Danno

I don't view the award as the "most valuable to their own team", I view it as the most valuable player to the NFL, or the best player in the league that year.

The whole argument about how a specific team would do without that player is a weak argument IMO.

FinSaint

I don't think that the team specific value is a "weak argument" as you so elegantly put it - just another interpretation of what it means to be the "most valuable player."

And I did not state that the AP's NFL MVP award was based on that specification, because it clearly isn't, I was merely speculating on a different perspective to the whole MVP issue.

If you would pick a single player who is deemed the most valuable player to the whole league, you could just as well look up the jersey sales of all players and determine the one with the biggest sales as the most valuable as creating the most revenue to the league (as we know that it is all about the Benjamins in the end).

The way the whole selection process is set at the moment it is nothing more than a glorified popularity contest, and, therefore, none of the stats really matter - only the perceptions and preferences of the individuals casting the votes.

Alas, I agree that in the end making Rodgers the MVP was probably the right decision, but as stated before it should've been closer considering the historical year Brees had.

Once again the footballoutsiders.com provides all of us stat junkies an alternative way of looking at the respective seasons of both Brees and Rodgers:

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2011 QUARTERBACKS

As an simplification they calculated that Brees was the QB with the most total value, but Rodgers was the QB with the most value per play. So it is only a matter of how you want to choose which one was the better overall QB in 2011 (or the more valuable).

"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno