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Players that ARE HOF inductees but should NOT be


Big Turk

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16 hours ago, McMuffin said:

Joe Namath

When I was younger I definitely agreed. His career just didn't equal that of many of his contemporaries.

But as time went on, I changed my mind. It's the Hall of Fame. He was, well, really famous. And he did more than anyone else to establish the legitimacy of the AFL. Surely there's a few spaces in the Hall for guys who didn't dominate statistically but were nevertheless critical to the history of the NFL.

12 hours ago, mannc said:

I know he hasn't been inducted yet, but I'm still gonna say Frank Gore.  The guy had one great season.  Really good football player for a lot of years, but doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame.  

Yep. He's the anti-Namath. Really good for a really long time, but never the best at his position or one of the leading lights of the game.

It's that Bill James thing applied to football:

 

https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/11/9/7052865/baseball-hall-of-fame-bill-james-monitor-standards

 

He's the Harold Baines of the NFL.

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17 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Playing off the other thread asking who you thought should be in the HOF but isn't, this is the reverse.

 

Who is in the HOF that you don't believe belongs?

 

I'll start with Art Monk and Terrell Davis.

 

 

You're going to have to explain Art Monk to me.  Until Jerry Rice broke them, he owned a number of receiving records.

 

He held the record for receptions in a season until 1992.  Set the all-time record (at the time) for receptions at 820, first player to reach 900, and pushed it to 940 for his career.

 

Retired with most consecutive games with a catch (at the time 183).

 

Won 3 Super Bowls, 3x Pro Bowl selection, 2x All-Pro and named to NFL 1980 All-Decade Team.

 

One of the most dependable and consistent WR's in history.

 

He's basically Andre Reed with 3 rings.  

 

Edited by Billz4ever
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Having not been alive to see them play and having little to no understanding of the game in historical context, I’ll just pull up some Pro Football Reference pages and make grand pronunciations on who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame or not. 
 

Bronko Nagurski who? 

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1 hour ago, Billz4ever said:

 

 

You're going to have to explain Art Monk to me.  Until Jerry Rice broke them, he owned a number of receiving records.

 

He held the record for receptions in a season until 1992.  Set the all-time record (at the time) for receptions at 820, first player to reach 900, and pushed it to 940 for his career.

 

Retired with most consecutive games with a catch (at the time 183).

 

Won 3 Super Bowls, 3x Pro Bowl selection, 2x All-Pro and named to NFL 1980 All-Decade Team.

 

One of the most dependable and consistent WR's in history.

 

He's basically Andre Reed with 3 rings.  

 

 

To me Art Monk was basically a possession receiver. A very good one that caught a lot of 10-12 yard passes and was very consistent over a lot of years. He belongs in the hall of very good, maybe even very very good, but not great.

 

Not a receiver you ever thought to yourself "Oh my God, we have to stop him or he is going to destroy us" the same way you did Rice or Moss or Sterling Sharpe or even Andre Reed.

15 hours ago, Roundybout said:

 

Terrell Davis carried Denver to two Super Bowls. 

 

 

if anything, it makes Elway look bad...

 

His career was too short to really qualify in my eyes. Part of being great is also the ability to maintain it over a longer period of time. Injuries or not, the NFL has plenty of players who were great for a few years period and then faded into obscurity. The assumption was made that wouldn't have happened to him, but how do we know that?

 

And if you want to put someone who has their career cut short by injury in it would be Sterling Sharpe all day and twice on Sunday over Davis.

Edited by Big Turk
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Being the clear cut best back in football for a time, rushing for 2,000 yards and leading the Broncos to back to back Super Bowl victories is a pretty strong case.

 

Elway would have no rings without Terrell Davis.  NONE!  

 

My pick of the many would be Richard Seymour.  How the hell is this guy a Hall of Famer?  And no way he should be inducted before Vince Wilfork.

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4 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

To me Art Monk was basically a possession receiver. A very good one that caught a lot of 10-12 yard passes and was very consistent over a lot of years. He belongs in the hall of very good, maybe even very very good, but not great.

 

Not a receiver you ever thought to yourself "Oh my God, we have to stop him or he is going to destroy us" the same way you did Rice or Moss or Sterling Sharpe or even Andre Reed.

 

His prime and most of his career was played in the 80s, which is a different era of football than most of the receivers who played most of their career's post 1990.

 

To determine how great a player was in his era, you have to compare him to his peers at the time and how many "firsts" he had.  

 

When you do that with Monk, he's at the top of the era in which he played. You're going to be hard pressed to build a long list of names that were better than he was at the time IMO.

