Results of 48 member panel:

1. Rich Gannon -19 votes
2. Brett Favre - 15 votes
3. Steve McNair - 11 votes
4. Priest Holmes - 1 vote
5. Michael Vick - 1 votes
6. Derrick Brooks - 1 vote

Am I missing something? I can maybe understand Gannon's 19 votes but I cannot comprehend the other 26 votes that Favre and McNair garnered over Holmes 1 vote (not to take anything away from what they did). And where is Marvin Harrison?

Gannon definitely deserves the MVP.

Favre had the misfortune of playing his worst game of the season, by far, on the national stage in NYC (errrr, New Jersey) on the final Sunday. That, no doubt, was on the voters' minds. It's OK Brett my boy -- just win the Super Bowl MVP this year, and you and I will be just fine!

While Gannon deserves the MVP (and I make no secret of the fact that I am a long-time Raider-hater and am anti-Al Davis) the fact that Priest Holmes only received 1 vote is a travesty!....have these voters been watching the games all year or simply viewing the highlight shows and listening to the "experts" anoint their MVP awards on Sunday night?....had Holmes not missed the final two games due to injury he would have broken the all-time total yards (rushing and receiving) and single-season TD records.

Favre and McNair finishing 2nd and 3rd in the voting is another example of the media hype having far too excessive of an influence upon the postseason awards....hell, I'm surprised Michael Vick didn't get more than 1 vote (he ended up tied with Priest Holmes in the balloting? ) after all the national sports radio and television shows had virtually enducted Vick into the Hall of Fame after ONE great game....at the very least, Chad Pennington deserved to finish in the top five after he single-handedly took a 1-4 team that was barely scoring 7 points a game and turned them into division champions with his leadership (not to mention the fact that he finished with the fifth highest completion percentage in league history and the #1 QB rating in the NFL -- maybe that's something Favre and McNair can strive for once they get a little more "experience" -- or do they prefer the undeserved media adulation and hype when they have a decent game and no criticism whatsoever when they throw SIX interceptions in a crucial playoff game? )

In either event, I'm happy for Gannon -- the former Delaware Blue Hen truly deserves a ton of credit for what he has accomplished not to mention his perseverance after he was given up for nothing by the Pats, Vikings, Skins, and Chiefs....congrats for a great season Rich -- I just hope your egotistical owner and teammates get knocked out as early as possible in the AFC playoffs (probably by Chad and the Jets in a rematch of last month's close contest in the Coliseum).

[ January 01, 2003: Message edited by: gamecock ]

-- I just hope your egotistical owner and teammates get knocked out as early as possible in the AFC playoffs (probably by Chad and the Jets in a rematch of last month's close contest in the Coliseum).

My sentiments exactly! Since my Broncos are out of it, I need someone to cheer for. I hope there's room for me on the J-E-T-S bandwagon.

C'Mon-Theo, Cleveland already beat Tennessee; already beat the Jets, lost twice to Pittsburgh but by a whopping 3 points each time, once in O/T so cheer for a good AFC team: The Brownies !

Theo, move away from the light!!! With all due respect to osufan, the Browns are the worst team to make the playoffs since the Buccaneers first qualified many moons ago. The fact that such a laughable team is still playing while teams like the Dolphins, Patriots and Broncos are home simply means the NFL qualifying criteria needs some serious tinkering.

[ January 01, 2003: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

The Browns sure were "laughable" when they BEAT your precious 9-7 Jets (same record as Cleveland)

(I say precious; that is if you were a fan of the Jets BEFORE they made the playoffs)

The Dolphins, Patriots and Broncos have no one to blame but themselves. Miami went 2-6 on the road and collapsed down the stretch; the Broncos were blown out twice by the Raiders, a team they used to own, and New England went 3-6 against teams with winning records.

Hi, osufan - Yep, I've been a fan of both the Giants and the Jets for over thirty years. Which means I've seen a lot of bad football over the years . Of course, when the Giants and Jets were as bad as the Browns are, they were not playing in the postseason.

Earth to Munson: The Browns are better than the Jets

That's pretty good, osufan - glad you haven't lost your sense of humor. Remember, the Jets won a tough division title, while the underperforming Browns barely got the last wild card slot by dint of tortured math that left at least four other more deserving teams at home. But I guess we'll know more after the games are over Sunday evening. Till then.....

