One from Stanford, the other from Baylor. One with potential that exceeds our imagination, the other? The same. These two were the most hyped quarterbacks in an NFL Draft since Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf.
But unlike the original story, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III are looking to complete the story the way we expect and long for it to be completed–at least in their first season in the League. With the two players nothing short of neck and neck in the eyes of the fans and the eyes of their opponents, Offensive Rookie of the Year discussions usually start and finish something like this:
“RG3 is playing better!”
“Andrew Luck has more wins!”
“Look at Griffin’s passer rating!”
“Look at Luck’s yards!”
“He’s leading the team!”
“2-14!”
And the conversations never stop there. As a matter of fact, they have escalated even further. No longer are we talking about the Rookie of the Year; tones about RG3 and Luck’s NFL Most Valuable Player award eligibility have slowly grown louder in the last couple of weeks.
I am an Eagles fan. Having said that, I would love to see Andrew Luck in my division rather than Robert Griffin III, and him posting a perfect passer rating to go along with four touchdown passes against us a couple of weeks ago isn’t the only reason why. This tweet from the NFL’s Twitter account, however, would lead me to believe that my view of Griffin isn’t quite the norm. Can either Luck or Griffin become the 2012 NFL MVP as a rookie?
Before we get into MVP discussion, however, we have to look back at the history of the MVP award and rookies.
As it stands, only one rookie has ever won the MVP award in the 56-year history of the event. Why? There have never been more rookies truly worthy of winning the award, ever? Let’s take a look back at the history of rookies in the NFL, and in particular look at some of the greatest rookie seasons of all-time, and hypothesize whether or not another rookie should have or really made a case for the MVP award.
1978: Earl Campbell, a rookie, runs for 1450 yards and ten touchdowns, leading a Houston Oilers team to a 10-6 record which would later make an AFC Championship appearance. The Associated Press’s MVP award, however, went to Terry Bradshaw, who threw 28 touchdowns to 20 interceptions and 2915 yards.
1983: In the 1982 strike-shortened season, the Los Angeles Rams went 2-7. In 1983, Eric Dickerson burst onto the season with 1808 yards on 390 carries and the Rams returned to the playoffs at 9-7. Dickerson’s season has been heralded as possibly the greatest rookie season ever, but the MVP award was handed to Joe Theismann of the Redskins, whose team only improved to 14-2 from 8-1 in the strike-shortened season in the year previous.
1998: Randy Moss, a man who would grow and live to be one of the greatest receivers to ever play football, set a rookie record with 17 touchdown receptions on a Minnesota Vikings football team that would set an NFL record for most points scored in a season (a record that would later be broken by the 2007 New England Patriots). His touchdown statistic that lead the NFL that year and his 1313 yards were achieved in 11 starts. The MVP award was given to Terrell Davis, who ran for 2,000 yards that season, but his Broncos team had won the Super Bowl the year previous while Randy Moss’s presence was a part of a 5-game improvement from the season prior and his 15-1 Vikings squad made an NFC Championship appearance that year.
The only rookie to win the AP NFL MVP Award was Jim Brown in the inaugural giveaway of the award in 1957. Brown would also win it in 1958.
While there have been many incredible rookie seasons in NFL history since 1957, the short list above mentions some of the rookies who could have realistically won the award that season.
Should rookies be eligible to win the MVP award? While it is obvious that rookies, more often than not, do not bring groundbreaking campaigns to a league in their first year, the fact that there are a number who have and yet there has only been a single rookie who has won the award is peculiar. It is interesting to wonder if there is a bias against rookies winning the NFL MVP Award, similar to how the reactions to Johnny Manziel out of Texas A&M winning the Heisman are toned down in part to the wariness of a freshman winning the award for the first time.
To me, the Most Valuable Player award should go to whoever is the most valuable player in the NFL, rookie or not. There always has been, however, obvious hesitation at crowning less experienced participants in any professional sport.
Some years, MVP voting is easy–2007 comes to mind first. Other years, it’s more of a toss-up. With Peyton Manning and Tom Brady headlining the MVP vote again this season, there’s a wonder to where Luck and Griffin really fit in these discussions, rookies or not.
Field Notes 