 |
| |
|
 |
 |
Employees of the month My 2002 first-quarter awards -- with a caveatPosted: Friday October 04, 2002 6:40 PM
Before I give my Friday Afternoon Quarterback NFL-at-the-Quarter-Pole awards, let me remind those of you who think any of my choices stink (you likely will take great issue with some) that you should consider the source. I'm the guy who said a month ago to let the top quarterbacks fly by in your fantasy drafts and pick Danny Wuerffel. He'll throw for 3,700 yards, I said. I'm the guy who said you should move heaven and earth to get the first pick in your league so you can take Randy Moss with the No. 1 overall pick. He's going to have a historic season, I said. Well, I still might be right on that one. First star receiver to absolutely implode in his prime. The season is young. I'm the guy who said the Rams would win the Super Bowl, and the Redskins would make the playoffs. I mean, what in the world are you doing reading this right now? What's wrong with you?! Humbly, then, I continue. Here are my awards for the season's first quarter. Which, of course, can and will change because September, in the immortal words of that great sage Cris Collinsworth, is the most misleading month of the NFL season. Guys get hurt. Passing games get grounded. Coaches get conservative. Great players get game-planned differently. Here goes:
MVPQB Drew Bledsoe, Buffalo. This has slightly less to do with his incredible productivity -- Bledsoe's on pace to break Dan Marino's all-time record of 5,080 passing yards in one season -- than it does with the sea-change he has brought to a struggling franchise. The Bills are suddenly a tough out, and it's because of one man. "He's given us back our electricity," owner Ralph Wilson told me a couple of weeks ago. Bledsoe is now the leader Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick had always hoped he'd be. Runners-up: 2. QB Tom Brady, New England; 3. RB LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego.
Offensive Player of the QuarterTomlinson. All I know is this: Marty Schottenheimer's a ground-hugging coach. Everyone knows Tomlinson's coming. So to average 127 yards per Sunday -- and to lay 217 on the Super Bowl champs -- is worthy of ridiculous praise. Runners-up: 2. Bledsoe; 3 (tie) RB Ricky Williams, Miami; RB Priest Holmes, Kansas City.
Defensive Player of the QuarterLB Ray Lewis, Baltimore. The Ravens are 1-2, but Lewis is such an impact player that he willed them to win that one win. "He asks to talk to the team maybe two or three times a year," Brian Billick told me this week, "but he really wanted to talk to the team before the Denver game. He told them, 'Just follow me. Get on my back.' They did, and he led them." His tour de force of a game -- 18 tackles, an interception, a crushing block on Denver special-teamer Keith Burns on Chris McAlister's 107-yard return of a missed field goal -- was the best game any individual NFL player played in September. Runners-up: 2. LB Brian Urlacher, Chicago; 3. DE Mike Rucker, Carolina.
Offensive Rookie of the QuarterTE Randy McMichael, Miami. Overshadowed by the starrier tight ends in the draft, McMichael has been a key to the versatility of the Miami offense. With 13 catches for a wide-receiver-like average of 15.7 yards per catch and two touchdowns, McMichael has been more productive than Jeremy Shockey (though Shockey has been valuable in diverting attention from other offensive Giants by soaking up double-teams) through four weeks. Runners-up: 2. WR Donte' Stallworth, New Orleans; 3. QB David Carr, Houston.
Defensive Rookie of the QuarterS Roy Williams, Dallas. Four games, a team-high 28 tackles ... and he never comes off the field. He even plays middle linebacker on some Dallas pass-defense downs. He's everything the Cowboys hoped he'd be, and more. "It's just the role I played at Oklahoma," he said, shrugging off his well-roundedness.Runners-up: 2. CB Phillip Buchanon, Oakland; 3. LB Akin Ayodele, Jacksonville.
Coach of the QuarterJohn Fox, Carolina. If that junior high kicker makes it from 24 yards last week at Lambeau, the Panthers are an overtime away from 4-0. As it is, 3-1 is a tribute to a man who had to change the mindset of an entire organization, which Fox has done.Runners-up: 2. Tom Coughlin, Jacksonville. 3. Marty Schottenheimer, San Diego.
Executive of the QuarterJohn Butler, executive vice president and GM, San Diego. Now, I was down on Butler for his excessive-money signing of Tim Dwight and Stephen Alexander in the offseason. Still am. But everything else he has done to prepare this team for battle this year has been right, dating back to having the nerve to trade the No. 1 pick, which turned out to be Michael Vick, for Drew Brees and Tomlinson before the 2001 draft. Brees and Tomlinson are the cornestones for the future here. And hiring Schottenheimer -- a strong-willed man whom Butler knew he might clash with -- was the right man for the right team at the right time. I might mention that Butler has stayed in the saddle while battling cancer. But this is no sympathy vote. Runners-up: 2. Scott Pioli, New England; 3. Rick Spielman, Miami. There you have it. Have a good second quarter, and just remember what I said about Danny Wuerffel. He's gold. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Check out his Monday Morning Quarterback column every -- and you should see this coming -- Monday morning.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