Didn't the Jets do the Browns a favor and get them into the playoffs? Maybe the Jets had nothing to fear of the Browns....????....

(just stirring the pot)

Munson are you for real:

Miami, New England, Denver, Jets, Cleveland
all have the same record of 9-7

October 27, 2002 Final Score:

CLEVELAND - 24
jets - 21

So, what part of above facts made you come to the conclusion the Browns are the worst team of the five, except for the normal boring 'cleveland sux' attitude that new yorkers have ?

[quote]Originally posted by osufan:
Earth to Munson: The Browns are better than the Jets

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Is this earth?

I can say Chad Pennington but I can't remember who the QB for the horrible horrible Browns is. Browns lose big time.

Browns beat them once, they can beat them again. Big deal you've heard of Pennington yawn

If you beat a team, that means you are better than that team [see above score from Oct 27]

[ January 02, 2003: Message edited by: osufan ]

[quote]Originally posted by osufan:
[QB] If you beat a team, that means you are better than that team [see above score from Oct 27]

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No, it means you were better THAT DAY. It doesn't mean you're necessarily better NOW.

In your opinion. But Cleveland still has the win now don't they.

I think I went through this at 8 years old playing stickball: "Boo Hoo you beat me but I'm still better" LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ January 02, 2003: Message edited by: osufan ]

Admit it osufan, the cleveless browns suck.

Jets must really suck then if they lost to the Browns.

Gotta love today's Wall Street Journal. They refer to this weekend's Browns-Steelers game as the "Who Cares" game. Of course, they pick the Steelers to win, but the Miami Hurricanes could probably beat the Browns.

Sorry, osufan, but I gotta say you're providing a lot of entertainment. Has the blood pressure machine exploded yet?

Scoreboard
Oct 27,2002
Cleveland - 24
Jets - 21

[quote]Originally posted by osufan:
If you beat a team, that means you are better than that team [see above score from Oct 27]

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Scoreboard:
December 1, 2002
Carolina Panthers 13, Cleveland Browns 6

OSU, I know (or at least hope) you are just trash talking when you say that if you beat a team, you are better than that team. But if you're not, please feel free to use the exhibit I've provided to rate the Panthers ahead of the Browns! And that loss was much more recently than the Browns victory over the Jets. You've heard thye phrase any given Sunday, haven't you?

Well the only way to settle this argument is to see who goes further in the playoffs, the Browns or the Jets. Of course if they could end up playing each other that would do it.

Hi phillyrunner. Actually, I have to disagree with you. The Jets are definitely better a team than the Browns this year, no matter what happens this weekend. To make my point, let me go back into ancient history, 1986, to also dispel any anti-Cleveland bias. The Jets played the Browns in the divisional playoffs, and the Jets would have beaten the Browns if it wasn't for Gastineau's stupidity that was ten times worse than Rudd's earlier this year (blatant unnecessary roughness against Kosar on a 4th and way long play. Hmm, I remember the Browns quarterback better then, than now. ). Even if the Jets had won that game, I still would have said that the Browns were the better team easily, but that the Jets played better that day. (The Jets played worse than the 2002 Bengals the last five games of that regular season.)

Anyway, the Browns did make the playoffs, which was great for them. They did do what was required to get into the playoffs, however good or bad a team they were. They had some nice comeback wins. Best of luck to them on Sunday. It will be interesting if the Jets host the Browns for the AFC Championship.

Go J - E - T - S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

Oh, and one more thing, to make this relevant to the topic. Rich Gannon is way hot and deserved the MVP.

[ January 03, 2003: Message edited by: pat125 ]

Pat, I really don't have any preference of the Browns or the Jets. I am just saying that come playoff time when all is on the line, it is not the time for a team to simply have a bad day, like in the regular season.

I do agree with you on Gannon, it makes us older folks feel like we can do it at any age.

By the way did you notice 4 of the 6 candidates were QBs. It seems like they always garner the most votes.

Phillyrunner, I agree. In the playoffs it does not matter who the "better" team is, it matters who won the game, because that team has a chance to win the Super Bowl, while the other team does not.

