The MVP Race
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 5:53 pm
All votes are in this week, before the playoffs start. Peter King had 36 former players and media members pick their MVP's. 32 picked Rodgers. None are among the 50 who vote, although King is (he didn't say who he's voting for and is not included in the 36). He lists who the 36 are at the end of his column. Even Florio picked Rodgers.
Rodgers In MVP Rout
After the comments of Chicago-based NFL MVP voter Hub Arkush critical of Aaron Rodgers last week, I was motivated to take the temperature of former players I respect, and members of the media I respect to see what a varied panel of football people thought of the tight race this year for the award.
Arkush created a firestorm last week when he said of Rodgers: “I just think that the way he’s carried himself is inappropriate. I think he’s a bad guy, and I don’t think a bad guy can be the most valuable guy at the same time.”
That seems so outlandish to me, a throwback to the days when the media was known for taking personal grudges into the coverage of players. I think back to the really old days, back in the forties and fifties, when Ted Williams famously had spats with writers. Amazingly, he never won the MVP in either year that he won the Triple Crown, and lost out also in 1941, when he was the last player to hit over .400 for a season. Arkush’s words harm us all. If one of the 50 voters for the NFL awards, Arkush, feels Rodgers is a “bad guy” and won’t vote for him for MVP, why wouldn’t a sports fan or a reader of mine think I’m the same way and wouldn’t vote for people I think are jerks? Or think any of the other voters are the same way?
So late in the week, I assembled 36 voters. Ten are former players, now in the media or in private life, and the others mostly are media members. (They are listed below.) None vote for the AP awards, which are the awards given out by the NFL each year. I vote for the AP awards, and so I did not vote in these.
In next week’s column, I plan to share a more thorough list of all the categories—Coach, Rookies, Offensive and Defensive Players, Assistant Coach and GM. But this week, it’s all about the Most Valuable Player. The vote:
1. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay, 32 votes
T-2. Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay, 2 votes
T-2. Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati, 2 votes
Brady had one of the best years of his career at 44, leading the NFL with 5,316 passing yards and 43 touchdowns. His Bucs’ 13-4 record was identical to Green Bay’s. Burrow came back from a major knee injury last November to drive woebegone Cincinnati to a division title and a 4-0 sweep of AFC North powers Baltimore and Pittsburgh. In his last two games, wins over Baltimore and Kansas City, he threw for an astounding 971 yards.
It’s amazing, to me, that Rodgers got 32 of 36 votes. Carl Banks, the former linebacker and current Giants’ radio analyst, and PFF’s Steve Palazzolo chose Brady, while Defector’s Kalyn Kahler and Kim Jones of NFL Network picked Burrow. Everyone else picked Rodgers. After a lousy season-opener against the Saints, Rodgers threw 37 touchdowns and two interceptions. He had one of the most remarkable seasons a quarterback ever had, and voter after voter saw it.
“He’s the best player on the field every time he steps on the grass,” former quarterback Carson Palmer said.
“His accuracy is a work of art,” said ESPN’s Dianna Russini. “His receivers never break stride, and typically they don’t even have to extend for the ball because it’s exactly where it needs to be. Sugar Ray Robinson once said, ‘If you want to be the champ, you have to beat the champ.’ There is no player better than Rodgers.”
Said NBC’s Simms, a former NFL passer: “Green Bay has a good offense with good talent. But nothing is great other than Aaron and Davante Adams. They are as QB-dependent as any team in the NFL. And he is doing it as efficiently as we have ever seen anyone do it. His ability to be a gunslinger while also taking care of the ball better than anyone in history is astounding.”
My panel: Carl Banks, retired LB/Giants radio analyst; Bill Barnwell, ESPN; Judy Battista, NFL.com; Paul Burmeister, NBC; Joe Buck, FOX Sports; Darius Butler, former CB/podcaster; Kevin Clark, The Ringer; Cris Collinsworth, retired WR/NBC Sports; Greg Cosell, NFL Films; Ian Eagle, CBS Sports; Rich Eisen, NFL Network; Jori Epstein, USA Today; Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk; Frank Frigo, EdjSports/Champion Gaming; Scott Hanson, NFL RedZone channel; Stephen Holder, The Athletic.
Also: Kim Jones, NFL Network; Kalyn Kahler, Defector; Aditi Kinkhabwala, NFL Network; Andrea Kremer, Amazon; Chris Long, retired DL/podcaster; Curt Menefee, FOX Sports; Josh McCown, retired QB; Greg Olsen, retired TE/FOX Sports; Dan Orlovsky, retired QB/ESPN; Steve Palazzolo, PFF; Carson Palmer, retired QB; Tom Pelissero, NFL Network; Tashan Reed, The Athletic; Louis Riddick, retired DB/ESPN “Monday Night Football;” Dianna Russini, ESPN; Peter Schrager, Good Morning Football; Chris Simms, retired QB/NBC Sports; Mike Tannenbaum, former GM/ESPN/33rd Team; Colleen Wolfe, NFL Network; Steve Wyche, NFL Network.