'Stupid Homer Vote!' Stephen A. Smith Blasts Bills' Josh Allen MVP Voter
As expected, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson took home the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award on Thursday night at NFL Honors. Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen came in fifth place.
However, Allen’s single first-place vote may prove to be infamous. It was the only selection that prevented Jackson from winning his second unanimous MVP award, a feat that would have etched Jackson into football immortality.
As such, some took exception to the rogue vote. On “First Take,” Stephen A. Smith called out FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz, who stood alone in his support for Allen.
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“That was a stupid homer vote by that individual, probably scared to go back in that locker room if he had voted against Josh Allen,” Smith said. “That compromises everything. You have to be objective when you have a vote. And that writer – I don’t know who the hell it was – but that’s an embarrassment.”
Smith postulates that the Allen vote was a major of regional favoritism. It’s far from uncommon among award voters, oftentimes local beat writers, to be biased toward the team they cover and, at times, grew up rooting for. However, Schatz doesn’t cover the Bills, and as the creator of defensive-adjusted value over average, has long been a national content creator.
Schatz also had Allen ranked above Jackson and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on his All-Pro team, and it makes sense for one’s first-team All-Pro quarterback to also be named MVP.
Smith blamed a lack of objectivity for Allen’s first-place vote, but that too feels more like punditry than reality. Jackson is a fine choice for MVP – he quarterbacked the regular season’s best team and had his best season as a passer, throwing for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns. Had his team not run the ball so often in the red zone, his touchdown totals would have approached Allen’s.
Jackson had a strong year, obviously, but he didn’t set the league on fire like he did in 2019, when he won his first MVP. Several top passers had a fair shot at the award, and the idea that no one could have possibly been objective in their disagreement is off base.
Allen’s early-season turnovers likely shifted the narrative too far in the wrong direction to bring an MVP to Buffalo, and that’s fine. But in a year where no player separated themselves as the clear best in the sport, some disagreement should be expected – and welcomed – rather than written off as ridiculous.
The football world is worse when valid opinions are ostracized in the defense of another player. Stars don’t need to be torn down in our pursuit to push narratives, and neither do voters that have an unpopular, but fair, ballot.
Schatz would have been foolish to bend his ballot for the sake of making history, and Smith’s assessment is as presumptuous as it was irresponsible, given his platform.