Yes, it always seems like the top candidates for the MVP, as well as the Heisman Trophy, are QBs. The remainder are usually RBs.

Unfortunately, the only way we'd get to see who is the better team between the NYJ and the Browns would be for NYJ to beat IND tomorrow and for CLE to beat PIT and OAK. If CLE beats OAK in OAK, then it would be a moot point.

This Browns vs. Jets vs. Sliced Bread argument is the mootest thing I've heard on this board (P&R threads aside) since I logged on to the Old Board years ago (wow, remember the Old Board?!). Of course, this weekend might help decide what's what. 'Til then, both teams officially suck.

[quote]Originally posted by George_vikingfan:

Scoreboard:
December 1, 2002
Carolina Panthers 13, Cleveland Browns 6

OSU, I know (or at least hope) you are just trash talking when you say that if you beat a team, you are better than that team.

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Hi George - The difference here is I admit Carolina beat my Browns. I don't come on here and say "Carolina Sux". The poor Jetty fans don't even admit Browns won, but they say the rematch will prove it. I could use their reasoning and just ignore if Browns lose to them, and say "Jets suck" right ?

Munson wrote:

Gotta love today's Wall Street Journal. They refer to this weekend's Browns-Steelers game as the "Who Cares" game. Of course

You just said the greatest rivalry in all of Pro Football means nothing.....Open mouth, insert...

Hi, osufan - I think you're imagining something that's not there. The person who insisted on comparing the Jets and Browns was you. I simply pointed out the obvious - that the Browns being in the playoffs is a terrible injustice to the numerous teams that are more deserving. As for "the greatest rivalry in all of pro football" it may be you who is tasting the distinct taste of shoe polish - or at least inhaling the fumes. The Browns are what, four or five years old? The Steelers had a rivalry that probably ranked third or fourth after NFC rivalries like Giants-Eagles, etc, but that rivalry was with a team that now plays in Baltimore, not with the second-rate expansion team that currently plays in Cleveland.

[ January 04, 2003: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

And those teams are more deserving because........zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[quote]Originally posted by Munson Man:
I simply pointed out the obvious - that the Browns being in the playoffs is a terrible injustice to the numerous teams that are more deserving.

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I couldn't disagree more. There's no injustice. Those other teams didn't win enough games, so they fell victim to the tiebreakers. Those teams have only themselves to blame.

[quote]Originally posted by Joe in Philly:
I couldn't disagree more. There's no injustice. Those other teams didn't win enough games, so they fell victim to the tiebreakers. Those teams have only themselves to blame.[/QB]

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Well said, Joe....if the whining fans of the Dolphins, Broncos and Chargers want to attempt to blame the Browns for their "misfortune" in being home for the playoffs they should find a big mirror first that identifies where the TRUE blame lies....all three of those AFC "juggernauts" were comfortably secure of a playoff berth and controlled their own destiny before their typical late-season collapses (in the case of the 'Fins, their December choke job has become as much of a certainty and tradition as Christmas lights adorning the houses in the suburbs) -- and don't even get me started on the Saints becoming the epitome of a choke artist with their embarrassing performance against three of the league's doormats to close out the season.

As for the Wall Street Journal calling the Browns-Steelers game sunday a "who cares" game my initial reaction was no writer for the Journal knows anything about sports anyway -- which was clearly demonstrated again with that ludicrous remark....the Browns undeniably EARNED their playoff berth this season and while they will have their hands full against Tommy Maddox tomorrow (I'm sure the Cleveland defense would prefer to be facing Kordell --speaking of athletes who choke in big games) I still expect a close, entertaining game -- unlike the egg that the Packers and Colts laid on Saturday....I, for one, will continue to pull for the Jets and Browns to face off in the AFC Championship -- although I don't think any team will be able to prevent Chad Pennington and the hot J-E-T-S from making it to San Diego in three weeks.

Justice prevails! Priest Holmes is named AP Offensive Player of the Year. Vermeil thinks very highly of Holmes and it's great to see team players without the ego go recognized.

It's always funny to see the League MVP and Offensive Player of the Year Awards given to two different guys. Last year, the same thing: Warner got the MVP and Faulk got the O' Player of the Year.