MVP VOTERS: BRADY’S BRILLIANCE BLINDING
Standard too high for Pats superstar
Tom Brady is having another MVP-type season. Just don’t bet on him winning the award if he continues to crush it the rest of the way.
Why? Because he’s his own biggest competition. Having a great year and
NFL NOTES Karen Guregian
carrying the Patriots is what Brady always does. Leading the league in many of the important statistical categories for quarterbacks is also a pretty regular exercise for the five-time Super Bowl winner.
Voters of the award, a panel of 50 sportswriters who cast their ballot at the conclusion of the regular season, probably look at Brady and sigh:
USA Today’s Jarrett Bell, who has a vote for league MVP, didn’t dispel that notion when reached by the Herald last week.
“The thing with him, and it’s always been the case, and it’s probably still going to be the case now, is the fact, you take him for granted,” Bell said of Brady. “Not so much you take his skills for granted. Because you know he’s great. But you’ve seen it before. And it’s kind of like par for the course. For him, how can you top yourself? It’s like, go win another Super Bowl.”
Brady, the man considered by many the greatest quarterback of all time, has won this award just twice during an illustrious career that now spans 18 seasons. He won in 2007, when he set a record for touchdown passes with 50, a mark that was later broken by Peyton Manning. He won again in 2010. Meanwhile, he has won twice as many
MVPs.
How can that be that he is overlooked so routinely?
In 2011, he carried the Patriots, throwing for 5,000 yards. It was the same course in 2012. He put on another clinic (4,827 yards, 34 TDs, eight interceptions). In 2014, after he was considered washed up after four games, he proceeded to throw 18 touchdowns to one interception in the next five games. After the Pats started 2-2, he led them to the No. 1 seed. That sure seemed MVP-worthy. Last year, he did more of the same, carrying the Pats after completing his fourgame suspension.
The Talk of Fame Network’s Clark Judge, another MVP voter, believes Brady would have more awards save for the fact people are tired of seeing him win.
“I think Brady is a victim of his own success,” Judge said. “I think we’re so used to Tom Brady doing the improbable, it’s, ‘Oh well, it’s Tom Brady.’ The guy is 40 years old, for God’s sake. You want to tell me what other part of that team is doing exceptionally well? He’s carried the team every year. I think you could honestly vote for him every year, and not go wrong.”
Brady has also been somewhat unlucky, coming up against some other notable competition recently, losing out to Atlanta’s Matt Ryan last year, Carolina’s Cam Newton in 2015, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers in 2014, Denver’s Manning in 2013 and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson in 2012, which sums up the past five years alone.
Ryan had video-game numbers last year. Newton was a one-man wrecking crew in 2015, as his 45 touchdowns during the regular season marked the most by a single player since 2013. Rodgers had one of his best seasons in 2014, Manning broke Brady’s touchdown record (55) the previous year, while Peterson in 2012 had 2,097 rushing yards, the second-most ever for a running back in a single season.
So what’s Brady’s trick this year? What might change voter’s minds this time around? He’s doing it at age 40. But even that rarity, while certainly something that will get the attention of voters, might not make a difference given the presence of a fresh face. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has everyone’s attention right now.
His team is 8-1 in his second NFL season and he’s captured everyone’s imagination, more than the old man in Foxboro. Brady, however, does lead Wentz in most of the important statistical categories, save for touchdown passes, as Wentz is ahead 23-19.
Said Bell: “It’s not like you see a bunch of 40-yearolds playing at a high level, but when it comes to the MVP deal, we’ve seen it so often, if you have Brady, Rodgers and Carson Wentz, people just gravitate to the new face. They’re going to give him a lot of love.
“If it stays the way it is, I’d be surprised if (Brady) won the MVP, even though this has been one of his most efficient seasons. It’s just Carson Wentz has captured everyone’s imagination, and rightfully so. I just think when there’s a hot new guy on the block, it’s worth extra love.” Judge agreed.
“I think people are suffering from Brady fatigue and Patriots fatigue. They look past him and want something else. They just want a new face,” Judge said. “But I defy anyone to tell me that he’s not the most valuable guy out there. He does more with less than anybody out there. But we just shrug our shoulders.
And Carson Wentz is having a good year. Will he get the MVP? He probably will. But to me, Brady is more valuable.”
While his mind isn’t made up on this year’s vote with seven weeks remaining to play, if he had to vote today, Judge would go with Brady, who leads the NFL in yards (2,807), completions (231), and yards per game (312) for the AFC East-leading Pats.