 

First player to record a touchdown reception in 15 consecutive seasons (1980-1994)

Consecutive seasons with at least 35 receptions (15, 1980–1994)

First player to record over 102+ receptions (106 in 1984 season) in a season before NFL rules changes prior to the 1990 season that ushered in the "pass happy era". Still, only three players in the next nine years collected 100 passes or more and only one (Sterling Sharpe in 1992 season) surpassed his total.

First player to record over 100+ receptions in the Super Bowl era

First player to record back-to-back seasons with 1,200 yards and 90 receptions (1984, 1985)

First player to reach 820 receptions in a career

First player to surpass 900 career receptions, finishing career with 940 (all-time record at the time)

First player to record at least one reception in 180 consecutive games

 

Always keeping in mind when the player played, you add his numbers, his "firsts", combined with the fact he won 3 rings, I really don't know how you leave him out.

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8 minutes ago, Chicken Boo said:

Being the clear cut best back in football for a time, rushing for 2,000 yards and leading the Broncos to back to back Super Bowl victories is a pretty strong case.

 

Elway would have no rings without Terrell Davis.  NONE!  

 

My pick of the many would be Richard Seymour.  How the hell is this guy a Hall of Famer?  And no way he should be inducted before Vince Wilfork.

 

Agreed. Longevity is really the only argument against him.  Only played seven seasons and only played a full season twice, but when he was healthy, he was a beast.

 

Also agree Elway retires ringless without him.

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

 

 

His career was too short to really qualify in my eyes. Part of being great is also the ability to maintain it over a longer period of time. Injuries or not, the NFL has plenty of players who were great for a few years period and then faded into obscurity. The assumption was made that wouldn't have happened to him, but how do we know that?

 

And if you want to put someone who has their career cut short by injury in it would be Sterling Sharpe all day and twice on Sunday over Davis.

Terrell Davis had four one-thousand yard rushing seasons, including three seasons where he exceeded 2000 yards combined rushing-receiving and won two Super Bowls.  How many great seasons do you expect a Hall of Fame running back to have?  OJ Simpson really only had four great seasons, yet he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and maybe the greatest running back of all time...I don't really understand why people take issue with Davis being in the Hall. 

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18 hours ago, 947 said:

Agreed!

 

Namath played 13 seasons, and he less than 50% completion rate in 7 of them. He had more TDs than INTs in only 1 of his 13 seasons.

 

His best season was 4,004 yards, 26 TDs, 28 INTs, 52.5% Completion.

 

Career completion rate of 50.1% does not belong in the HOF, regardless of era. Career 173 TDs with... 220 INTs.

 

 

It was a different era.  Go look at the QB stats in the 70's...they were pathetic compared to now.  Joe Ferguson was considered a top-10 QB...his rookie year he started every game and threw for less than 1000 yards.  He had a 52% completion rate for his career...Namath won a Super Bowl--the first ever by an AFL team--and, as many have pointed out, he was a pivotal figure in the transformation of the NFL into what it is today.  

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I know most people point to Terrell Davis's relatively short career as a ding against him, but I think the other Broncos RBs all putting up 1,000+ yards rushing seasons for years after him is the bigger ding.

 

1999: Orlando's Gary - 1,159 yards

2000: Mike Anderson - 1,487 yards

2001: Split Carries between Anderson (678 yards) & Davis (701 yards)

2002: Clinton Portis - 1,508 yards

2003: Clinton Portis - 1,591 yards

2004: Reuben Droughns - 1,240 yards

2005: Mike Anderson - 1,014 and Tatum Bell - 921 yards

2006: Tatum Bell - 1,026 and Mike Bell - 677

 

Not to discredit him entirely, he did have a 2,000 yard season after all, but everybody was able to run behind that line. 

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3 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

I know most people point to Terrell Davis's relatively short career as a ding against him, but I think the other Broncos RBs all putting up 1,000+ yards rushing seasons for years after him is the bigger ding.

 

1999: Orlando's Gary - 1,159 yards

2000: Mike Anderson - 1,487 yards

2001: Split Carries between Anderson (678 yards) & Davis (701 yards)

2002: Clinton Portis - 1,508 yards

2003: Clinton Portis - 1,591 yards

2004: Reuben Droughns - 1,240 yards

2005: Mike Anderson - 1,014 and Tatum Bell - 921 yards

2006: Tatum Bell - 1,026 and Mike Bell - 677

 

Not to discredit him entirely, he did have a 2,000 yard season after all, but everybody was able to run behind that line. 

