By Lance Tominaga, ESPN Honolulu Web Editor.
It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and we are thankful. More specifically, we are thankful for the chance to identify 2021’s “Sports Turkey” of the year!
As usual, we need your help. So our new ESPN Honolulu Fan’s Voice question of the week is, “WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AS 2021’S ‘SPORTS TURKEY OF THE YEAR’?”
Used as a slang, “turkey” is defined as a “a person or thing of little appeal; a loser; a dud; a naive, inept or stupid person.”
Hmm. Where do we begin?
Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers recently came under fire for allegedly lying about his COVID-19 vaccination status and for not following NFL protocols regarding the virus. The vax police are even more upset with former University of Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich, who simply refused to get vaccinated, citing religious reasons. His refusal cost his his head coaching job at Washington State.
How about Jon Gruden, the former Las Vegas Raiders coach who lost his job after old emails of him expressing homophobic, misogynistic and racist statements surfaced. The NFL itself has come under scrutiny for allegedly singling out Gruden and covering up similar misdeeds by other league officials.
Then there is Henry Ruggs, who threw away a promising NFL career by driving under the influence and killing a young woman in a high-speed crash?
The Naomi Osaka controversy this past summer stirred back-and-forth sparring between her supporters and people who feel professional athletes should fulfill their media responsibilities. You make the call.
The Tokyo Olympics had its share of controversies. And, if I can throw in a bit of personal bias, Antonio Brown is always a good choice.
Please head to our ESPN Honolulu Facebook page and share your thoughts! The link is below: