Obviously, football is the ultimate team sport. But individual accolades are something for the fans and the organization to be very proud of. And the football writers and broadcasters dropped the ball big time by completely snubbing the Ravens in the Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year categories.
Earlier this week, Matt Ryan won the 2008 NFL Rookie of the Year, which was kind of expected. What wasn’t expected was that Joe Flacco received exactly ZERO votes.
It was announced yesterday that Falcon’s Head Coach Mike Smith won NFL Coach of the Year, which was an acceptable choice considering all the events that have transpired with that franchise over the past two years. What’s unacceptable is that John Harbaugh received ZERO votes.
Not kidding…here’s how the voting broke down:
Rookie of the Year:
Matt Ryan, QB, ATL – 44 votes
Chris Johnson, RB, TEN – 3 votes
Ryan Clady, OT, DEN – 2 votes
Matt Forte, RB, CHI – 1 vote
Coach of the Year:
Mike Smith, ATL – 23.5 votes
Tony Sparano, MIA – 22.5 votes
Jeff Fisher, TEN – 3 votes
Bill Belichick, NE – 1 vote
Coincidentally, aside from Fisher and Johnson, everyone on that list is now sitting home with the rest of us watching the playoffs. And the Ravens will take care of the Titan nominees on Saturday.
I just don’t understand how that happens, so maybe someone could shed some light on this for me. A rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback who turned a 5-11 team into a legitimate Super Bowl contender didn’t even get a vote…not one between the two of them.
How can the football writers and broadcasters make it up to us? Give Ed Reed the Defensive Player of the Year award. Or at least give him a vote.
Conspiracy maybe? Take it away, Franchise.
