Sorry quarterbacks, Watt is the real MVP

The 2014 regular season has come to a close, which means it is time to start thinking about who gets the most coveted awards in football. The biggest individual honor when it comes to the regular season alone is the MVP, Most Valuable Player. This award has recently turned into the MVQ, the Most Valuable Quarterback, but this year there is a player who is the most deserving and he doesn't even play offense....or kinda doesn't play offense....Well, he plays defense, but plays offense too. He kinda just does everything.

His name: J.J. Watt, listed as the defensive tackle for the Houston Texans but also plays some tight end.

Before I make my case for him, I'll run through some other candidates and why they fall just a tad bit short of him.

Aaron Rodgers- Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback in the NFL in my opinion, once again had a phenomenal year. His stats were great, as they always are but I've always been one that doesn't just go by the stat line. There is much more than that. Let's start in the opener, a game in Seattle in which the Packers got drubbed by the Seahawks and Rodgers could not find it in him to target Richard Sherman even once.
Then came a game in Detroit. The Packers lost 19-7 and Rodgers threw for just 162 yards. Now, I do realize that is a top notch defense and a road game, but Rodgers didn't play his best.
Last, a game in Buffalo against the Bills in mid-December that should be fresh in the memories of many. Aaron Rodgers for the first time in his career threw multiple interceptions, two, without a single touchdown. He completed a miserable 40.4% of his passes for a quarterback rating of 34.3 and a QBR of 17.2.
Rodgers finished second in the league in QBR at 82.6, just barely behind Tony Romo's 82.8.
A very superb season. Just not the best season.

Tom Brady- Tom Brady had an excellent season, especially considering what most people and "experts" were saying about him four weeks into the season. Brady pretty much stunk for the first four weeks of the season, which started with the opener against the Miami Dolphins. Brady and the Patriots offense were shutout in the second half of a opening day road loss to a division rival. After a decent game against the Adrian Peterson-less Vikings and escaping Oakland with a seven point win (thanks to the defense), Brady played a putrid game on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs, a game in which things so out of hand he got benched and head coach Bill Belichick was asked if there was a quarterback change to be made in New England.
To Brady's credit, he probably has had the least amount of star power in his offensive arsenal out of any superstar quarterback. But since week 5, he played at a spectacular level and climbed all the way up to fourth in QBR for the season at 74.3.
He really got going when tight end Rob Gronkowski was back to full strength. Some Patriots supporters can make a case for Gronk as the puzzle piece on the team that really kick-started the team this year. If Brady isn't even undoubtedly THE guy on his team, how can he be THE guy of the NFL?
Again, a great season, but not enough to merit a league MVP.

Tony Romo- Tony Romo had a sensational year, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, just talking about the 2014 season alone. He showed great toughness battling through his well-documented back pain and reportedly some issues with his ribs. He finished on top in the league in QBR at 82.8 and quarterback rating 113.2 as well as the best completion percentage in the NFL at 69.9. Statistically, the MVP is Tony Romo, hands down. However, there is more to the story than the stats. Romo had a great year, but the guy behind him, Demarco Murray, just happened to be the leading rusher in the NFL and a guy who broke Emmitt Smith's team record for rushing yards. Smith by the way is the all-time leading rusher and a hall of famer, so that is no small feat. As a result, Romo faced a lot more eight man boxes, which opened up his pass game. When he was throwing, he was throwing to arguably the best receiver in the game in Dez Bryant, who by the way set the team mark by catching 16 touchdown passes. A lot of Bryant's success is because of Romo and his accurate and prolific passing, no doubt, but throwing against an eight man box is much easier than when a defense is gearing up to stop the pass.
Like Brady, Romo can't be the MVP in my opinion because arguably he isn't even the MVP of his own team. Demarco Murray has something to say about that. Many Cowboys fans will point to the game against the Arizona Cardinals to point to Romo's value, but that was against a great defense and the Cardinals were still at their top quarterback at the time. There is some debate if the Cowboys would have won the game even with Romo. But the bottom line with Romo is this: Great season, maybe the best quarterbacking season, but he isn't even the unquestioned MVP on his team, so how can he be the MVP of the NFL?

