PHOENIX -- One player arrived here last Monday for Super Bowl 49 wishing the game could have been played as soon as he stepped off the plane.
Sleeper picks for the 2015 Super Bowl MVP award
With a pair of teams this loaded with talent, the game’s most valuable player could be anyone.
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One guy, age 25, only in his second NFL season, longs for his Mississippi roots and home. This player is equipped and capable of stepping from the shadows, handling his business, leaving his imprint on this Super Bowl and becoming a surprise MVP.
That would be Jamie Collins.
He is a New England Patriots linebacker who is rangy but strong, instinctive yet deliberate, a roamer on the field yet a rock.
NFL coaches whose teams played against the Patriots this season marveled at Collins. They love his length, flexibility and motor. They love how he wins matchups and affects passing lanes, short and deep.
That’s all nice, Collins said, but can we just get this over with, please?
“I’m ready to go home,” Collins lamented all week. “I love the game. I love football. But I’m ready to go home. I can’t wait. I do want to go home a champion.”
Homesick, yes, but ready.
Collins searched for footing in his rookie season in 2013 and then exploded this season with 116 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions and four forced fumbles. The Patriots this season gave him more chances, more responsibility, more varied defensive alignments and more playing time to ascend. He did.
He is the prime choice to emerge from the shadows, to win the MVP award in a blink.
“I like to do a lot of things on the field, especially if I can help my teammates,” Collins said. “If they want to put me at safety, I’ll play safety. If they want to put me at quarterback, I’ll play quarterback. I’ve been given the opportunity to do more things. I try to live in that day. I try not to go too far back, not look too far ahead. I just try to say in time.”
That is a mindset -- mixed with rare skill -- that could make him MVP.
Here are five other sometimes overlooked players who could emerge as MVP:
- Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett -- A powerful player difficult to block who has shown impressive fourth-quarter stamina.
- New England cornerback Kyle Arrington -- He has a knack for getting his hands on the ball and should get chances to do so as Seattle avoids savvy cornerback Darrelle Revis.
- Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin -- Small, quick, shifty, prideful, hungry and capable.
- New England receiver Julian Edelman -- Dangerous as a receiver and punt returner.
- Seattle middle linebacker Bobby Wagner -- He can cover the pass, he can stuff the run and he can roam and influence everything.
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