Okay, I know most of you are not going to believe this but . . .
I am actually really mad that Cleveland Brown's offensive lineman Joe Thomas
did not win the NFL "Rookie of the Year" award.
Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings was the winner.
When I heard that it made me think and I decided to look into it.
Peterson was the "sexy" pick.
Yes, he set a new NFL single game rushing record
and almost got the Vikings in to the playoffs single-handedly,
but did you know he only had a little more than 300 yards over his last seven games?
Peterson was hurt for several games and the Vikings remained in the hunt.
On the other side of the story --
Joe Thomas is the reason the Cleveland Browns made their stunning turn around this year
and were the "feel good" story of the year. The Browns only gave up on average a half a sack a game.
That is an unbelievable statistic. He is a Pro Bowler in my mind.
Derek Anderson had a great year but could not have done it without Joe Thomas.
If you isolated him during a game you were amazed by his strength and smarts for a first year player.
As a life-long Steeler fan, I know what a good offensive line can do for you.
The Steelers are heading into the playoffs having lost 3 offensive lineman this season,
2 in the past few days. A guy off their practice squad (who played for a D-II school) will start Saturday night.
Those injuries hurt way more than the loss of Willie Parker.
Browns fans suffered through quarterback after quarterback because of a porous offensive line.
They fixed it by making Joe Thomas their #1 pick, and they became playoff contenders.
I never thought I'd find myself defending someone who wears an orange helmet,
but someone, please, give Joe Thomas his due!!!!!
