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Warner's a fine MVP pick, but not mine
Posted: Friday January 07, 2000 01:02 PM
Click here to send your NFL questions to SI's Peter King.
I am privileged to be one of the 50 voters tabbed by the Associated Press each year to vote on the All-Pro team. I take the job very seriously. Every week I go to a game, I'll spend 10 or 15 plays watching a player, or players, who I know I'll consider for the team. For instance, I knew very early this year that unless he broke his arm I'd vote for Tennessee's Jon Runyan to break through at tackle. I saw two Titans games in September and was thoroughly impressed with Runyan's mashing drive-blocking and his better-than-average feet. He is not just a good player. He is a potential Tony Boselli. Conversely, I've always loved Ted Washington, the Buffalo nose tackle. But when I saw him in Washington in November, I saw a slow, fat guy who could be moved. In the month before the season ends, I ask many of my contacts in front offices and on coaching staffs: "Who's been the best player on your team this year?'' Because I don't see every player, I have to have help from people I trust. This year, my toughest job by far was choosing the MVP. The best individual performance I saw this year came from Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning when he threw for a Colts-record 404 yards against a very tough defense -- and a very loud crowd -- in Week 3 in San Diego. The way he stood in against a ferocious rush, and the way he used every receiver -- even the marginalia on the Indy roster -- in big spots just blew me away. He carried that through to a 13-3 season (a 10-win improvement on 1998) against a very tough AFC East schedule. He outdueled Dan Marino (in Marino's last big NFL game) in Week 13. He beat Bill Parcells and the Jets twice, shredded a good Giants defense (20 of 35 for 237 yards, two TDs) and tore up a better Dallas defense (22 of 34 for 312 yards and a touchdown). But logic said Kurt Warner -- or maybe Marshall Faulk -- should get it. Warner has had the most unlikely season in NFL history. I don't say that lightly. Brett Favre's never thrown as many touchdown passes in a season as Warner's 41. Warner never faltered, except maybe in a poor performance at Tennessee. Every time I saw him, he was lofting a beautiful pass up for one of his great receivers, and most often connecting. And Faulk may have just had the best best all-around season of any running back of all time. I love Faulk. Last year, I voted him over Terrell Davis when these post-season teams asked for one running back instead of two. My ballot for the 1999 season was due Tuesday morning. So Sunday night, driving back from the Redskins' game to my hotel at BWI Airport, I'm thinking: I'll split my vote -- half to Warner, half to Faulk. I'm thinking: No. Chicken way out. I'm voting for Manning. I'm thinking: You idiot! How can't NOT you vote for Warner, who has so many more touchdown passes than Manning? I call the guy I trust on such matters more than anyone: Fox Sports insider John Czarnecki, a friend of mine dating back to our newspaper days. And he makes the best two points of all for Manning. We agree that the word "valuable'' is important here, and we agree that Faulk and Warner, in the strict interpretation of value, must cancel each other some because they were each so brilliant; how could you pick just one? And he says the the thing that finally pushed me over the top: "Manning may not have Warner's stats, but he did it against such a tough schedule,'' he says. Bingo. I looked it up. In the NFC East, Manning has faced defenses ranked first (Buffalo), fifth (Miami), eighth (New England) and 21st (the Jets, though, with the crafty Bill Belichick) a total of eight games. In the NFC West, Warner has faced defenses ranked 16th (Atlanta), 20th (New Orleans), 26th (Carolina) and 28th (San Francisco) a total of eight times. My pick: Manning. This isn't the first time I've gone against the grain. Remember two years ago, when Favre and Barry Sanders tied? That's the year I voted for Pittsburgh's Carnell Lake. So I didn't feel too bad when I read Warner won the MVP race with 33 votes to eight apiece for Manning and Faulk. Warner's a great choice. I can't rip it. I just don't agree with it. Not that you're all waiting for it breathlessly, but I'm going to put my All-Pro team online Monday, in "Monday Morning Quarterback.'' Now on to your questions:
Can you please explain to me the logic behind the coaching staff of the Buffalo Bills making the decision to sit Doug Flutie in the playoffs after he led his team to 10-win season? I was, to say the least, dumbfounded when I heard this. I will say that Doug Flutie's true class has come through in handling this situation and he continues to prove that he is a superior person as well as a superior football player. The NFL never fails to amaze me when it continues to give opportunities to the likes of Lawrence Phillips while failing to see that all an individual like Flutie does is WIN and is the ultimate team player. I admit I like Flutie, personally and professionally. He is one of the last people in modern sports who, at least in part, plays sports for the fun of it. And while I hear that the Bills' locker room is not unhappy with Wade Phillips' decision to start Rob Johnson -- the receivers, especially, think it's O.K. because now they'll have a great gun to get them the ball -- I think it's a bad move. You think Jevon Kearse isn't licking his lips at the prospect of going after an immobile quarterback like Johnson? Plus, Flutie has led this team to the playoffs two straight years, and he's the fourth-winningest quarterback in the league over that time. That's not good enough to keep your job? Bad move.
Being a season-ticket holder in Green Bay, I was happy that Ron Wolf corrected his error when he fired Ray Rhodes. Rhodes let the players do whatever they wanted. It was like a country club in the locker room. The fans could see it, and see it on the field we did. No one was in control. If something went wrong with a play, Ray would just pat them on the behind and say "it's O.K." A good coach would not let this go unanswered. I talked to Wolf the other day, and he admitted he made a mistake with this hiring. I admire him for admitting the error one year into it and doing something about it, rather than just going on blindly. The problem here was, Rhodes came in and tried to run the team on automatic pilot, letting the Mike Holmgren machine run even though Holmgren was 2,000 miles away. You can't coach that way. It's disgraceful, for instance, that after a 19-point loss at Tampa Bay in Week 16 -- with a playoff-type game facing them the following week against the Cardinals -- Rhodes allowed Favre, Dorsey Levens and Antonio Freeman (and a few others) to have Monday and Tuesday off. With those guys missing, Rhodes had to cut Monday's walk-through practice short and sent the players home early. Bottom line: Rhodes was just way too soft.
I enjoy listening to your reports on the NFL every Sunday morning on CNN, while I'm eating breakfast. My question is: What is the order of the NFL Draft for the new year? Can you give me just the top five teams in the draft? (P.S.: Is it true the Falcons are possibly looking for a quarterback in the upcoming draft?) Thank you. Here's the top five, with my ridiculously early mock predictions: 1. Cleveland: DE Courtney Brown, Penn State. 2. Washington (from New Orleans): LB LaVar Arrington, Penn State. 3. San Francisco: They'll trade down with somebody. This spot belongs to Florida State WR Peter Warrick, and the 49ers, if they don't sign a free-agent QB, will take one of the kid quarterbacks here. 4. Cincinnati: OT Chris Samuels, Alabama. 5. Baltimore (from Atlanta): QB Chris Redman, Louisville. (P.S.: The Falcons will take a quarterback, but probably not until the third round or later. They're missing their first pick this year because of that lousy deal last year for the tight end, Reggie Kelly.
I know it's early and the off-season doesn't officially start until after the Super Bowl, but ... my question is: Where will Jerry Rice be next season? From listening to him talk he is going to play, even though it might be somewhere other than San Francisco. The 49ers would like Jerry to fade off into the sunset. They need to use 2000 to clear his salary slot for the future. Now, where would Rice fit? Think of a grass team, a contender, with a coach to handle Rice's ego and fit it into the team concept. Think of, therefore, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Denver and just maybe Green Bay. I have a few questions about the 49ers, as they have far too many problems this off-season. First, what do you think about making J.J. Stokes a receiving tight end? He isn't fast for a wide receiver, hardly seems to get open, and when he does make a catch, he can't run away from anyone. He could be a Brent Jones-type of tight end and use Greg Clark for more blocking.
Second, whom do the Niners draft in the first round? Or do they trade down to get more picks? They have spent too much money on their linebackers (Ken Norton, Winfred Tubbs and Lee Woodall) and not enough for cornerbacks. They really need a stud cornerback, a la Charles Woodson, to shut down the opposing teams' top receiver. You know, the 49ers are still in flux. Coach Steve Mariucci, deep down I think, would like to be a candidate for the Packers job. Assuming he stays, he needs to know he's going to have significant say in player acquisition, at least equal to current GM Bill Walsh. Mariucci was very unhappy that he was out of the loop on a bunch of Walsh decisions last year. After that, I think it's incumbent on vice president John York to write out the job descriptions for each one of his top operatives -- Walsh, Mariucci and director of player personnel Terry Donahue -- and make these guys stick to them.
If you like peering into minor league ballparks from the comfort (or discomfort) of your seat, I would suggest taking Amtrak's Northeast Direct and watching out the west windows as the train pulls into Bridgeport, Conn., where a Northern League team (the name of which escapes me) plays in a gorgeous ballpark just off the eponymous port for which the city is named. Also lots of bridges and ramps. Bridgeport Bluefish. I've seen into that stadium from the train, on a trip to Boston recently. You're right. I loved it. Don't you love the train? (If you do, see No. 5c of MMQB's The 10 Things I Think I Think This Week.) Talk to you next week!
Send a question to Peter King.
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