We've Officially Entered the Upside Down: Tom Brady is Arguing Against Drake Maye for MVP
Until further notice, this is still America. Which, if what they taught me in Social Studies at Ralph Talbot Elementary is true, we're free to disagree. And that's a right we as Americans exercise even more than our right to walk around every day with our good buddies, Smith & Wesson.
In fact, most of us are so entrenched in our positions on everything, that pretty much every issue in the country is decided by the 20% who haven't made up their minds yet. Even on those occasions where the choice seems obvious, you can still get 40% of Americans to advocate for the wrong thing. In politics, current events, public affairs, whether it's OK to put pineapple on pizza. (It's delicious; I'll die on this hill.) We're pretty much 40/40 split on everything. So it comes it should surprise no one that the NFL MVP race is the same way.
Some people advocate for the quarterback who led the NFL in completion % and yards per attempt, which is a rare feat, indeed. Also passer rating, QBR, adjusted yards per attempt, net yards per attempt and adjusted net yards per attempt. Oh, and who added 450 rushing yards as a chaser. While adding 10 wins to his teams total from the previous season, which has never been done before. Put those pieces of the Survivor puzzle together and the words "Most Valuable Player" appear.
But not everyone agrees. Some say it should go to the guy who had more touchdown passes, but with fewer yards from scrimmage (thanks to 1 rushing yard):
While leading his team to the lofty heights that is third place in the NFC West.
Again, that sort of healthy debate is what this once great nation is all about.
What I can't abide is one of our own taking the wrong position on this divisive issue. While making the worst possible argument:
Granted, 46 is a lot of touchdowns. But "Drake's got a long career ahead. I'm sure he's going to have many more opportunities"? So the MVP isn't about who the actual "Most Valuable" is? It's now the NFL's Irving J. Thalberg Lifetime Achievement Award? By that logic, why not just give it to Phillip Rivers for using a thousand helium balloons to fly his house to Indianapolis for one last ride?
And why bring Josh McDaniels into the discussion, other than to suggest that Maye is the beneficiary of good coaching and not, you know, the Most Valuable? That sounds very much like calling him a "System Quarterback," and just lucky to have the coaches he does. Which is precisely the argument Brady's own critics used to throw at him to suggest he didn't deserve consideration as they handed out awards to Peyton Manning, Steve McNair, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and the like.
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I mean, what happened to "I'm a Patriot for life"? I don't expect blind loyalty to one of our own. Which is to say, blind loyalty to one of our own is exactly what I expect. But in this situation, you don't need to be blind to be loyal to the year Drake Maye just wrapped up:
And if Brady's one of those supporting the strength of schedule argument, I'll point out that's another point that was used against him all the time. That the AFC East was garbage for 20 years and rest of his competition was soft enough to be sold by Mike Lindell. But in Maye's case, that's been thoroughly debunked:
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But Brady's not even making that SoS point here. He's simply saying that because Maye has a lot of years ahead of him and Stafford doesn't, the award should go to Stafford. Which is the opposite of how a meritocracy works. Awards are meant to be deserved, not awarded by sympathy votes. The Rolling Stones never won a Grammy until their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986. Then racked up three more for their later, lesser works. Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Tom Cruise and Glenn Close never won Oscars. Drew Brees never won an MVP. It's OK for Stafford to retire in a couple of years without one too.
And if Maye is going to win a bunch of them (spoiler: he will) then let the first come now, since he's earned it.