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With Respect, Brett Favre Is Your NFL MVP


And it shouldn't have been close. The scandal of it is that Favre is already a three-time MVP (1995-97) which was a record until now. Favre had 33 touchdown passes this season, only 1 fewer than Drew Brees--who didn't win the award either--and threw the fewest interceptions, 7, of any starter in the league. Brees threw 11. The great Tom Brady threw the ball to the other squad 13 times. Peyton Manning threw sixteen interceptions, while throwing the same number of touchdown passes as Mr. Favre. The quarterback rating, whose formula is admittedly shrouded in mystery but combines completion percentage, passing yards, and passing touchdowns into a useful number--favors Favre over the winner Manning as well. Manning's rating was 99.9, with the best possible number being 158.3. Favre's was 107.2. Brees posted the best in the league at 109.6. The question is, with Manning leading in only one significant category with 4,500 passing yards (to Brees' 4,398 and Favre's 4,202) how did Peyton Manning win this award? What is worse is that Manning got the lion's share of the 50 first place votes. Brees got 7. Favre got 1. It is undeniable that Manning was statistically the most proficient quarterback in this recently closed first decade in the 21st century. But this year, Brees was better, and so was Favre. If Favre had lost this fourth MVP award to Brees narrowly, I'd be OK with that. Brees was incredible. But Manning? No way. I don't even understand the reasoning. Manning isn't even the best player on his own team. Center Jeff Saturday is. Even Peyton agrees with that one. I understand that centers don't win MVPs. That being said, in a year where every MVP vote went to quarterbacks, how did Brett Favre only get 1 vote? I deserve an answer.Maybe the voters have soured on Favre's retirement dance, which has commenced every spring for at least 5 years. Maybe they are getting revenge for all the rhapsodic praise lavished on Favre in that same 5 years by announcers and fans alike. I'm guilty of this. We all are, because we were late in appreciating this legend, whose prime in the 1990s was in a league which still included Dan Marino, Joe Montana, John Elway, and Troy Aikman at that position. But the fact remains that Brett Favre--a three-time MVP and Super Bowl champion who has started every game since September 20, 1992--put up his best season in his 19th year at the age of 40. Is that worth more than one vote? It is to me. So how did this happen? Oh, I almost forgot: the award is given by the Associated Press.

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