Let's talk about the MVP!

Don Banks has some interesting things to say:


Almost anyone's MVP ballot includes the names of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre, and they're all deserving candidates playing the game's premier position. But ho-hum. If you want a wildly unconventional pick

Translation: A terrible, stupid pick.

that puts the V into valuable, how could you find a starker example than Steelers safety Troy Polamalu?

Maybe if he got hurt less...

But he's missed five games with knee injuries, you say?

Hey, you just destroyed your own argument. That'll save me some time.

That's exactly our point.

Our point?

When Polamalu has been sidelined, the 6-4 defending Super Bowl champion Steelers have lost at Chicago, at Cincinnati, and at Kansas City, with another loss at home against the Bengals when he was injured and had to leave the game after Cincinnati's opening possession.

When he both started and finished the game, Pittsburgh is 3-0. When he has appeared in a game, the Steelers are 4-1, as opposed to their 2-3 record without him. Now that's value that doesn't require any overstatement.

This terrible logic. The award shouldn't be given out for hypothetical value. It should probably be given to the best player in the league that contributes the most to their team. By your logic, if Peyton Manning vanished forever after the first game, and the Colts lost the rest of their games, then he would be the clear-cut MVP.

Who doesn't want to hear what Jemele Hill has to say?

Who knew? No. 4 is my No. 1

Ooooh, that's one clever title.

Three things I never thought I'd say this NFL season:

1. My, what a lovely smile Bill Belichick has.

HAHAHA! It's funny because everyone else makes this joke, so I understand it.

2. Welcome back to a starting quarterback job, Bruce Gradkowski!

Somehow I doubt she ever said this.

3. Brett Favre is the NFL MVP.

I suppose the first two were always a possibility, but I would have sooner believed Bernie Madoff was returning the billions he stole

TOPICAL!!!

before believing that Favre, after giving us endless drama and signs his skills had declined, would be the clear-cut MVP in 2009.

I've been extremely critical of Favre in recent years simply because I thought he was as much to blame for his ugly divorce with the Packers as GM Ted Thompson was.

You didn't think this, because it's a fact. Favre was to blame for all of it. He's the bastard that thought the QB job in Green Bay was his throne that he could reclaim at any time he wanted.

He also was disingenuous in his failed comeback with the Jets last season. He went from telling the Jets he was retiring to having corrective shoulder surgery to showing up at the Vikings' practice facility.

But even I can appreciate the special stamp Favre is putting on this NFL season. He deserves high praise for the way he's competed and for elevating the Vikings into serious Super Bowl contention. At 40 years old, Favre is playing better than he ever has.

One could also make the argument that he's playing on one of the best teams he's ever had, but whatever.

And by better, I mean he's been more impressive in guiding the Vikings to a 9-1 record and control of the NFC North than when he went to back-to-back Super Bowls and won three straight MVPs as an icon in Green Bay.

That would be really stupid to say a 9-1 record is more impressive than two Super Bowl appearances and three MVPs, so I guess I'm not surprised you're saying it.

He's also better now than when he took Green Bay to the NFC championship in 2007.

To Favre/Green Bay fans, that probably sounds crazy, but Favre has never been this poised, this sure of himself and -- you can bet -- this motivated.

Oh right, he's still got to get his revenge for all the love he received in Green Bay.

The difference between the Favre we once knew and the Favre we see now is that Favre 2.0

Original nickname.

is playing with an amazing amount of control. Throughout his career, Favre has been known as the quarterback who has tried to do too much, or tried too hard to prove he could make every throw. That anxiousness appears to be gone.

Unless the Vikings completely derail like the Jets did a year ago, Favre will put up numbers he couldn't have imagined at the peak of his career. As of today, Favre has 21 touchdowns and three interceptions. As a full-time starter, Favre has never finished a season with single-digit interceptions; and when you think about the strength of his overall team and the way he's playing, it's entirely possible that he will now.

At 40.

Wait a second, he's 40?!?!?! I couldn't tell from your article that he was really old. You should mention it a few more times.

No NFL player entered this season with as much to lose as Favre.

What? He had absolutely nothing to lose. He's playing on borrowed time.

Favre's year in New York was a complete bust. And once he orchestrated a return with the Vikings, common sense said he was on track for another colossal failure.

