USA TODAY Sports-Tim Fuller
Earlier this week, I discussed my opinion of how ridiculous it was that Calvin Johnson was not a unanimous All-Pro selection. The Detroit Lions star received 49 of 50 votes, despite breaking Jerry Rice’s single season receiving yards record.
In that article, it was rumored that former Chicago Bears player Tim Ryan was the sole person that didn’t pick Calvin as one of the two best receivers in the NFL. That news has now been confirmed and Ryan has briefly talked about why he didn’t vote for Calvin and who was on his ballot instead.
Ryan, who works for Fox Sports and Sirius Satellite Radio, told The Sports Xchange, “Of course he (Johnson) had a great year and he is a great receiver, but I look at more than statistics and I thought a couple of other receivers had a better season, Brandon Marshall and A.J. Green.” For the record, Marshall received 23 votes and was placed on the first team, while Green received only 16 votes to fall short and appear on the second team.
I wasn’t sure what Ryan meant by more than statistics until I read his second quote. “Johnson was targeted a lot and was often the only thing the Lions had going, but he also dropped a lot of passes.” Apparently Ryan doesn’t know how to read statistics or use Google. A quick search shows that Marshall and Johnson had the same amount of dropped passes. This would appear to boost Calvin ahead as he had more targeted passes. Marshall and Johnson both dropped 10 passes, according to Stats Inc. Green on the other hand had only 9 drops, which apparently makes him worthy of a first team selection in Ryan’s eyes.
Green put up 1350 receiving yards in 2012, 600 less than Johnson. He caught ten passes in only one game, which was in a game that saw him have eighteen targeted passes thrown his way. In five losses for the Cincinnati Bengals, Green had 100 yards in only one contest. Marshall had 1508 receiving yards and caught 10 or more passes in four games. Both players had stellar years and played for teams that won more games. Should this really be considered when selecting the All-Pro Team?
Ryan didn’t have to acknowledge who he picked or explained himself. I give the guy a little credit for accomplishing both of these. However, his reasons are bogus and further show his bias against Calvin. He’s never going to vote for Johnson, because he is a Bears fan. There are no set rules for All-Pro votes, but it is supposed to go to the best players of each position during a given season. Apparently Ryan can interpret that and turn it into best team’s players during a given season.
Here’s to Calvin Johnson and your spectacular season. You broke Rice’s record and put up an amazing 1964 receiving yards. I’m not on the writers committee that selects the All-Pro team. If I was you might have gotten the unanimous selection like you deserved.
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