How time flies.
Football, now, is a year-long sport. Sure, they play the games between August and the Super Bowl in February, but between draft prep, mini camps, spring games, recruiting, signing periods, it's hard to go a significant amount of time without some football news.
And that's beautiful.
Here are the top football stories of the year, based on what our audience read. Note: To avoid duplication, we didn't include any story that made the overall FanBuzz 10 top list. That way, you'll get to relive even more.
6. Mark Ingram lost his mind after the Saints reportedly cost him $100,000
Sport is not just fun and games; it's big business. When the New Orleans Saints pulled running back Mark Ingram from a goal line play, he lost his mind. Apparently, he was one touchdown away from a $100,000 bonus.
5. Colin Kaepernick kneeled down, and a cop quietly put him in his place
Colin kneels. Cop stands at attention, in full salute. Colin gets schooled.
4. The ref helped Clemson avoid a massive upset
The Troy Trojans were supposed to one of those early season pushovers for a powerhouse like Clemson. Nope. With Clemson up three, Troy appeared to recover a loose ball and take it back for a touchdown. The referees disagreed, and it would be a preview of a number of controversial calls this season.
3. Dabo Swinney disrespects Will Muschamp
(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Come on Dabo, why go there? He refused to shake Muschamp's hand during pre-game festivities, and a visibly angry Muschamp waved him off and stormed away. That was the most drama of the day because Clemson demolished South Carolina, 56-7.
2. Look who wants to be the LSU coach
Les Miles was fired as head coach of LSU when his Tigers started the season a miserable 2-2 (for them, anyway). All sorts of names swirled around, but this one got attention, and his application letter is fantastic.
1. This call was so bad, the SEC took shocking action against an official
Bad calls are part of any game. But this bad call resulted in something you don't see often — an official banned from working the games of a team. A controversial holding play apparently was the last straw.