YES! This has been my exact argument for years! Dude is overrated and not at all HOF worthy. 

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5 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

I know most people point to Terrell Davis's relatively short career as a ding against him, but I think the other Broncos RBs all putting up 1,000+ yards rushing seasons for years after him is the bigger ding.

 

1999: Orlando's Gary - 1,159 yards

2000: Mike Anderson - 1,487 yards

2001: Split Carries between Anderson (678 yards) & Davis (701 yards)

2002: Clinton Portis - 1,508 yards

2003: Clinton Portis - 1,591 yards

2004: Reuben Droughns - 1,240 yards

2005: Mike Anderson - 1,014 and Tatum Bell - 921 yards

2006: Tatum Bell - 1,026 and Mike Bell - 677

 

Not to discredit him entirely, he did have a 2,000 yard season after all, but everybody was able to run behind that line. 

 

That line and also Shanahan's rushing scheme...similar to the 49ers rushing scheme.

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8 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

I know most people point to Terrell Davis's relatively short career as a ding against him, but I think the other Broncos RBs all putting up 1,000+ yards rushing seasons for years after him is the bigger ding.

 

1999: Orlando's Gary - 1,159 yards

2000: Mike Anderson - 1,487 yards

2001: Split Carries between Anderson (678 yards) & Davis (701 yards)

2002: Clinton Portis - 1,508 yards

2003: Clinton Portis - 1,591 yards

2004: Reuben Droughns - 1,240 yards

2005: Mike Anderson - 1,014 and Tatum Bell - 921 yards

2006: Tatum Bell - 1,026 and Mike Bell - 677

 

Not to discredit him entirely, he did have a 2,000 yard season after all, but everybody was able to run behind that line. 

I think this is a more compelling argument against Davis than "he only had four great seasons".  Four great seasons is a lot for a RB...

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19 hours ago, McMuffin said:

Joe Namath

 

18 hours ago, 947 said:

Agreed!

 

Namath played 13 seasons, and he less than 50% completion rate in 7 of them. He had more TDs than INTs in only 1 of his 13 seasons.

 

His best season was 4,004 yards, 26 TDs, 28 INTs, 52.5% Completion.

 

Career completion rate of 50.1% does not belong in the HOF, regardless of era. Career 173 TDs with... 220 INTs.

While I agree that he is overrated, that was a different era. It was common to throw more INT's than TD's. I always point to wins and losses. Namath lost more games than he won. Yes, it is a team game, but the QB is the single biggest contributor to wins and losses, in my opinion.

 

I do think he belongs in the hall of fame, though. Winning that superbowl was one of the great, impactful moments in pro football history and solidified the AFL as a league to rival the NFL and eventually the merger. That moment warrants his induction, in my opinion. It was huge.

16 hours ago, DrBob806 said:

Kevin Greene

Troy Polomalu

 

There's simply way too many Steelers in the HOF. If Polomalu didn't have that long mane of hair, nobody would know who he was.

Polamalu is one of the best safeties in the history of the league, regardless of his hair. He certainly belongs.

 

There are plenty of other Steelers players to point to, though.

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Ray Lewis.  No way he should have been voted into the hall in his first year of eligibility, if ever.  That entire double-murder case (which remains unsolved 23 years later) still smells.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Ralph- he was too cheap 

I hope you’re kidding but this is one of the dumbest myths that is consistently said on this board. He paid whatever it took to keep those SB teams together when there was no cap. What players did he cheap out on? He gave TD full control and he got burned by it and then was really careful on who he trusted.

 

he also keep Buffalo, which was the 2nd poorest city in the country, when he could left and made billions like other bigger market teams did. He is the sole reason the Bills are still in Buffalo. If you don’t like Ralph, I don’t like you. 
 

also, multiple SBs and afc titles. So dumb to hate on that man. 

11 minutes ago, dpberr said:

Ray Lewis.  No way he should have been voted into the hall in his first year of eligibility, if ever.  That entire double-murder case (which remains unsolved 23 years later) still smells.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He didn’t murder anyone. Is this what we’re going to do now? Just assume guilt?

14 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

I think Terrell Davis benefited from an amazing OL/system and had a HOF QB.  His output was great for a couple years but I dont think that happens with pretty much any other team.   

You can’t just assume those things though. You need to do what actually happened. 2,000 yard season, 2 time SB winner, MVP, SB MVP. That is dominant. Do you think Frank Gore is better because he played longer? I’d take Davis’ great over Gore’s longer pretty good any day of the week. 

