Chris Johnson: Biggest MVP Heist In History?

[Nza]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

I still don't get why people can't differentiate between "most valuable player" and award x. Was CJ valuable to his team? Absolutely. Every team has a player that was their own MVP. How can you pick a player on a team that didn't make the playoffs as the leagues Most Valuable Player?

You can't, which is why it isn't *really* an individual award at all. For a player to be the most valuable in the league, there has to be real demonstrated value, not a theoretical value if the rest of the team happened to be good enough to make the playoffs. Yeah, of course CJ would have been a real MVP candidate had the Titans went 13-3 again, but they didn't, so he wasn't.

In a way the MVP award isn't entirely logical because it is generally perceived as "without this player this team would suck", which is mostly true, but the thing is even the Colts had the potential to suck with Peyton this year - their D could have been awful. So I think the award could stand to be acknowledged more as a team award, given to the spearhead of the team, because if it truely was entirely individual, then the value of a player would only concern the team's performance relative to them being there or not, and not so much whether they made the playoffs (e.g. 1-15 to 9-7 is a better net impact than 7-9 to 13-3 if we were to somehow be able to compare between teams with and without a particular player).

[shotgun styles]

MVP is a politically motivated booby prize. It's worthless.

See also:

The Oscar

The Nobel Peace Prize

The Medal of Honor

The Pulitzer

The Heisman

The Emmy

...and many more. The only OBJECTIVE awards are those won on the field though objective means (points scored by actions not votes). A gold medal in the 100 meters for example.

[Cebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by shotgun styles

MVP is a politically motivated booby prize. It's worthless.

None of those awards are worthless.

It's up for debate how much importance should be placed on them, but they are certainly not worthless.

[shotgun styles]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cebby

None of those awards are worthless. It's up for debate how much importance should be placed on them, but they are certainly not worthless.

Any award that comes down to nothing more than a popularity contest is worthless.

Sadly, our elected officials similarly lack any consistent objective qualifications.

[AnArtofWar]

I think it is different personally...it's not "best" player...it is the most valuable. Peyton Manning is a lot more valuable to the Colts than CJ is to the Titans...if it was best player...it would be the biggest BPoNFL ever

[shotgun styles]

Quote: Originally Posted by AnArtofWar

I think it is different personally...it's not "best" player...it is the most valuable. Peyton Manning is a lot more valuable to the Colts than CJ is to the Titans...if it was best player...it would be the biggest BPoNFL ever

Manning is only the most valuable to his team because his backup is garbage. Thus, you are rewarding him for playing for an irresponsible franchise.

[nccomicfan]

I love CJ as much as the next fan, but you cannot justify the MVP for a guy on an 8-8 football team....it wasn't CJ that came on to lead them back to .500, it was VY

[davidandjose]

If the sabermetric movement in baseball has taught us anything, it is that value in professional sports can be quantified.

Let's say that there is a professional football statistic that roughly designates value (akin to baseball's WAR) and that Peyton is determined to have a "value rating" that significantly exceeds league average.

Now let's say that Peyton Manning is traded to the Cleveland Browns at the beginning of the 2009 season. Does his "value" decrease dramatically? The answer, in my opinion, is no. His statistics may decrease significantly because he will be throwing to Mohamed Massaquoi instead of Reggie Wayne, but his value will most likely be the same. Peyton will still have the same football intelligence, the same accuracy and arm strength, and the same "intangibles" (leadership, etc.) that he did in Indianapolis; it will merely be his supporting cast that destroys his statistical worth (and, thus, the team's record). I don't think that anyone would argue that Peyton's level of play would somehow be decreased by playing on a crappier team.

Now in this thread, the general consensus has appeared to be: "Had the Titans made the playoffs, CJ would have gotten MVP votes." If what I have already stated is even remotely true, then it is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that Johnson didn't get any MVP consideration. Chris Johnson can't play every position at once. It is not Chris Johnson's fault, for example, that the team that drafted him happened to have the 28th worst defense in the NFL in 2009.