Teams and Players Who Still Get No Respect
It's not meant to be done on purpose, but for whatever reason, there are times when fans and media fail to give proper due to those teams and players who have earned it.
It's easy for people in sports to overlook a few of these people and teams who are obscured by more recognizable figures in either bigger markets or more successful organizations.
Just as comedian Rodney Dangerfield once said, sometimes, there's just "no respect"—and these are teams and players who have the biggest beef about not getting any.
Isaiah Thomas
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Although Isaiah Thomas may never be a superstar and isn't exactly the youngest player on this list—he's 26 and in his fifth NBA season—there's no denying the fact that Thomas knows how to hoop.
Standing just 5'9" and as pint-sized as they come for pro ballers, the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics is a playmaker who knows how to put the ball through the basket, as he's averaging nearly 21 points for the C's this season.
Previously a toss-in during big trades or forgotten about in free agency, Isaiah Thomas will never win a league MVP, but he's showing that he can help guide a team to the playoffs this year.
Minnesota Vikings
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Thanks to the love and respect that Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers receive, few people understood how good the Minnesota Vikings were until Week 17 this season—when they defeated the Pack at Lambeau Field to capture the NFC North title.
Led by a no-nonsense head coach in Mike Zimmer, a second-year quarterback who's just managing the offense and a running back in Adrian Peterson who, while a future Hall of Famer, is still trying to restore his image after his 2014 suspension, the Vikes seemed to always be counted out this year.
That hasn't changed before their home playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks, either, with many giving the Vikings little to zero chance of beating the two-time NFC champs.
If this season has been any indication, that might bode well for Minnesota. After all, it's proved doubters wrong all year.
Ryan Kerrigan
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He'll never be J.J. Watt (Who ever will be?), but Washington Redskins defensive lineman Ryan Kerrigan is a stud at rushing the passer and wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks.
A first-round pick from 2011, Kerrigan has totaled 47.5 sacks over the course of his five-year NFL career. He gets to the opponent's signal-caller a lot each season, and he finished tied for eighth in the NFC this year with 9.5 sacks.
Earning just one career Pro Bowl nod, though, Kerrigan still lacks the recognition from fans and media. Make no mistake, though, this guy's a good defensive player who has a similar skill set to Clay Matthews—and everyone knows who that is.
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Sonny Gray
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Earning his first All-Star selection in 2015, the Oakland Athletics' Sonny Gray might have gotten to the Midsummer Classic, but his name is rarely tossed out there when discussing the best pitchers in the game.
That's a mistake, and all one has to do is stand in the batter's box against Gray to figure out why.
Hidden in the small market of Oakland, Gray has put together a three-year run to start his MLB career that's both impressive and dominant, compiling a 33-20 record with a 2.88 ERA in that time.
With a third-place finish in the AL Cy Young Award voting after the 2015 campaign, maybe Gray is starting to gain a little more respect from people—which, at 26 years old and with a lot of good baseball left, is well-deserved.
Ryan Fitzpatrick
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A career journeyman who is really, really smart—let's not forget that the dude went to Harvard—Ryan Fitzpatrick has always seemed to be the quarterback Band-Aid for a boatload of NFL teams, never quite being trusted as the starter but capable enough to not be an embarrassment.
While Fitz has had decent seasons in the past, his 2015 campaign was head and shoulders above the rest, as he tossed 31 touchdown passes and threw for just over 3,900 yards for a New York Jets team that narrowly missed out on the postseason.
Those 31 TDs were good enough to rank him 10th in the entire league in that category, either tied with or above big-name guys like Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan—and Fitzpatrick wasn't even supposed to be the Jets' starting quarterback at the beginning of the year.
Loui Eriksson
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When the Boston Bruins traded away budding superstar Tyler Seguin in 2013, one of the players they got in return was Loui Eriksson, who always showed talent but would probably never have the return that Seguin did.
That doesn't mean the nine-year pro isn't good, as he has proved since joining the B's.
While Eriksson will probably never lead the league in any one statistical category, he does a little bit of everything, racking up points by way of scoring and assisting, which he has done a lot of this season, ranking in the top 25 in total points.
He might not be Seguin, but he has become a big piece of the Bruins' success this year.
Doug Baldwin
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No one will ever mistake Seattle Seahawks wideout Doug Baldwin for Jerry Rice, but with the way the man known as "Angry" Doug Baldwin has played in the second half of the season for the back-to-back NFC champs, you might at least be fooled into thinking he was Rice.
Notching a streak of five straight games with at least one touchdown grab, Baldwin finished the season tied for the most in the league in that category, becoming the spark plug that his team needed to reach the postseason for the fourth straight year and finishing with over 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his career.
Named as just an alternate for the Pro Bowl team, it's a shame that Baldwin didn't make it outright, but I'm sure he's using the snub as motivation for the playoffs, so opposing teams might want to watch out.
Lance Lynn
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Much like the aforementioned Sonny Gray, the St. Louis Cardinals' Lance Lynn seems to be the forgotten man when people talk about the best young hurlers in the game—and it's not fair to exclude him.
With five years in the big leagues, Lynn has experience but is still just 28 years old, meaning he presumably has time to continue to improve off of his already impressive stats.
Averaging 15 wins over the course of a 162-game season in those five MLB years and notching a respectable 3.37 ERA in that time frame, Lynn is a solid piece of a Cardinals rotation that has earned a postseason trip in every season he has been in St. Louis.
It's because of his success that some have even compared him to Max Scherzer in the past, which is a tremendous compliment to his ability.