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17 hours ago, DrBob806 said:

Kevin Greene

Troy Polomalu

 

There's simply way too many Steelers in the HOF. If Polomalu didn't have that long mane of hair, nobody would know who he was.

 

Except Greene was already an established pass rusher before he even went to Pittsburgh and still was after he left there.

 

He only played three seasons with the Steelers anyway.  He still had 4 very productive years between SF and Carolina after he left Pitt.

 

You want to keep out the guy 3rd all-time in sacks, who put up at least 10 sacks in 10 different seasons and at least 10 sacks in a season with 4 different teams, for playing three seasons of a 15-year career in Pittsburgh simply because you think the Steelers have too many?

 

And as far as Polamalu, name me the players at his position who were better than he was and aren't in the HOF, and who were that good for that long. 

Edited by Billz4ever
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Eli Manning will be a first ballot HOFer but I'm not sure he deserves to be in at all...

 

CAREER WINS

117-117 Career wins = .500

Jim Plunket, the only QB in NFL History with 2x Super Bowl wins whose not in the HOF, was also exactly a .500 QB.

For comparison, Cam Newton was .528, Andy Dalton .519, Jake Plummer .507

 

COMPLETION %

60.3% completion percentage in the passing era

5% lower than his peers

Tied for 59th all time

 

PRO BOWLS

ONLY 4 Pro Bowls in 16 years

 

ALL PRO SEASONS

ZERO

 

NFC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - IN 16 YEARS

ONLY 4x

 

INTERCEPTIONS

LEAD THE LEAGUE 3x - 2007, 2010, 2013

#9 most interceptions in League History

 

PLAYOFFS

ONLY made playoffs 6x in 16 years.

 

WINNING SEASONS

ONLY 7 winning seasons in 16 years.

 

REASON HE’S GETTING IN DESPITE THE EVIDENCE AGAINST.

 

1: Longevity during the Passing era of football.

#10 on Passing Yards All time - 57,023

#10 on Passing TDs all time - 366

#10 on Passing Completions all time - 4,895

(For reference, Matt Ryan and Phillip Rivers are both higher on list)

 

2: Beating Tom Brady in SB 2x.

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5 minutes ago, GerstAusGosheim said:

Eli Manning will be a first ballot HOFer but I'm not sure he deserves to be in at all...

 

CAREER WINS

117-117 Career wins = .500

Jim Plunket, the only QB in NFL History with 2x Super Bowl wins whose not in the HOF, was also exactly a .500 QB.

For comparison, Cam Newton was .528, Andy Dalton .519, Jake Plummer .507

 

COMPLETION %

60.3% completion percentage in the passing era

5% lower than his peers

Tied for 59th all time

 

PRO BOWLS

ONLY 4 Pro Bowls in 16 years

 

ALL PRO SEASONS

ZERO

 

NFC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - IN 16 YEARS

ONLY 4x

 

INTERCEPTIONS

LEAD THE LEAGUE 3x - 2007, 2010, 2013

#9 most interceptions in League History

 

PLAYOFFS

ONLY made playoffs 6x in 16 years.

 

WINNING SEASONS

ONLY 7 winning seasons in 16 years.

 

REASON HE’S GETTING IN DESPITE THE EVIDENCE AGAINST.

 

1: Longevity during the Passing era of football.

#10 on Passing Yards All time - 57,023

#10 on Passing TDs all time - 366

#10 on Passing Completions all time - 4,895

(For reference, Matt Ryan and Phillip Rivers are both higher on list)

 

2: Beating Tom Brady in SB 2x.

He is the definition of qbs getting too much credit for team success. A player who was never a top 10 players at his position should never be a HOFer. 

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20 hours ago, Allen2Diggs said:

Lynn Swann

He was a part of a Pittsburg team that won championships, but he never even had a single 1000 yard season and he isn't even in the top 250 players in all-time receiving yards.

 

For comparison, Ted Ginn Jr (who was considered a bust at wr) has more receiving yards than him.

 

I would have to compare him to guys in his Era, the new numbers are insane. We could throw alot of people out with that line of thinking.

 

Though I admit I haven't checked Swanns numbers against those in his Era, you may still be right.

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59 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

 

Except Greene was already an established pass rusher before he even went to Pittsburgh and still was after he left there.

 

He only played three seasons with the Steelers anyway.  He still had 4 very productive years between SF and Carolina after he left Pitt.

