The Super Bowl MVP award is a big deal. The NFL needs to start acting accordingly.
As explained on Monday, the voting process is flawed. There are too few voters, too little transparency (or none), and too much fan input. Most importantly, the process is too rushed.
While I have a distinct feeling that the powers-that-be don’t appreciate this bit (I’m used to it), the system needs to change. It’s slapped together so that the name can be disclosed as the confetti is falling.
Sometimes, the winner is obvious. Sometimes, it requires some thought. Some study. Some reflection. For Super Bowl LVI, the process would have benefited from giving the voters a chance to study the stat sheet, re-watch the game, absorb some of the quotes and stories and other information that would shape which player was truly the most valuable to the outcome.
Here’s a question. Why does it have to be done right after the game? Why not delay it until Tuesday? The game already owns Monday. An announcement of the Super Bowl MVP on Tuesday would own that day, too.
More importantly, it would represent a more careful and nuanced reflection of the MVP question. We’ve done that here at PFT. And our consensus Super Bowl LVI MVP, based on conversations among the PFT staff and with Chris Simms getting a vote, too, is that Aaron Donald is the true MVP.
Put simply, the likelihood of an L.A. win would have been impaired the most without the efforts of Aaron Donald. In addition to the plays he made to seal the game -- the harassment of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on fourth and one preceded by the tackle of Cincinnati running back Samaje Perine on third and one -- Donald kept the game from potentially collapsing with a pair of sacks after the interception thrown by the Rams on their first drive of the third quarter.
His presence fueled the seven-sack performance, with linebacker Von Miller getting two of them. For those reasons, Donald is the true MVP. If the voters had been given the opportunity to ponder and study and reflect, they quite possibly would have come to that conclusion, too.
Or maybe not. Regardless, the current process is too hurried. There’s no good reason for it. It’s too important to those who win it, and to those who don’t. More time won’t increase the possibility of getting it wrong. It will enhance the likelihood of getting it right.
