Some MVP Talk

So I felt like getting a discussion going on this year's MVP. In past years the choice was obvious. The 2007 season belonged to Tom Brady in the same way that 2006 was owned by LaDainian Tomlinson and 2005 by Larry Johnson. In 2008 I believe that the choice is very difficult. I'm going to choose 1 or 2 players from each team that I believe deserve MVP consideration.

Hawaiian Punch
The difficulty in choosing a player from Hawaiian Punch is that they have done a magnificent job of playing different players when the situation warranted it. You could take Jay Cutler, Marion Barber, Michael Turner, Chris Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald and you wouldn't be wrong. This one is just too difficult to pick and I think, much like what has happened in Heisman and NFL MVP races, too many good players will take votes from the other.

Kelly's Heroes
I really believe that Kelly's Heroes only has one viable MVP candidate, and that is Andre Johnson. Johnson has been off-the-charts great this season and is really the only pick. Peyton Manning deserves some consideration, but his early-season swoon hurts his chances. Though if Kelly's Heroes wins the championship it'll likely be because of the greatest QB in RMFFL history.

Green Bastards
As disappointing as the Green Bastards' season has been, they still have plenty of MVP candidates. You could easily make the case for Kurt Warner. He has put up some numbers that border on the ridiculous. However, I discount Warner's credentials because, until recently, he was a backup for two other teams and, in my opinion, has not played in enough games to get the nod. Calvin Johnson has been everything that the Green Bastards touted in the past 2 seasons (longer if you consider the man crush that I had on him since he was a sophomore at Georgia Tech). But as great as Tical has been, the nod here has to go to Adrian Peterson. Peterson is the only reason the Green Bastards are even still in consideration for a playoff spot, and that alone makes him a bona fide MVP candidate.

Impact Players
Picking an MVP from a less-than-stellar team that has underperformed is extremely difficult, but doing it for this last-place team is easier because the Impact Players have been extremely competitive. With that said there is only one truly deserving member of the Impact Players that warrants MVP talk, and that is Randy Moss. Most felt that Moss would tank after Tom Brady went down, and while initially Moss struggled, he has really found his game in the past few weeks, and his play has helped the Impact Players knock off some stiff competition. He was also a main reason for the Impact Players finally ending their 9-game losing streak to the Green Bastards. I'm sure, for the Impact Players, that makes Moss their MVP.

Brit Favreits
In their inaugural season the Brit Favreits have many reason to be optimistic about the future of their franchise. But this article isn't about the future, it's about the present, and while Aaron Rodgers has played phenomenally well for the Brit Favreits, there is only one man who deserves mention as MVP. That man is Clinton Portis. The way that Portis has played all season is the reason that the Brit Favreits are in position to make their first playoff appearance in their first season.

Donfins
Much like Hawaiian Punch, figuring out who to choose from the Donfins is difficult. A case can be made for Tony Romo, Ronnie Brown, or even DeAngelo Williams. Since all of these players have either been cut, hurt, or had more than one down game, it becomes near impossible to choose one. The Donfins have a lot of really good players, but not one great player, so trying to pick one from the group becomes a fool's errand.

Team Gonzo
This one is extremely interesting. Team Gonzo might have the most impressive 1-2 punch in the RMFFL in Drew Brees and Anquan Boldin. Brees is on pace to shatter Dan Marino's NFL record for passing yards in a season and has been on fire since Week 1. Brees is also a multiple-time Player of the Week award winner. For those reasons Drew Brees is MY choice for RMFFL MVP. But I cannot discount Anquan Boldin. Boldin leads the RMFFL in TD catches and is one of the main reasons (with Larry Fitzgerald) for Kurt Warner's career resurrection. Even with that, Brees is the pick, and I will be shocked if he is not the 2008 RMFFL MVP.

Hirsch's Hitmen
Now when you are statistically the worst team in the RMFFL is there really a point to making a case for anyone to be MVP? Maybe not, but that would be a disservice to some of the players on Hirsch's Hitmen who have actually played well. Brett Favre would be the obvious choice, but with the recent youth movement by Hirsch's Hitmen, he has been relegated to the bench. The reason he has been benched is because of the emergence of Tyler Thigpen. The problem is Thigpen suffers from the same affliction as Kurt Warner: not enough playing time. So with all that said, the Hirsch's Hitmen MVP candidate has to be Frank Gore. Gore has been just about the only player who has shown up week in, week out for Hirsch's Hitmen.

With all that said, I would say that there are only 5 guys that I would consider truly deserving of MVP considerations. Those 5 are: Adrian Peterson (RB, Green Bastards), Andre Johnson (WR, Kelly's Heroes), Clinton Portis (RB, Brit Favreits), Anquan Boldin (WR, Team Gonzo) and Drew Brees (QB, Team Gonzo). As I said above, Drew Brees is my pick. If I was to order them from 1-5 it would go: Brees, Clinton Portis, Adrian Peterson, Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson.

This decision is not solely mine. This is not an autocracy, this is a democracy. So if anyone disagrees with me, feel free to comment, or even e-mail, and state your case. If I get enough responses I will put up a poll and we can decide this the good, old-fashioned way: by vote.