The NFL has been the most popular sport in the United States for quite some time however, that doesn’t exempt the league from having a few embarrassing happenings throughout a 16 week regular season. With the NFL headlines changing each and every day I tried to come up with the top five failures from the 2012 season.

5 – Alex Smith benched – Smith was dynamite for the San Francisco 49ers before a week eight concussion versus the St. Louis Rams but, appearently he wasn’t good enough for head coach Jim Harbough. Colin Kaepernick would be named the starter and the rest is now history.

4 – Tebow Time – After a playoff win for the Denver Broncos last season 2012 was not kind to Tim Tebow in his first year with the New York Jets. Tebow started zero games at quarterback this season and was the most infamous punt protecter in all of the NFL.

3 – Arizona Cardinals 1-11 streak – Through the first month of the season the Cardinals were riding high with a 4-0 record and had aspirations to win the NFC West. Unfortunately the Cardinals would finish dead last in the division with a 5-11 record. This team is proof that all that glitter may not be gold as the team beat teams like the New England Patriots early on.

2 – New Orleans Saints bounty-gate – NFL fans were exposed to lawsuits and suspensions more in 2012 than the last five years combined thanks to the Saints bounty system. A 7-9 season later and the Sean Payton-less Saints earn a number two nod for the absolute mess that bounty-gate created.

1 – Replacement Refs – What was just a worry to start the season turned into full blown chaos by week three as the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks game was the final straw. However, the NFL should be ashamed they let even a couple games be tarnished by referees.

The Foot Locker refs are number one on my list but, how about you? Shoot me a list of your own in the comment box below!