These were the biggest storylines and controversies from a wild year in sports

Shoplifting, suspensions, Apple Watches -- oh, my!

There's no talking about the craziness that was 2017 in sports without touching on a few scandals and controversies.

Most of the year's biggest stories began on the gridiron. The NFL had plenty of extra eyes on it this season as players took knees during the national anthem to rebuke social injustices around the country and scathing statements about the league (and the NBA's Stephen Curry) from President Donald Trump. Colin Kaepernick, who began the protest back in 2016, remained without a job in the NFL.

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Not every controversy was political in nature, however -- some simply stemmed from the NFL's unclear rules (seriously, what is a catch?) or from feuds between coaches and certain "fitness gurus" who work with certain four-time Super Bowl MVPs.

Though football really took the cake, baseball and basketball weren't exempt from scandal this year. The Red Sox and Yankees went back and forth over the ways both teams were stealing signs, and LiAngelo Ball's sticky fingers got him in trouble with Chinese authorities which fueled an unexpected rivalry between his father, LaVar, and the president.

It's been a rollercoaster of a year for sports fans. Click through the slideshow below to see all of the year's major missed calls, political controversies and off-field scandals.