As the NFL season concludes and the playoffs are upon us, this is also the time of year when the post-season awards are voted upon, and we find out who the league’s MVP will be. This award is the most prominent individual post-season award given out by the NFL.
The award winner will be announced on February tenth, right before the Super Bowl.
There are only two names that come to mind when discussing the 2020 MVP Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.
According to the Merrimack-Webster dictionary, the MVP is an award given to the player who contributes the most to their team’s success.
The two candidates for the MVP award lived up to that definition this season. BothRodgers and Brady led their team to division titles with 13-4 records.
Due to their better conference record, the Packers will have a bye the first weekend of the playoffs, while the Bucs will host the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rodgers threw for 4,115 yards, 37 touchdowns, and four interceptions while being sacked 30 times.
Brady led the league in passing yards with 5,316 yards, the third-highest in NFL history, 43 touchdown passes, and 12 interceptions. Brady was sacked 22 times as well.
At 44 years old, Brady continues to defy the odds and redefine the definition of greatness. No athlete in the history of professional sports has put up the numbers that Brady has at his age.
Brady set the new single-season record for most passing yards in Buccaneers history with 5,316. He owns the single-season touchdown record with 43 and is second all-time in wins in Bucs history behind Trent Dilfer with 38 wins, Doug Williams, and Jameis Winston with 26 wins.
Brady led the NFL in passing yards (5314) and touchdown passes (43) this season.
Bruce Arians, when asked about his quarterback’s chances of winning the MVP award and said, “I think if he doesn’t get it, it’s a travesty. Most completions ever, 5,000 yards, touchdowns — the whole nine yards. To me, it’s not even a close race.”
Most of the folks in Tampa feel the same way. But what about the 50 writers who vote for the MVP award. What do they think about Brady? Let’s say the feelings about Brady with some of the voters do not align with the feelings of those in Tampa.
Brady has been so good for so long; it has become just another Sunday afternoon football game when Brady is on the field as he continues to break records and add to his legacy every week.
There is also a “Tampa bias” nationally regarding anything related to the Buccaneers.
A couple of examples. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are two of the best wide receivers in the game, yet nationally these two receivers rarely are mentioned as top ten receivers by the folks in the national media.
Linebacker Lavonte David continues to be overlooked as one of the best at his position despite his numbers being better than those of Bobby Wagner, who the national media has adored adores for years.
I point that out to brace you not to be surprised when Tom Brady loses out to Aaron Rodgers for the 2021 MVP award.
Not because Rodgers’s stats are better, and he is the better quarterback. No Way! It’s because of the bias against Tampa nationally and anything that Tom Brady is part of.
Brady has played at such a high level for so long that the media finds it boring every time Brady breaks another record or adds to his legacy.
Bruce Arians is correct in that Brady should win the award. It shouldn’t even be that close of a vote. However, it will be.
There is no question in my mind that Tom Brady is the MVP and should win the award. There are two stats that Rodgers did have better numbers than Brady. That being interceptions and completion percentage.
The votes have already been cast. There is nothing Brady can do or say that can change anyone’s mind. Our only hope is that the voters do the right thing and crown Tom Brady, as the 2021 MVP.
