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Grantland: The Year the NFL went Insane and Gave a Kicker the MVP Award

Goaldeje

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It's Summer. What else are we gonna talk about...

When I wrote about sub-replacement MVP candidates in baseball two weeks ago, my brain naturally considered the possibilities for unlikely MVP candidates in football. There’s virtually no chance of a replacement-level player receiving that sort of attention in the NFL because the voting structure for the two awards is different; while baseball voters each pick a top 10, the 50 media members who vote for the Associated Press’s MVP1 award in football only name a single player.

Given that MVP candidates are almost always star quarterbacks or players at other positions producing freakish seasons, there’s virtually no chance of even an average player receiving an MVP vote, let alone a replacement-level player. And yet, in 1982, something really weird happened. Washington kicker Mark Moseley didn’t just pick up a stray MVP vote from a misguided writer. He won the damn award. A kicker. MVP. It really happened.

It’s unfair to say Moseley was a replacement-level talent; he was, as you might expect, a very good kicker that season. But the idea of a kicker being literally the most valuable football player in the NFL seems downright insane in 2015. Some of that is hindsight, but it’s worth using what we know now to go back and put Moseley’s shocking season in context. How good was he? Why did the electorate back him? And could any of this ever happen again?

The Year the NFL Went Insane and Gave a Kicker the MVP Award «
 
Strong piece. And I can't disagree with a word of it.

Love me some Grantland.
 
Yeah. I went into it wanting to fight his conclusions, but Barnwell presents his data nicely. Tough to argue with him, and the idea of a kicker being MVP now is preposterous.

Moseley was incredible that year, but still...
 
The forward pass was also a crazy idea at one time. People put the goal posts at the front of the end zone at one time. OJ wasn't even considered to be capable of murder at one time.

Mark was clutch, he was accurate, and he helped us every year he was here. I don't like the "in 2015 it's preposterous" style argument because you can look back at most things like that.
 
Be interesting to track down some of the voters that year and see what the politics were about ... we know from the Monk Hall of Fame travesty how personal (and often downright head-scratching) some voters' personal criteria are.

Let's speculate!

"Fouts is a prick--who wears a beard in SoCal?"

"I hate these foreign-talking, side-winding, ascot-wearing soccer players. Bet there ain't a hetero among 'em. Hail the last Straight guy!"

"Man kicked a game-winning, playoff-clinching, iconic-image-making FG against the New York Football Giants. In the snow. And I had the Skins minus 1."

"Shit--my vote's due today?"
 
The forward pass was also a crazy idea at one time. People put the goal posts at the front of the end zone at one time. OJ wasn't even considered to be capable of murder at one time.

Mark was clutch, he was accurate, and he helped us every year he was here. I don't like the "in 2015 it's preposterous" style argument because you can look back at most things like that.
I don't particularly, either. But that's not really what the piece is based on. :)

Here's something I probably would have also referenced if I was writing it, though. In the history of the AP NFL MVP Award, one of these things is not like the others ... and stands out prior to 1982 as well as since.

AP MVP

YearLgTm
2014NFLAaron RodgersGreen Bay Packers
2013NFLPeyton ManningDenver Broncos
2012NFLAdrian PetersonMinnesota Vikings
2011NFLAaron RodgersGreen Bay Packers
2010NFLTom BradyNew England Patriots
2009NFLPeyton ManningIndianapolis Colts
2008NFLPeyton ManningIndianapolis Colts
2007NFLTom BradyNew England Patriots
2006NFLLaDainian TomlinsonSan Diego Chargers
2005NFLShaun AlexanderSeattle Seahawks
2004NFLPeyton ManningIndianapolis Colts
2003NFLPeyton ManningIndianapolis Colts
2003NFLSteve McNairTennessee Titans
2002NFLRich GannonOakland Raiders
2001NFLKurt WarnerSt. Louis Rams
2000NFLMarshall FaulkSt. Louis Rams
1999NFLKurt WarnerSt. Louis Rams
1998NFLTerrell DavisDenver Broncos
1997NFLBrett FavreGreen Bay Packers
1997NFLBarry SandersDetroit Lions
1996NFLBrett FavreGreen Bay Packers
1995NFLBrett FavreGreen Bay Packers
1994NFLSteve YoungSan Francisco 49ers
1993NFLEmmitt SmithDallas Cowboys
1992NFLSteve YoungSan Francisco 49ers
1991NFLThurman ThomasBuffalo Bills
1990NFLJoe MontanaSan Francisco 49ers
1989NFLJoe MontanaSan Francisco 49ers
1988NFLBoomer EsiasonCincinnati Bengals
1987NFLJohn ElwayDenver Broncos
1986NFLLawrence TaylorNew York Giants
1985NFLMarcus AllenLos Angeles Raiders
1984NFLDan MarinoMiami Dolphins
1983NFLJoe TheismannWashington Redskins
1982NFLMark MoseleyWashington Redskins
1981NFLKen AndersonCincinnati Bengals
1980NFLBrian SipeCleveland Browns
1979NFLEarl CampbellHouston Oilers
1978NFLTerry BradshawPittsburgh Steelers
1977NFLWalter PaytonChicago Bears
1976NFLBert JonesBaltimore Colts
1975NFLFran TarkentonMinnesota Vikings
1974NFLKen StablerOakland Raiders
1973NFLO.J. SimpsonBuffalo Bills
1972NFLLarry BrownWashington Redskins
1971NFLAlan PageMinnesota Vikings
1970NFLJohn BrodieSan Francisco 49ers
1969NFLRoman GabrielLos Angeles Rams
1968NFLEarl MorrallBaltimore Colts
1967NFLJohnny UnitasBaltimore Colts
1966NFLBart StarrGreen Bay Packers
1965NFLJim BrownCleveland Browns
1964NFLJohnny UnitasBaltimore Colts
1963NFLY.A. TittleNew York Giants
1962NFLJim TaylorGreen Bay Packers
1961NFLPaul HornungGreen Bay Packers
1960NFLNorm Van BrocklinPhiladelphia Eagles
1959NFLJohnny UnitasBaltimore Colts
1958NFLJim BrownCleveland Browns
1957NFLJim BrownCleveland Browns

<tbody>
</tbody>
 
Gents,

I know what you guys meant. I am just adding my 2 cents. Mark was over 95% accurate that year. He was the last of the straight on kickers. Normally I wouldn't think a kicker gets mvp either, but he aligned everything needed.

I'm also not a fan of quarterbacks and running backs being the norm. Just because they touch the ball the most doesn't mean they're the most important. Sometimes it's the line, linebacker, kicker...whomever.
 
don't find his binomial distribution argument convincing...especially since he appears to confuse a sample with a population. he also neglects to note that whether something is "chance" or not is a subjective matter: it depends on where the statistician elects to assign the alpha value.

he's also off the mark in another way, IMO. MVP is not directly a product of statistical prowess....it's a subjective estimate of a player's contribution, value, etc. The estimate includes statistical superiority. There is, of course, the hidden bias we all know lurks under the surface that kickers are not "real" football players. I suspect some of that factors in as well. all I know is that he saved the Skins bacon more than once that SB season....that when you watch tape from that time you hear other players relate the trust and faith they held in Moseley and the uplifting morale lift he had on the team.

It's pretty *amn cool the Skins had the first and likely last kicker to ever win MVP!
 

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