I've been waiting for the other cleat to drop, so to speak,

Just stop it.

but that hasn't happened. Now I just hope Favre's arm isn't too sore from throwing daggers around the football field, while simultaneously serving crow to folks like me.

"You didn't believe I could improve my numbers by playing in a dome with an amazing line, unstoppable RB, and solid WRs. How dare you insult the Brettsiah!" Brett Favre said, while serving his five critics delicious crow.

Certainly, I don't mean to disregard the MVP campaigns of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, who have been absolutely brilliant in leading their teams to unblemished records. And if you're among those thinking outside the box and believe Tennessee's Chris Johnson or New Orleans' Darren Sharper should be in the MVP conversation, I won't dispute that, either.

Except the fact that Darren Sharper would be and absolutely horrendous pick. And Chris Johnson wouldn't be an outside the box pick, considering he's carried the Titans on his back and might magically get them in the playoffs.

But I still consider what Favre has done to be more substantial.

Because...?

Against the Seahawks last week, he recorded a career-best 88 percent completion rate, threw four touchdowns and put up a bagel

Seriously. Stop. Now.

in the interception department. I realize the Seahawks have struggled all season, but Favre just shredded them.

And Brady Quinn tore apart the Lions. Where's his trophy?

He's throwing the ball better at 40

OMG! He's 40 years old?!?!

than he did when he was 25. And if you watched the Seahawks game, you realized just how much has changed for Minnesota in a year's time. Adrian Peterson is a once-in-a-lifetime player, but not even he could single-handedly make the Vikings into the intimidating force they are now.

Because he was stuck with Tavaris Jackson.

Truly great quarterbacks make everyone around them better. Pre-Favre, Sidney Rice was just another player with more potential than actual results. With Favre, Rice is developing into one of the league's best

No, he's not.

and is on pace to have his first 1,000-yard receiving season. Same goes for tight end Visanthe Shiancoe -- who already has matched his touchdown total from last season -- and virtually every offensive player on the Vikings.

Most QBs are improvements over Tavaris Jackson.

This isn't to say Manning, Brees, Sharper or Johnson haven't meant as much to their teams as Favre has meant to the Vikings. Each has been impressive in his own way. Manning is in the throes of another brilliant year, and it's even more impressive when you consider he entered this season with a new head coach and a bevy of inexperienced wide receivers. Brees and Johnson are putting up ungodly numbers also, and Sharper has an unbelievable seven interceptions, which is second best in the NFL.

But if you're going to give Favre a deduction for having Peterson and a defense ranked among the best in the league, then certainly you have to give his competition's accolades the same wary eye, too. The Colts may have lost arguably their best defensive player in Bob Sanders, but defensive bookends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney are hardly slouches -- they've combined for 18 sacks this season -- and neither is the rest of the Colts' opportunistic defense. Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 against Indianapolis was ill-advised, but one primary reason that play wasn't successful is because Mathis pressured Tom Brady into throwing to Kevin Faulk before he was ready.

Good thing you didn't address the fact that he's been throwing to a french guy and some guy named Collie. He also has Addai at running back. To put it lightly, he's no Adrian Peterson. Sure, he does have Wayne and Clark, but if you can ignore stuff, then so can I.

Brees put up over 5,000 yards last season and threw an astonishing 34 touchdowns, but the Saints finished 8-8. Know what that says?

The rest of the team probably really sucked.

The difference in this Saints team is defense, not offense. That's why you have to consider Sharper's presence just as impactful as Brees'.

If you're considering this, you might also want to consider shutting up about football, because you probably don't know much. Brees has carried this team. Sharper has been good, but he's definitely not as valuable as Brees.

And while Johnson has been on fire recently -- five straight 100-yard games, including a 228-yard effort in a win over Jacksonville -- Vince Young's re-emergence also should be credited for the Titans' awakening.

No. This pisses me off more than any of the Brett-sucking she did earlier. People keep praising Vince Young for the Titans comeback. He's simply limited the mistakes. I wouldn't call 3 TDs in four games a re-emergence. Chris Johnson has rushed for 1,242 yards with a 6.2 average yards per carry. That's amazing.

The point is, Favre isn't the only one benefiting from a little help. But of all the candidates, Favre is both the oldest and the one whose MVP campaign comes as a complete surprise.

And because of that, he should be the one holding the trophy.

Criteria for the MVP:
1. Be really old.
2. Be a surprise.