ESPY Awards 2012 Winners: Honored Athletes Who Should Have Left Empty-Handed

The ESPYs are really just for fun. It's not taken seriously, and the awards don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. In fact, they don't really mean anything at all.

Leaving all that aside, some award-winning athletes did receive their honor for no reason. They didn't deserve the hardware of their fellow nominees, but they brought it home anyway.

Let's take a look at three athletes whose accolades were not justified.

Josh Hamilton- Best MLB Player

Hamilton is having an MVP-caliber season in 2012, but he didn't do anything to win this award last year. His fellow nominees all won MVP or Cy Young awards last season, but Hamilton can't claim that.

It's nothing against Hamilton overall, but Justin Verlander deserved this award. He won 24 games last season and enjoyed one of the most dominant single-season performances you will see in your lifetime. It was good enough to earn him the AL Cy Young award and the AL MVP award.

Granted, Verlander's Tigers are underachieving this season, but he hasn't had much help. He's 9-5 with a 2.58 ERA and made another All-Star appearance.

Hamilton is a popular player and one of the game's rare all-around talents, but he didn't deserve this honor.

Robert Griffin III- Best Male College Athlete

Griffin III didn't deserve this honor over Anthony Davis. I understand that he won the Heisman Trophy, but Davis won his sport's Player of the Year award plus a national championship.

Davis managed to triumph on a team, and individual, level like no other athlete in college sports this season. He altered the college basketball landscape with his tenacious play on both ends of the floor and defied preconceptions surrounding freshman players.

RG3's season was incredible on an individual level, but he didn't lead his team to glory. You could count their Alamo Bowl victory as glory, but I don't.

Jonathan Quick- Best NHL Player

Quick won this award based on home cooking and the "what have you done for me lately" factor. He managed to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Evgeni Malkin was the MVP for the entire regular season.

There's no doubting Quick's magical run, but we've seen goalies do it before. Marc-Andre Fleury rode a hot streak to the Penguins' Stanley Cup in 2009, and Chris Osgood did it for years in Detroit.

Goalies simply get hot.

Malkin should have been rewarded for his remarkable season. He won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP, and he did it without Sidney Crosby for most of the season. He raised James Neal to all-star levels, and he propelled the Penguins to an amazing season.

I'll take long-term success over a short burst. Quick had an excellent year, but Malkin should have gotten the nod here.