.

Moreover, a c-tiger cub’s care needs specialized training, permissions from the authorized body, and proper facilities—all of which Dockett lacked.

Adding to the hilarity, Dockett’s pet Tiger, aka the “Little Buddy,” roaming around his Arizona home and neighborhood led to fear and outrage.

Naturally, sooner or later, authorities had to be involved. Once PETA jumped into the case, they urged the feds to start an investigation, as owning a tiger in Arizona is a felony, and tigers are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Moreover, as reported by PETA, transporting tigers and other types of big cats across state lines is completely prohibited by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act.

Therefore, PETA also appealed to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to look into the factor that Dockett might have bought the tiger in Florida and planned to move the cub to Arizona.

Soon, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida acted. As they started investigating, they found a now-deleted picture of Dockett on Instagram with an adult tiger, and the caption read, “the mother of my new cub tiger.”

Pinpointing this clue, ARFF tracked down the alleged cub’s mother’s location to Predators Unlimited. In an interesting turn of events, the wildlife preserve in Homestead, Florida, informed ARFF that they do not sell animals, and most importantly, declared two more facts — firstly, the concerned Tiger in the photo was male, and secondly, they haven’t had a tiger cub “in years.”

As ARFF conveyed their failure to track down the tiger cub’s origin, Dockett’s story of buying a tiger could be a hoax.

But one thing was noticeable, after facing legal woes, Dockett never again posted any picture with his alleged “Little Buddy.”