Putting an End to the NFL MVP Award

There are many questions surrounding the most popular sports league in the United States. This one may not be on the top of the list for the NFL, but it needs to be addressed.

With an uncapped year on the horizon next season, as well as the potential for a lockout the following year, the league likely won't discuss this issue in the near future. The league is always evaluating things and trying to figure out ways to improve their product, which is a good thing.

If I have lost your attention already, maybe this will get you back. I am a big Colts fan here in Indianapolis, and not only am I complaining about Peyton Manning getting his record fourth MVP award, but I am actually standing up for a rival, a certain running back on the Tennessee Titans.

The league has recently been known as a quarterback's league, an ideology that has proven even more true with this year's voting. There were four players that received votes for the MVP awards this year and all four of them were the quarterbacks for the four highest rated teams in the playoffs (Colts, Chargers, Saints, and Vikings).

There were NO votes for Chris Johnson, the running back for the Titans. Chris Johnson became just the sixth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season and he had more yards from scrimmage than anyone in the history of the game. Go ahead and read that last sentence again. But since his team did not qualify for the playoffs this year, Chris was not given a single vote for the MVP.

Over the past few years, the vote has largely become less relevant and everyone knows why. The award will always be given to the quarterback for the best team in the league. If what Chris Johnson did this year doesn't get him a single vote for the award, then nothing will buck this going trend.

If a player were to have won their fourth MVP award ten years ago, it would have been a huge deal. On the other hand, Peyton did it this year and it really hasn't made a lot of noise around the league.

It's about time the NFL got rid of this award all together. They have already established enough protection rules for the quarterbacks and it's almost impossible not to be a successful quarterback in this league (unless your name is JaMarcus Russell).

I understand that the quarterback position is the most important position in football, but we don't need to make this award only about them. If a player can set the kind of records that Chris Johnson did this year, then he should be rewarded. Perhaps if Johnson were on one of the top teams in the league, he would have received some votes, but the fact that a non-quarterback hasn't won the award in five years makes this award seem more and more forgettable as time goes on. Eight out of the last ten MVP awards have gone to quarterbacks.

If a Colts fan can be upset about Peyton Manning getting the MVP, and more importantly about CJ2K not getting a single vote, then the NFL should consider how "valuable" this award really is.