Last year's Heisman Trophy winner was destined to make an appearance on this list. I love Johnny Football just as much as the next guy, but he's not exactly a person with grade-A character, especially for a football player with his role. Johnny has had a lot of scandals, but what clinched it was the autograph scandal. Someone in his position should be able to think twice before making a decision like that.
Jameis Winston is one of those cases where he got off, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was innocent. Look back at all the athletes who have been in similar situations. It might not be a coincidence that guys like Kobe Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger got off on their sexual assault charges as well. I'm not saying he did it, because only he knows for sure, but there were a lot of sketchy mistakes in this case. I wouldn't be surprised if one day we find out that Jameis dodged a bullet on this one.
Manti Te'o makes this list purely for stupidity. While Santa normally wouldn't punish someone for making a dumb mistake, Manti is a special case. I mean come on, how did he not know that the girl he was talking to for so long wasn't real? The low level of thinking it takes to never notice that your girlfriend is a computer is simply baffling and because of that, Santa is making an exception for Te'o.
Let's take it to the NHL for a moment, shall we? Paul Bissonnette of the Phoenix Coyotes got suspended for 10 games and fined $37,000 for coming off of the bench and instigating a full-out brawl in a game against the Los Angeles Kings. He is currently tied for being served the longest suspension in the NHL this season. Stay on the bench, man.
Mike Tomlin is an upstanding individual and very-well respected as the Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach. That being said, whatever happened on Thanksgiving night against the Baltimore Ravens, intentional or not, was a dumb move. This is especially considering that Jason Kidd's "spill-gate" occurred the night before. Whether the obstruction of Jacoby Jones' kickoff return was intentional or not, Tomlin made a really dumb move, landing him on Santa's naughty list.
Richard Sherman makes this list because even Santa gets annoyed, and nobody annoys the world quite like the Seattle Seahawks' cornerback. I would compare him to a hip-hop hype man -- they're obnoxious and never stop talking. Sherman annoyed Santa so much this year with his non-stop running mouth that Santa is just going to skip his house altogether.
Brandon Meriweather earned himself a spot on Santa's naught list by performing numerous illegal hits to the head against his opponents. He then refused to admit his hits were dirty, but also proceeded to state that he would tear other player's ACL. That is enough to deem all of his other hits dirty.
Miguel Tejada was one of the many MLB players busted for PED usage in the 2013 season. Tejada has been one of the most prominent names in the MLB's PED era, and has been on the radar for PED controversies since 2005. Why he still dopes up after all this time is beyond me.
D.J. Swearinger makes this list for being consistently conducting himself as immature and childish. Swearinger has been fined twice by the NFL this season for hits on two tight ends, and was penalized at least five times in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. When your team is 2-10 and down two touchdowns, what could you possibly be taunting anyone about?
Golden Tate is one of the star players on the Seattle Seahawks, but he's also been a huge distraction for the team. If you've forgotten, Golden Tate was the smart guy that broke into a doughnut shop last season. He is now remembered for his taunting of the St. Louis Rams' defensive backs on a breakaway touchdown that ended up being a close one.
Dez Bryant has continued the Dallas Cowboys' rich history of seemingly always having one problematic and arrogant wide receiver on their team. We could start with him beating his own mother, or saying he's a better receiver than Calvin Johnson, but I think we'll just go straight to the sideline freakout on Tony Romo and Jason Witten. Santa doesn't like arrogant crybabies. Dez needs to learn to put his money where his mouth is, and back up his arrogance for once if he's going to be so outspoken.
Although Dashon Goldson escaped a couple of his fines by appealing, I think everyone can agree that he is one of the dirtiest players in the NFL. Even before his hits this season, he has had a history of being a dirty player. Dashon Goldson is a pretty good back, but he's dodged a lot of bullets. He's lucky that Roger Goodell hasn't given him more serious consequences.
Another great player that will be receiving coal from the big man this year is Aldon Smith. It just hasn't been his year. After being arrested once for a DUI in 2012, Aldon was arrested again for a DUI and marijuana possession early in the regular season. He was suspended from the NFL and then after that, he was charged with three felony accounts of assault with a deadly weapon relating to a 2012 stabbing incident. Aldon Smith seems like an overall good guy that just makes dumb decisions. So, Santa will try to teach him a lesson this year with a Christmas full of coal.
Jason Kidd is one of the greatest players of all time, but so far we can't say too many good things about his head coaching career. But Santa won't give someone coal for being a bad head coach, so I think we all know why J-Kidd is on Santa's naughty list. While I will say that spill-gate was a really clever and interesting idea, the bottom line is that it didn't fly with the NBA board. Whether it was smart or not, he got caught and it was cheating. Santa sees everything, so J-Kidd will get a little coal this year.
J.R. Smith makes this list for his marijuana suspension. While it's not the worst thing in the world, there isn't much of a need for NBA players to be doing it. On top of that, coming off of his best season in the NBA, JR's suspension seemed to really set him back as he has been the furthest thing from productive since his return. JR has got to get his priorities straight.
Justin Blackmon is another example of not taking punishment seriously. After being suspended the first four games of this season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, he violated it again in a few weeks ago. He's now suspended indefinitely for the rest of the season and might not return to the Jags or the NFL altogether.
With another drug suspension, Denver Broncos' Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller earned himself a nice spot on the naughty list. Von has had a lot of legal issues, mainly related to driving. Earlier in the season, he got a nice six-game suspension for failing a drug test and then reportedly trying to cheat it. On top of that, after the suspension occurred, Miller appeared late to one court date and failed to appear for another one. In between those two court dates, he was arrested for driving-related charges yet again. Santa will probably just skip Von's house altogether.
The NFL officials are coming off probably the most controversial season ever, and they haven't done a fantastic job this season. Give them a bit of credit, though, as the NFL's rules are changing seemingly by the minute. The officials overall probably do the best they can, but they've messed up bad on quite a few calls this season. Some of them have cost teams certain games, and others have cost teams money and potentially draft picks. They need to step things up.
If you don't know what Richie Incognito did by now, you're living under a rock on the moon. While the case is very confusing and far from being settled, the proof is there that Incognito said some terrible things in a voicemail to teammate Jonathan Martin. On top of that, Incognito has had a lot of history of on and off-field issues, including allegations of sexual harassment during a charity golf event.
Oscar Pistorious killed his girlfriend. Enough said. He easily could be in the top five, but like most athletes, he wasn't found guilty. It was just another one of those O.J. Simpson cases even though the evidence was all there. He will get a fat sack of coal this year, especially since he is walking free.
Ryan Braun's house will probably get skipped this year. After failing a drug test for PEDs, he lied to the media multiple times saying that he wasn't using. Braun probably wouldn't be as hated right now if he didn't lie and then come up with the absolute weakest apology you can imagine. Braun is simply a disgrace and further confirmed the stereotype that every great MLB player is a steroid user.
Josh Brent's case is not very well known, but he really messed up. He was forced into retirement from the Dallas Cowboys before this season started due to legal issues. The legal issue? Right before 2013 started, Brent killed his teammate Jerry Brown in a DUI motor vehicle accident. This occurred only a year after he got off his two-year probation for drunk driving in 2009. On top of that, he continuously failed drug tests for marijuana. He is currently not in prison, although that doesn't mean he's not going to get a fat sack of coal this year.
Must I explain this one? Alex Rodriguez might actually be the biggest scumbag in all of sports. We all know his long, detailed history with steroids and lying to the media, and he decided it would be a good idea to go through that whole process again in 2013. Rodriguez will get coal for the rest of his life because it doesn't seem like he'll ever stop lying to himself and others.
Lance Armstong's entire famous, storied and record-breaking career was unfortunately a big lie and cheat. Everyone knows the story by now, but after being a world icon for success and fighting hardships, he lied to the entire world on multiple occasions and cheated his entire career. Not only was Lance a sports icon, but an icon for cancer patients everywhere. Remember when everyone was wearing Livestrong bracelets? That was Lance. It was all a lie.
Aaron Hernandez won't be around for Christmas this year as he'll be sitting in prison for the accused murder Odin Lloyd. Hernandez, who was a tight end for the New England Patriots, had a very bright career ahead of playing with Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady. While the case is still pending, all the evidence is pointing toward Hernandez, and it is not likely he will ever return to an NFL team. Hernandez is definitely no. 1 on this list for pulling a Rae Carruth.
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