Award season always brings plenty of controversy and 2024's awards may have been the most controversial of all, thanks to the Associated Press releasing the full ballots of every voter for every award. The results showed us that Lamar Jackson received a fourth-place vote (!) for MVP and that Tom Brady voted for a wide receiver (Ja'Marr Chase) over that receiver's own quarterback (Joe Burrow) for MVP.
The votes also showed us that, pretty surprisingly, superstar rookie Jayden Daniels from winning the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Award unanimously.
One person voted for Raiders tight end Brock Bowers over Daniels, which is pretty surprising but not a totally indefensible decision. Thankfully, for the sake of avoiding a serious controversial conflict of interest with the voting process, it was not Brady, who is now a Raiders minority owner as well as a media member.
Brady's status as a double dipper in ownership and on-air certainly creates some conflicts in terms of his ability to prepare for games. His status as one of 50 AP voters for various awards also creates some issues when it comes to the voting.
For instance, Brady is technically Brock Bowers' boss! If he voted for him first over Daniels, in a year where Daniels performed at a generational level, it would raise a pretty big red flag for the process.
Again, thankfully the vote that kept Daniels from being unanimous didn't come from Brady. It actually came from Sam Monson of the Check the Mic Podcast and the 33rd Team. Sam, who used to work for Pro Football Focus, is a sharp football mind, a very reasonable analyst (no hot takes) and someone who's opinion I respect. So this isn't some anti-Daniels move by Monson nor some incredibly hot take by him either.
He explained as much on Twitter/X in the wake of the individual votes being released and the ensuing internet hatred that spewed forth in his menchies.
Brock Bowers had an all-time great season at a position that is not easy to succeed at right out of the gate. Just like Daniels.
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) February 7, 2025
Daniels won because of the QB bonus in today's game, but it's pretty clear Bowers has a very strong case. https://t.co/4ivzPFpStv
As someone who was holding a pretty significant Bowers OROY wager, I kind of wish more people thought like Sam! But that ticket was a drink coaster long before the voting happened. Daniels is a quarterback and quarterbacks win these awards when there's anything remotely close to a tie.
Considering Daniels went 12-5 as a rookie and led the Commanders to the playoffs while completing 69 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,568 yards with a 25/9 TD/INT ratio and ALSO rushing for 891 yards and six touchdowns. It's pretty difficult to pick someone else who should be OROY in 2024, even though Bowers had a historically great season for a rookie tight end, catching 112 passes for 1,194 yards, both records for rookie tight ends, the latter of which broke a 63-year-old Mike Ditka record.
That being said, the voters are allowed to vote for who they want. I don't wholly agree with Sam's decision, but I also understand the rationale behind it. And, mostly, I'm just glad we're not having to have a discussion about Brady voting for a Raiders player over the most obvious selection.
