(Note: From time to time, I will be putting up posts that aren’t book-oriented. Most will be sports related, but they could honestly be on any number of topics.)
San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis reeled in the much-deserved Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award on Friday afternoon. The Ole Miss standout led the league in tackles with 174 and also chipped in four sacks and two forced fumbles just for good measure. Not only did he lead the league in tackles, but he was 33 tackles ahead of 2nd place D.J. Williams of the Denver Broncos. Willis was the 11th pick of the 2007 draft and made his presence felt immediately upon his arrival in the Bay Area. He was one of the few bright spots during an otherwise abysmal season for a 49ers team that was expected to build on their 7-9 season from a year ago. Unfortunately, the 49ers will not be able to parlay their poor record (5-11) into another player of Willis’ caliber because their top pick belongs to the New England Patriots due to a trade during last April’s draft that allowed them to get tackle Joe Staley.
But I digress, this isn’t a piece about the 49ers and the future, rather about the lack of logic displayed by two people in the AP voting that yielded the award for the Willis. He received 48 of the 50 votes from the panel of the media members that cover the NFL. What were the two idiots that voted for Carolina’s Jon Beason watching during the season? Mind you, Beason had a remarkable rookie campaign, but I just cannot understand why voters feel the need to cast a contrarian in these award ballots when the winner is clearly unanimous. I already mentioned how large Willis’ lead was in tackles against the league and it’s not like Beason was even 2nd to him. He was 3rd, finishing with 140 tackles, but he didn’t register a sack or force a fumble. His only advantage over Willis was seven pass deflections while Willis was shutout. I’m sorry but that edge doesn’t merit two votes for the award.
What is the thought process behind casting useless votes? Are they just figuring that Willis will win anyway so they might as well just drop a vote in for their buddy or their favorite player? They cannot honestly believe that Beason had a legitimate shot at taking home the hardware, right? Willis’ 174 tackles is the highest mark since at least 2000 (NFL.com’s statistics page doesn’t show tackle totals any further back) meaning his debut was truly something special. I realize he won the award and at the end of the day there is not any real harm in him not winning unanimously, but I just get so frustrated by stupidity and it doesn’t get much more stupid than this, in my opinion.
I wonder if these two idiots were the same two idiots that voted for Magglio Ordonez as the American League’s MVP over Alex Rodriguez this season. Keep in mind, I’m a Detroit Tigers fan and love Ordonez, but when you look at the evidence in front of you, there is no possible way to justify a vote for Ordonez or Beason. A-Rod outclassed Ordonez in every significant statistic except batting average, as Ordonez won the batting title. So an edge in passes deflected and batting average led to four people making wholly illogical and unjustified decisions. I think perhaps I’m so heated because I am quite confident that I would not botch the opportunity if given a chance to vote. Since it is an honor bestowed upon members of the mainstream media, I am on the outside looking in, but that does not mean that these clowns should abuse their privilege.
Congratulations to Willis, I was pretty confident that he would be quite a talent in the NFL, but I did not discover his abilities conventionally. I did not watch a bunch of Ole Miss tape or buy the NFL Network to check out the scouting combines. No, I discovered Willis’ excellence through Madden ‘07 on Playstation 2. For several years now, I have created a team and played & simulated through 10s of seasons while trying to build a dynasty. I get my hands on a roster file for the NCAA version with all the real names and attributes plugged in and then export the draft classes into Madden so I’m playing with real players for several years. Willis was an absolute beast for my, get this, San Francisco 49ers dynasty.
Now, I was not comprised of the current Niners club, instead opting to do a fantasy draft where I picked my entire team from scratch, but after the initial season, I acquired Willis and watched him grow into a 99-rated talent. This year, having upgraded to XBox 360, I drafted him to my Jacksonville Jaguars dynasty in Madden ‘08 and once again watched as he became one of, if not the, preeminent linebacker in the game. I suspect he will follow a similar trajectory in his real-life career and his rookie season was an excellent beginning.
