New Orleans Saints: QB Drew Brees Ignored Again For NFL MVP Award, Manning Walks Away With Record Fourth Selection.
After Drew Brees had the second most prolific passing season of any NFL quarterback in the history of the league in 2008, falling just 15 yards short of Dan Marino’s passing yardage record of 5,069 yards set in 1982, he came in sec0nd in voting for the MVP award to Colts QB Peyton Manning largely in part to the Saints 8-8 record that year.
Fast forward to the 2009 season, the Saints lead by Drew Brees reel off 13 wins in a row which is the most in franchise history, secure their first ever home field advantage while breaking their previous best mark for points scored in a season.
Brees threw for 4,388 yards, 34 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and set a new NFL record for completion percentage in a season completing 70.6 percent of his passes — sounds like an MVP type year to me.
Once again however he was passed over in favor of Peyt0n Manning who garnered a staggering 39 out of 50 votes balloted from the sports writers who cover the NFL and make up the MVP selection committee.
Manning has now been voted the league MVP four separate times, a new NFL record, surpassing the previous mark of three held by Brett Favre.
Really? Did Manning have that much of a better season than Brees to be voted for that lopsidedly?
Manning threw for 4,500 yards, 33 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and had a completion percentage of 68.8 percent — statistically Brees had the better season.
That’s not to discount what Manning has accomplished, he had a superb season for a quarterback and did lead his team to a perfect 14-0 record before being benched for the remaining two games after securing home field advantage through the play-offs.
But a better season he did not have.
MVP stands for most valuable player not most popular player and Brees definitively had a better season than Manning and was therefore the more valuable player, clearly Manning is the more popular.
No one knows what Drew Brees will have to do to garner an MVP award, maybe throw for 6,000 yards and 75 touchdowns — that should get their attention.
So here is to Drew Brees, the real NFL MVP.
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