 

You want to keep out the guy 3rd all-time in sacks, who put up at least 10 sacks in 10 different seasons and at least 10 sacks in a season with 4 different teams, for playing three seasons of a 15-year career in Pittsburgh simply because you think the Steelers have too many?

Yes!!!

59 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

 

And as far as Polamalu, name me the players at his position who were better than he was and aren't in the HOF, and who were that good for that long. 

Thom Darden

Roger Wehrli....wait he was inducted 2007

 

Edited by DrBob806
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5 hours ago, The Jokeman said:

In his second to last season he got 10 sacks as a Raider. If that's mailing it in I'll take that over what Ed Oliver's done so far. 

Good for him. I never saw the Raiders win a Lombardi trophy while he was there.

 

I guess everyone is cool with my choice of Cris Carter?

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19 hours ago, PatsFanNH said:

I’ll defend Bradshaw in this way. Unlike Namath, whose D won him that one SB. While Bradshaw won 4 and was responsible for a couple of them.. 

Namath had the Jets offense on the field for over 36 minutes in SB 3 so while the Jets D played well, they weren’t on the field long enough to be the deciding factor. In an era when QBs called their own plays and the still wide hash marks essentially denied offenses a third of the field, Namath orchestrated a masterful game. He had the vaunted Colts defense running all over the field. He earned every bit of that MVP award because the people who voted for it understood the difference between a mere passer and a quarterback.

Edited by K-9
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2 hours ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

 

 

He didn’t murder anyone. Is this what we’re going to do now? Just assume guilt?

 

Re:  Ray Lewis:  Inconclusive on murder because he pled to an obstruction charge, thereby preventing a trial.  The white suit he wore that night was never recovered, he pled guilty to obstructing justice in a double-murder investigation, was fined $250k by the league, served a 12-month probation by the league, and settled out of court in two confidential settlements with the victims families.

 

That sort of mess would make me slow-roll his candidacy into the hall if I were a voter.   That case impacted his on the field playing career, which we're told is all that matters for a HOF vote, and the NFL pretends it never happened.

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23 hours ago, Allen2Diggs said:

Lynn Swann

He was a part of a Pittsburg team that won championships, but he never even had a single 1000 yard season and he isn't even in the top 250 players in all-time receiving yards.

 

For comparison, Ted Ginn Jr (who was considered a bust at wr) has more receiving yards than him.

Different eras for sure.  I’m no Steelers fan, but Lynn Swan was great.

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4 hours ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

I hope you’re kidding but this is one of the dumbest myths that is consistently said on this board. He paid whatever it took to keep those SB teams together when there was no cap. What players did he cheap out on? He gave TD full control and he got burned by it and then was really careful on who he trusted.

 

he also keep Buffalo, which was the 2nd poorest city in the country, when he could left and made billions like other bigger market teams did. He is the sole reason the Bills are still in Buffalo. If you don’t like Ralph, I don’t like you. 
 

also, multiple SBs and afc titles. So dumb to hate on that man. 

He didn’t murder anyone. Is this what we’re going to do now? Just assume guilt?

You can’t just assume those things though. You need to do what actually happened. 2,000 yard season, 2 time SB winner, MVP, SB MVP. That is dominant. Do you think Frank Gore is better because he played longer? I’d take Davis’ great over Gore’s longer pretty good any day of the week. 

 

Didn't he make Kelly the highest paid player in the NFL when he signed here?

 

EDIT: 

 

He did...actually the highest paid player in NFL history which at the time was a 5 year $7.5 million dollar contract. My how times have changed.

 

If I recall, Polian didn't want to do it and Ralph told him that he had to or else he wouldn't have a team here anymore and he'd have to pack up and leave if they lost Kelly.

 

https://buffalonews.com/online/bn-blitz-on-this-day-looking-back-at-the-jim-kelly-signing/article_354027ce-ffcf-11eb-b693-d3c066b5850f.html#:~:text=Thirty-five years ago today,' new million-dollar arm.

Edited by Big Turk
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3 hours ago, K-9 said:

Namath had the Jets offense on the field for over 36 minutes in SB 3 so while the Jets D played well, they weren’t on the field long enough to be the deciding factor. In an era when QBs called their own plays and the still wide hash marks essentially denied offenses a third of the field, Namath orchestrated a masterful game. He had the vaunted Colts defense running all over the field. He earned every bit of that MVP award because the people who voted for it understood the difference between a mere passer and a quarterback.

He had the ball back 5 times and that O only scored 16 points!!  They got all that time because the D got the turnovers.. they also were lucky that they didn’t change over to Johnny U earlier otherwise they probably lose.

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