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1.
When the Tampa Tribune asked Tony Dungy whether or not he would have selected Michael Sam in the 2014 NFL Draft during a recent interview, he probably had no idea that his answer would cause as much backlash as it did last week. Dungy admitted that he would not have chosen Sam to play for his team if was still involved with coaching in the NFL, because he thinks that Sam is going to be a huge distraction in the league. And people jumped all over him right away, arguing against his claims and saying that Dungy was wrong for suggesting that he wouldn't have selected Sam.
We're not here to debate whether or not Dungy should have said what he said about Sam (we'll let you be the judge of that). But we do think it's probably safe to say that Dungy didn't have a great time defending himself and his stance on Sam over the course of the last week. So we definitely had to include him on our list of the 10 Sports People Who Had a Worse Week Than You. Scroll through the rest of the list to see who else made the cut this week.
2.Justin Blackmon
Date: 7/23/2014
Is this guy's NFL career going to be over before it ever really starts? It's looking more and more like it. Last Wednesday afternoon, Blackmon—who has a history of drug-related issues—got arrested yet again for marijuana possession. And it could result in him receiving a lengthy suspension from the NFL in the not-so-distant future.
3.Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Donte Greene
Date: 7/20/2014
Dunbar is a linebacker for the St. Louis Rams who is trying to take the next step in his NFL career right now. Greene is a former NBA player who is trying to catch on with a new NBA team at the moment. And their two worlds collided last weekend outside of the Dream Nightclub in Miami where the athletes reportedly got into a physical altercation that ended with both of them getting arrested and charged with battery. It's never good when pro athletes get arrested. But these two couldn't have picked a worse time to get into a fight.
4.Chandler Parsons
Date: 7/24/2014
Earlier this month, the former Rockets forward signed a free agent deal with the Mavericks. And it doesn't sound like his former teammates are going to miss him. Both Dwight Howard and James Harden came out this week and revealed that they think they'll be just fine without Parsons. And Harden even categorized Parsons as a role player, which didn't sit real well with Parsons himself. The first Rockets/Mavericks game of the 2014-15 NBA season sounds like it's going to be must-see TV.
5.Roger Goodell
Date: 7/24/2014
A lot of people were expecting the NFL Commissioner to throw the book at Ray Rice this week. Rice got into a physical altercation with his now-wife Janay back in February and the thought was that Goodell was going to issue him a lengthy suspension in order to send a message to both Rice and the rest of the league. But Goodell only gave him a two-game suspension. Two games! So the only thing that got thrown last week was shade in Goodell's general direction.
6.Tony Dungy
Date: 7/21/2014
The former NFL coach/current NBC analyst revealed that he would not have taken Michael Sam in the 2014 NFL Draft if he were still in charge of drafting players for an NFL team. And as you'd expect, that didn't sit well with a lot of people out there. The reaction to Dungy's statement actually got so out of control that Dungy was forced to backpedal and issue a statement concerning his original comments about Sam. So we wouldn't expect to hear him discussing Sam too much during the upcoming NFL season.
7.Steven Adams
Date: 7/20/2014
Is there anything sadder than a 7-foot NBA center wishing himself a happy birthday on Twitter because no one else bothered to wish him one? As Adams proved this week, no. No, there isn't.
8.Art Modell
Date: 7/22/2014
Modell died almost two years ago. So how in the world did he have a bad week? Well, he had a bad week because a Browns fan decided to show his disgust with the former Cleveland owner who moved the Browns to Baltimore back in 1996 by urinating on his grave. And to make matters even worse, he was filmed doing it. Baltimore police are actively looking for the fan. But even if they do find him, this obviously wouldn't be what Modell would want to be in the news for right now.
9.Ohio State Band Director Jonathan Waters
Date: 7/24/2014
For the last two years, Waters has led the OSU band ever since taking over the reins from former band director Jon Woods. But it seems as though he had some very strange practices in place. For instance, he reportedly held some band practices at midnight and had band members practice in nothing but their underwear. He also reportedly gave some members of the band sexually explicit nicknames. And because of this, he was fired after an internal investigation at Ohio State determined that he had created a culture of sexual harassment within the band program. It's a strange story all around.
10.Chuck Knoblauch
Date: 7/23/2014
Later this summer, the Minnesota Twins were planning on inducting their former second baseman into their Hall of Fame. But they have now canceled those plans after Knoblauch got arrested last Wednesday night for allegedly assaulting his ex-wife Stacey Stelmach. And rightfully so. Knoblauch also took a very unfortunate mugshot after committing the alleged crime—a mugshot that seems to indicate just how bad things are for him right now.
11.Stephen A. Smith
Date: 7/25/2014
During a discussion about Ray Rice and domestic violence on Friday, the ESPN First Take talking head made some really unacceptable statements about how women need to do their best not to provoke men from abusing them. And obviously, that did not sit well with, well, anyone. SAS then doubled down on his statements by reiterating them on Twitter. What in the world was he thinking?