“To me, the first half of the season, Brady’s carried that team. They had the worst-ranked defense,” Judge said. “They’re not giving up the points they used to, but he was the one quarterback who could outscore his own defense. That’s how good he is. But he’s not going to win it because voters are tired of Brady, Brady, Brady, Patriots, Patriots, Patriots. It’s too bad, because he’s extraordinary. What he’s doing is remarkable. I’ve only seen it once (before). That was Brett Favre.
But he’s carrying the team. He’s put them on his shoulders. He’s carrying more of the load every year. And we don’t tend to acknowledge it. It’s just Tom Brady. OK.”
Lindsay Jones, another MVP voter from USA Today, also acknowledged the Brady fatigue factor. But she saw him last week in person in Denver when the Pats wiped out the Broncos, and walked away reminded of exactly what he does, and why he should still be in the running for the award.
“It’s exciting to see Carson Wentz or Alex Smith
get in the mix,” she said, “but then you see Brady in person. I saw him Sunday night (in Denver). What he does is so unique from everybody else. What he does physically, mentally. He’s just so special.”
Just not special enough to win a third MVP.
‘Global’ warning
By now, many have seen the NFL Network docu-
mentary “Going Global” in which Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola spent time in Mexico City to promote today’s game.
It was a fun look at the city with the two Patriots acting as hosts while providing comedic relief.
We saw them in the ring with Mexican wrestlers, riding a hot air balloon, and getting in a cage with jaguars, leopards and other big cats in a “leopard’s den.”
The hot air balloon ride almost didn’t end well, nearly ending in a crash.
Was the balloon ride as terrifying as it seemed?
“I’ll never do that again. Once is enough,” Amendola said Friday after practicing at Falcon Field at the Air Force Academy prior to departure for Mexico. “When you’re looking down at cactus and power lines, it’s not a very safe environment.”
Amendola, however, did enjoy his stint with the
luchadores, or Mexican wrestlers, as he and Edelman took on new personas: El Zorro (The Fox) and La Ardilla (The Squirrel) respectively.
“That was a dream come true,” Amendola said. “It was fun to get in the ring and learn some of those moves.”
Special Seely salute
Raiders special teams coach Brad Seely coached the Patriots special teams for a decade (1999-2008), winning three Super Bowl rings. He later coached with the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers following his departure from Bill Belichick’s staff after the 2008 season, and has served as Oakland’s special teams coach since 2015.
Naturally, Belichick raved about the Raiders special teamers, be it punter Marquette King (second in NFL with 50.3 yards per punt), kicker Giorgio Tavecchio, or returner Cordarrelle Patterson (tied for league-lead with 30.8 yards per kick return).
Seely chatted with the Bay Area News Group last week. Asked why the Patriots are so successful on special teams, Seely pointed to the head man.
“Well I think No. 1, the head coach cares. He’s gonna find personnel to help the special teams coach,” Seely said. “He did that when I was there. We always had good players ... good players make good coaches. I was always appreciative of the emphasis he put on it and it’s a big emphasis there.”
Seely’s best memory of Belichick?
“There’s a lot of them. I just know that he’s really good at what he does. He’s a heck of a head coach and all this success, you gotta attribute obviously to Tom Brady, but you gotta attribute a lot of it to (Belichick). He’s really good at what he does.”
Wilcots lauds Cooks
Football analyst Solomon Wilcots has been impressed watching Brandin Cooks and how he’s been able to adapt so quickly to the Patriots offense, not to mention gain Brady’s trust. Other speed receivers haven’t been as fortunate.
“Brandin Cooks has exceeded my expectations because Chad Johnson couldn’t do this (with the Patriots). Torry Holt, couldn’t do it. You can go down the line,” Wilcots said. “Randy Moss came in, and Wes Welker came in and did it. But you’ve had a string of guys who came in and couldn’t do it. Brandin Cooks from Day 1 has been on the money for Tom Brady. He’s been great for the team and for the offense. I think that’s a huge thing for them. That part isn’t simple. What they do on offense isn’t simple.”
Teddy good soldier
Teddy Bridgewater isn’t going to make noise and complain that he’s not starting now that he’s been activated to the Minnesota Vikings roster. He’s happy to be back on the sideline, and is embracing his role as backup quarterback and cheerleader for Vikings starter Case Keenum.
The team is 7-2 with a two-game lead in the NFC North. There’s no reason for him to be upset about not starting.
“I don’t want this to be about me. It’s about us,” he told the Pioneer Press Thursday. “We’re sitting in a good position right now, pushing for the playoffs, hopefully home-field advantage. You can’t take the attention away from that.”
Bridgewater made his return to the roster prior to last week’s game vs. the Redskins after extended recovery from a knee injury suffered in a non-contact situation last offseason.
“I’m just continuing to be a great teammate, motivating the guys,” he said of his role on the sideline and classroom. “We’re playing great football right now. What else could you ask for?”