Last week, I suggested some nominees for “NFL Coach of the Year” at mid-season. That small item got me an e-mail from a long-term reader asking if I had any other nominees for such awards. That e-mail arrived late last night so he could very properly note that two of my nominees for Coach of the Year lost last weekend and the third one escaped with a win over the hapless Dolphins thanks to a last minute field goal. And so, with no intention to put a hex anyone else, here are a couple of my other nominees for NFL Mid-Season Awards:
MVP: This has to be Tom Brady given the stats he has accumulated so far and the record of the Pats. But I would like to suggest someone who is a distant second or third or fourth in this race who deserves mention – - Derek Anderson. He is a significant part of the reason that the Browns are resurgent and sit above .500 this late in the season.
Rookie of the Year: Of course, it has to be Adrian Peterson at this point. [Please note: his injury happened before I nominated him here not after.] My dark horse candidate is someone who will get no votes at the end of the year because offensive linemen never get any of these kinds of votes, but Joe Thomas has also been an important addition to the Cleveland Browns.
Offensive Player of the Year: Forget Tom Brady in this discussion or Randy Moss; they are too easy to select here. Now, toss a coin between Tony Romo, Jon Kitna and Brett Favre.
Defensive Player of the Year: I think Bob Sanders and Troy Polamalu stand out from the pack this year. One level down from those two might be Osi Umenyiura.
Since I mentioned Derek Anderson above, I have to comment on what seems to be shallow thinking by various football analysts. The consensus seems to be that Anderson will be making a huge amount of money next year because he is a free agent. And that would be a certainty save for one minor point – - he’s a restricted free agent. And I think that distinction could wind up costing him money in the open market.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement governs free agency – and restricted free agency – and I will not pretend to know all the ins and outs of that document. But here’s what I do know:
The Browns can “tender Anderson an offer” at the end of the year and the amount of that tender defines the level of compensation that another team would have to give the Browns if Anderson signed with them and the Browns opted not to match the other team’s offer sheet. Offering Anderson any kind of tender gives the Browns the right to match any offer sheet; the amount of the tender determines what they will get in terms of draft choice compensation.
I believe that the highest level of compensation would be two first round picks. So, the team offering to sign Derek Anderson might have to give him a healthy contract AND surrender two first-rounders in the process. That might be why Anderson’s value is not as high as it might be were he an unrestricted free agent.
At the same time, the Browns would be in a precarious position if another team made an offer for Anderson. If the Browns match it and keep Anderson, then they have big money tied up in Anderson and in Brady Quinn. One of them will be sitting on the bench eating up big cap space. If the Browns don’t match the offer and choose to let Anderson go – - and collect the compensatory draft choices – then they better be certain that Brady Quinn is ready to play regularly and at a high level. It worked out for Carson Palmer and the Bengals…
When I was a kid, the Lions and the Packers played every year on Thanksgiving Day; they did not rotate opponents in Detroit. One year during the Vince Lombardi dynasty, the Packers went through a season with only one loss and that loss came at the hands of the Lions on Thanksgiving Day on national TV. In recent years, the “early game” on Thanksgiving has not been one filled with playoff implications because the Lions have been out of it by mid-November every year. Not so this year; the Packers and Lions are atop the NFC North and the “early game” on Thanksgiving Day should be competitive and it should be important to the standings.
A friend of mine used to say that the Lions’ game on Thanksgiving Day was merely a harbinger of what was to come later in the day. After a large turkey dinner, the tryptophan in the turkey meat brings on drowsiness and lethargy. My friend suggested that the Lions’ game starting early in the day also tended to put you to sleep and thus prepared you for the way you would be feeling about 4 or 5 hours hence. Possibly, this year’s game will not be so sleep inducing?
Some quick comments on other NFL games this weekend:
The Rams beat the Saints. Might it be time to stop beating the drums regarding the genius of Sean Payton as a head coach? I’m not saying he’s a stumblebum, but his team played in the NFC Conference Championship game last year and now the Saints are under .500 with a loss to the Rams…
The Eagles beat the Redskins. The Redskins – and Joe Gibbs very specifically – have still not grasped the concept of “clock management”. And can we please bury the myth of Joe Bugel as a genius at coaching an offensive line? Once again, the Redskins had a game where they snapped the ball six times inside the five-yard line and had to settle for a field goal.
The Packers routed the Vikings. If you were a defensive coordinator with the Packers coming up on your schedule and you had finished a two-day review of the Packers game tapes for the season, wouldn’t you be tempted to build your defensive game play around kryptonite?
Switching gears, there was a story about a week ago that Dennis Rodman is seeking a return to basketball. No, he’s not going to try to play in the NBA; and no, he wants to return to basketball in a more permanent way that going overseas once or twice a year to play in a couple of games in a foreign league. Fortunately, there are no reports that he harbors some desire to be a high school basketball coach where he could serve as a role model for young players; perhaps, there is not sufficient attention given to high school coaches to make Rodman happen.
But Rodman does see a future in coaching and his target at the moment is – - hold your breath – - the WNBA. Rodman said that he’d stress conditioning, defense and rebounding for a team, which is surely a good foundation to build on. Rodman said that those three things are what propelled his career and they would put him in the Hall of Fame. I’m wondering if any WNBA franchises are looking for delusional coaches…
Finally, here’s an item from Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Mark Cuban: Screwed by refs in the NBA, now screwed by the judges in “Dancing With The Stars”. Cuban should try boxing or figure skating, where the refs and judges are for sale.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…