The Jacksonville Jaguars Offense
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Go ahead and laugh at the fact that the Jacksonville Jaguars are on this list, but if you play fantasy football, you know exactly why they deserve a little dap.
While the Jags still limped to another unimpressive 5-11 record, their young offense showed promise and instilled hope for the future. Former No. 3 overall pick Blake Bortles threw for over 3,400 yards and 35 touchdowns on the season, and young receivers Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns became his favorite targets. Robinson grabbed 14 touchdowns and earned a Pro Bowl spot, while Hurns finished with over 1,000 yards and 10 TDs.
The overall numbers might not pop out to the casual fan—Jacksonville finished in the middle of the pack in a lot of statistical categories like total offense—but from the putrid display that the Jags have shown in the past, 2015 offered signs of a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
Nicklas Backstrom
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While the Washington Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom did just earn a nod to the NHL All-Star Game, that doesn't erase the fact that he's still one of the most forgotten players in terms of overall skill in the league.
If you need any indication of that, his own peers voted him as one of the most underrated players in the league in a recent poll conducted by Yahoo Sports, meaning Backstrom might not get national exposure often, but he's respected by those who compete with and against him each night.
That's high praise for a guy who is churning out impressive stats for the Caps, hoping to pair up with fellow All-Star Alex Ovechkin to make a deep postseason run this season.
Tony Romo
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Always one to get crapped on by fans and media for not having the guile to prove he was a franchise quarterback worth about $40 million guaranteed, Tony Romo has silenced doubters following the Dallas Cowboys' miserable season without him under center.
In fact, without Romo—who was lost on two separate occasions with a collarbone injury—Dallas only won one game, showing how valuable he really is to that entire organization.
Romo has always had talent and played with guts, so it's kind of sad that he lacks the respect he deserves, with a season-ending injury really putting his value into perspective.
Edwin Encarnacion
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His All-Star slugging teammates, Jose Bautista and reigning MVP Josh Donaldson, get a lot of the headlines, but those two wouldn't be capable of doing what they do if not for Edwin Encarnacion.
Sandwiched between them in the Toronto Blue Jays' high-octane offense last season, the designated hitter had another productive season in 2015, smacking 39 homers, driving in 111 runs and batting .277.
That has become Encarnacion's calling card at this point, too, as he's averaged 32 homers over the past six years, proving that he's one of the top power hitters in the majors.
With just two All-Star appearances on his resume and the perception of third fiddle behind Bautista and Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion doesn't get the love that he deserves.
Virginia Cavaliers Men's Hoops
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Ever since Tony Bennett took over head coaching duties for the Virginia Cavaliers men's hoops team in 2009, the team has flourished, becoming one of the predominant programs in the country. And once again, it finds itself ranked high in the polls in 2015.
Of course, many fans still don't buy into the Cavs, as they've failed to ever reach farther than the Sweet 16 in Bennett's six-plus seasons, even after earning high seeds in the NCAA tournament year after year.
Built off of blue-collar defense and timely offense, Virginia might not grab headlines for being flashy or have a future top-five pick in the NBA draft, but Bennett and his Cavaliers are just like the truck with 250,000 miles that your grandpa still drives around town: tough and everlasting.
Carolina Panthers
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Forget the fact that the Carolina Panthers didn't get praise from fans and media during their 14-0 start to this year, including an insane 19-1 run in their last 20 regular season games dating back to 2014, it seems like no one actually respects this team.
Maybe it's because people are still torn on quarterback Cam Newton? Or because Carolina has yet to actually win anything? Or that no one seems to understand how the Panthers keep winning? Or because they play in Charlotte?
Whatever the reason, if these Panthers were the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers or Denver Broncos, fans would revolt and turn against them for being talked about every second of the day.
As it stands, though, the Panthers are the top seed in the NFC with a balanced offense and a suffocating defense, yet people are still doubting them.
Hell, if any of the aforementioned teams' quarterbacks guided their squad to a 15-1 record and put up the numbers Cam did, there would be no question that guy would win league MVP. But such is the life of Newton and his Panthers, as people are still skeptical.
Andre Drummond
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A dying breed in the NBA, there aren't many traditional big men in the league, let alone any who pose the threat that Andre Drummond does night in and night out.
The intimidating factor down low for the Detroit Pistons, Drummond is head and shoulders above his peers when it comes to the title as the best center in the game, putting up sick numbers to go along with highlight reel plays and leading the league in rebounds this season.
Freakishly athletic, the former UConn product has replaced the man many believe he reminds them of, Dwight Howard, as the scariest rim protector on the hardwood, yet he hasn't even reached an NBA All-Star Game in his four-year career.
That should change this season, as Drummond is averaging a double-double for a Detroit team that's surprisingly in the playoff picture.
San Antonio Spurs
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Like death and taxes, the San Antonio Spurs are perennially overlooked each and every NBA season—and they wouldn't have it any other way.
A small-market franchise that has won five NBA titles since the 1998-99 season, when both Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich were still NBA babies, the Spurs have relied on the same identity, even though the roster has changed in that time.
Loaded with three future Hall of Famers and two young All-Stars in Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio just keeps rolling down the tracks again this year, currently sitting at 31-6 on the season and the one team in the Western Conference that is a serious threat to the Golden State Warriors.
Go ahead and talk about how the defending champion Dubs keep breaking records and could win more than 72 games this year; the Spurs know that headlines are nothing but a few printed words, so they'll try to prove everyone wrong when May and June roll along—as they always do.
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