Demarco Murray- Demarco Murray had the best season as a runner of any running back int he NFL, which is shown by him leading the NFL in rushing yards. Not only that, but as mentioned earlier, he passed the great Emmitt Smith for most yards and carries in a season in franchise history. Murray started the season with eight consecutive games running for triple digit yardage, an NFL record and ended up hitting at least 100 in 12 of the 16 games.
Even Murray's "bad" games weren't all because of his lack of ability. He had a season-low 58 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, but that was because the Cowboys blew them out of Jerry World and plus, Murray had broke a bone in his hand the week prior. He rushed for just 79 yards against the Cardinals, but that was with Weeden at quarterback and against a great, great Cardinals run defense.
Which leads to my point as to why he isn't the league MVP. Murray has one of his teammates on this list of MVP candidates, so in my opinion he can't really be the MVP of the NFL, even though he had a great season.

***Point of Note: The thing with Brady, Romo, and Murray not being the most valuable on their own team so they shouldn't be MVP is only because I believe J.J. Watt was so dominant with so little help, he gets the edge. There are definitely scenarios in which the MVP is not the undoubted most valuable player on his team, but he either sets big-time NFL records or there isn't another dominant force in the league that year like Watt is this year. If Watt is taken out of the equation, my MVP would be Tony Romo.***

Now let's get to the REAL MVP in my book: J.J. Watt-
    J.J. Watt had one of the best season by a defensive player in recent memory. In recent years, Watt has had the likes of Connor Barwin and Antonio Smith to help him dominate the opposing offensive line, but this year he had just a bunch of no-namers. Jadeveon Clowney barely played this year so that made Watt not only the focal point of the defensive line, but of the whole defense and almost the whole team pretty much. His impact has been profound.
Watt finished the year with 20.5 sacks, just two shy of the single-season NFL record. He became the first player with back-to-back 20+ sacks seasons, showing that even after teams knew of his dominance, they still couldn't stop him. He had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown, another fumble recovery for a touchdown, a sack for a safety in the final game... just to signify a few key big-time defensive plays. He also had three receiving touchdowns as a tight end this year and tallied 59 total tackles on the season. Watt also played every single game this season and as of early December, when he was on the field, the opposing QBR was 48. When he came off, the QBR rose to 71. When he was on the field, opposing runners ran for 3.9 yards per carry. With him off, the number rose to 5.1 yards per carry.
Since 1986 when Lawrence Taylor won MVP, only quarterbacks and running backs have been recipients of the award. That needs to change this year.

J.J. Watt, you da real MVP.

Tim MacMahon- ESPN Dallas

As Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was about to take the podium for his scheduled pregame press conference before the Mavs took the court to face off against the Miami Heat, a host of media members patiently waited. Most of them had their smartphones out, and some were dressed in a suit.

But in the very front row on the left side sat Tim MacMahon, in his usual spot, with his usual attire of jeans and a nice shirt, and his usual pen and notebook to go along with his smartphone.

The 38-year-old ESPN Dallas reporter has a unique approach to his job and is well respected by fellow media members he works with, as well as personnel he interviews and reports on.

“He dresses comfortable,” said Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News when asked about what impresses him the most about MacMahon’s approach to work. “Nice jeans, every once in a while he’ll break out a suit, which throws everybody off, but usually nice jeans and a good shirt”

Other than just his attire, Sefko went on to praise MacMahon’s work, saying “he’s got a nose for what people want to read. He’s good at digging through the BS and getting to stuff that will grab readers”

MacMahon prepares to ask Coach Carlisle questions prior to a Dallas Mavericks game

MacMahon grew up locally in the metropolis of Flower Mound, Texas. He was the third of seven children to Paul and B.J. MacMahon.

His father Paul was an advertiser while his mother was a stay-at-home mom and looked after Tim and his three brothers and three sisters.

MacMahon went to Marcus High School in Flower Mound for 12 weeks before switching over to a boarding school in Bath, Maine. Over there, MacMahon excelled in sports, playing quarterback and safety on the football team, center on the basketball team, and ran track.

MacMahon enjoyed playing multiple sports and said, “The one good thing about getting sent to this little prep school in Maine is that I was able to go both ways (in football), which obviously would not happen playing for a 5A school like Marcus.”

Though MacMahon enjoyed football and basketball, there was one sport he despised.

“Track is terrible,” said MacMahon.

Following his high school graduation in 1995, MacMahon took his basketball talents to St. Petersburg, Florida where he played basketball for Division 2 program Eckerd College. After playing there for a semester and focusing his studies in business, he decided to move in another direction.

“I took a couple of economic classes, figured out that wasn’t my thing,” said MacMahon. “I figured out I didn’t want to be in business my whole life.”

MacMahon figured he wanted to be involved in sports and the best way he thought of was the media. That, along with his then-girlfriend now wife Tida being in North Texas, led to Tim packing his bags and moving from tropical Florida back near home and becoming part of the Mean Green.

