Advocating For a Delay in NFL Award Voting
Charles Woodson won the AP’s Defensive Player of the Year award today. Good for him. He had a great season. You can’t say enough about his versatility on the back side of the Packers’ defense and the fact that he had four forced fumbles and nine interceptions. He even registered a pair of sacks and 74 tackles. Great year. Thing is, he gets the award less than 48 hours after his squad gave up 45 points -- you can’t count that last TD against Woodson’s defensive unit. Woodson did force a fumble, but Larry Fitzgerald also caught two scores against Woodson. Why does this matter as it relates to the AP’s Defensive Player of the Year Award?↵↵Two catches, 28 yards. That’s the line Chad Ochocinco put up against Darrelle Revis on Saturday. Revis, who also had an interception against Cincinnati, finished second place -- Woodson had 28 votes to Revis’ 14. It begs the question: If voters were to do it again this week and fill out a ballot, would they discount Woodson’s candidacy? Would Revis’ continued dominance, which has teams scared to even throw his way, change things? What if Revis shuts down every No. 1 receiver he faces on the way to a Super Bowl win?↵
↵↵I don’t know if one below average game from Woodson and more of the same greatness from Revis would be enough to bridge a 2-to-1 gap in the voting, but as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted, “What’s the rush to vote on these awards?” That was the debate between Schefter and Yahoo’s Charles Robinson. Because I’m one to butt in, I chimed in, and I can’t help but argue with some of Robinson’s logic.↵
↵↵Robinson’s basic argument is as follows: “Unfair they have more opportunities to impact voting. It tilts field.” (He also advocates for a separate set of postseason and regular season awards, which I’m not opposed to, but it seems unnecessary. Why not just one set for the overall season?)↵
↵↵While I grant that a greater number of games could give a player an unfair advantage, shouldn’t the games that matter most be weighed as part of the decision on awards? And don’t tell me it’s unfair to guys who don’t make the playoffs. There hasn’t been a player to win the NFL MVP that didn’t make the playoffs since O.J. Simpson’s 2,003-yard season in 1973. (Which, by the way, proves my point that Chris Johnson had a transcendent season and at least deserved some votes for MVP over above average QBs, but I digress.)↵
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↵In the last decade, three players won the AP Defensive Player of the Year award without making the playoffs. Michael Strahan did it in '01 with 22.5 sacks. Ed Reed did it in 2004, the year of that absurd 106-yard return and his team had a winning record. Jason Taylor in '06 is the statistical outlier in the bunch. Not really a record-setting season -- 13 1/2 sacks, 62 tackles, two INTs for TDs and 10 forced fumbles -- but his Miami defense was fourth overall in the NFL but the Fins were 6-10. ↵
↵↵Anyway the point is that, by and large, these guys are chosen from playoff teams for most if not all major awards. So if we’re establishing that making the playoffs is an important part of being considered, why isn’t how they perform when they get there part of the honor? It’s not like it’ll quell any of the fanfare around the award. They announced the NFL MVP on a Saturday morning. That’s what you do with scandals, not league awards for your top players. Sure some of the honors might become redundant with Super Bowl award winners, but what’s wrong with seeing the whole picture?↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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