Before reviewing the Super Bowl, let’s talk some NFL injustice, Hall of Fame style:
Middle linebacker Sam Mills had one first-team, All-Pro season.
Middle linebacker Zach Thomas had five.
Mills never led the league in tackles.
Thomas did twice.
Mills wasn’t named to an all-decades team.
Thomas was to the All-2000s decade team.
Do we need to go on? What in the world are Pro Football Hall of Fame voters thinking in re-writing history and voting Mills into the Hall over Thomas?
Mills had the support of two cities, New Orleans and Charlotte, to double up his voting. Thomas had the Dophins. In the politically-charged voting, that’s crucial. But come on – where is the leadership from the educated voters?
Mills was cut by Cleveland in his rookie training camp, cut by Toronto in the CFL and became a three-time All-USFL player before joining the NFL.
Thomas started in the NFL where he was AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1996.
This isn’t written to question Mills, who obviously had a great career. If the Hall voters want to put Mills in, that’s fine. But how can they put Mills in before Thomas?
This gets back to the stilted process of voting in the Hall and the manner it’s done behind a veil of silence. Every Hall vote has its issues – no one even know who votes for the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. But the baseball way is the best – lots of people arguing it out in public with no hiding who voted for whom.
2. Since we’re going all-in on voting, Cooper Kupp winning the MVP of the Super Bowl is just half an injustice. The Los Angeles Rams receiver should have shared it with defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Each won the game on their side of the ball right down to the winning plays on the final drive. Kupp caught two touchdowns, including the game-winner as well as other big plays. Donald stopped a Bengals run short of a first down, then pressured Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow to end the game.
3. Perspective:
“We’re a young team, so we’d like to think we’ll be back multiple times over the course of the next few years. We take this and let it fuel you for the rest of our careers.” – Joe Burrow, 25, said.
“I was 23 years old and I felt for sure that I would be back. After the (1985 Super Bow), I was disappointed, down about the game. But I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to be back and we’re going to win one of these. I’m going to be back more than once. Maybe twice, you never know.’ And it never happened. That’s the one thing that is the regret. It’s to not know what it feels like to walk off the last game of your career and know that you’re Super Bowl champs.” – Dan Marino upon retiring.
4. Who wasn’t rooting for Burrow to take Cincinnati down the field on the field drive? He’s the star of this post-season. But there are a couple problems he’ll have in getting back to this game: 1) The AFC is stacked with young franchise quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert are all 26 or younger; 2) The Bengals aren’t the most stable organization. They made some good move to get here. Burrow also was sacked 19 times in the four playoff games, including seven in the Super Bowl. They better build an offensive line to protect their resource or he’ll get hurt just as he was in his rookie season.
5. There are no lessons for the Dolphins from the Super Bowl they don’t already know. Get a franchise quarterback. Get a dominant defensivep player. Get a coach off the Shanahan tree – oh, wait, they did that. Get lucky.