At UNT, MacMahon was advised to do broadcast journalism as opposed to radio television because it “gives you more options.”

While at UNT, MacMahon engaged himself in the school newspaper, the North Texas Daily while also taking part in the school radio station, KNTU.

Soon, MacMahon met the late Richard Durrett, a TCU grad who was the editor for the Denton Record Chronicle at the time. MacMahon recalled them meeting in the Super Pit before a UNT basketball game, where Durrett interviewed him for a part-time position at the Chronicle, working about 12 hours a week at seven dollars per hour.

“He[Durrett] was really good to me,” said MacMahon.

That part-time job turned into a 39-hours-a-week job, which led to MacMahon senior year being stretched out into what he called a “senior era.”

“I was working full time at Denton Record Chronicle, wasn’t taking many classes, so it took me four or five years to finish up what would have been my senior year,” said MacMahon.

After finally finishing his classes, MacMahon graduated in 2003 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

When speaking on the academic side of college, MacMahon said it’s “the most overrated part of college. Nobody has ever asked me about my GPA.”

MacMahon continued working for the Chronicle while soon also taking a position at the Dallas Morning News for the North Texas beat. After a few years, MacMahon went to the Dallas Morning News in the Collin County Bureau and did that for a few months.

After that, MacMahon got promoted to cover high school sports in the area and did that for three years.

Following his three-year stint doing that, MacMahon got elevated to the college ranks, covering schools such as Baylor and Texas Tech.

After nine months doing that gig, the blog position came open and MacMahon worked with people like Sefko and covered the Dallas Cowboys and Mavericks extensively, while mixing in a little bit of Texas Rangers as well.

Then, in 2009, ESPN Dallas.com was launched and MacMahon transitioned there along with his editor, and has been there since.

MacMahon works in the media room following a contest between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers

 At ESPN Dallas, MacMahon made a positive impression on many, including columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor, who primarily covers the Cowboys.

When asked about MacMahon, Taylor pointed to why he believes MacMahon has been so successful.

“The best thing about Tim is that he is unafraid,” said Taylor. “He doesn’t let players, coaches or members of the front office intimidate him and you can’t say that about every journalist. Sometimes you have to ask tough questions and it’s not always easy because a lot of times the people you are talking to don’t want to provide answers.”

Taylor went on to specifically talk about MacMahon’s work ethic.

“The job is about grinding,” said Taylor. “It’s about working nights and weekends and holidays without complaint. It’s a job of inconvenience and you have to accept that if you’re going to succeed. Tim doesn’t have any problem grinding.”

When talking about an inspiration, MacMahon pointed to a couple of guys.

“David Moore, was covering the Cowboys with the Morning News when I was in school and he was a North Texas alum,” said MacMahon. “Phil Rogers, who’s with MLB.com now was another one. I never met him but he was with Chicago Tribune at the time and a big time baseball writer. I saw those clips and said “Hey if they can make it big time out here, so can I.”

MacMahon has definitely won over his respect with the people he works with too. Before almost every Mavericks game, MacMahon and other reporters talk to Mark Cuban in the locker room. Cuban spoke glowingly about MacMahon and his work.

“He’s an expert at headline porn, he knows how to have fun with it,” said Cuban. “He makes it fun for me and makes it interesting.”

MacMahon (right) interviews Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki following a game between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, in which Nowitzki moved to 8th on the all-time NBA scoring list

 Though MacMahon is well respected and loves his work, it doesn’t come without a major challenge. He says his biggest challenge is to manage his job and family time.

“My schedule is determined by the Mavs schedule, Cowboys schedule, whatever my radio schedule is, which is also unpredictable,” said MacMahon. “My wife and kids need to understand there will be times I don’t have too much time. I just maximize the down time, and in the busy time just do what I can.”

MacMahon said in his down time, he likes to hang out with his daughters Baylee, 8, and Finlee, 5, and play with them and just watch sports.

“I don’t have very exciting life,” said MacMahon.

MacMahon acknowledged that he is very happy with where he is right now.

“My hobby is what I get paid to do,” said MacMahon. “If I wasn’t working I’d be looking for excuses to watch sports on the weekends and at night. Now I have a legitimate excuse, I can tell my wife I have to do this for work.”

MacMahon says he likes where he’s at and “doesn’t have any great goals to check off the list.”

“I’d like to continue advancing and that crap, but I love what I’m doing,” said MacMahon. “I want to keep doing this, and do it well for next 30 years and then retire. That’d be nice.”