Lamar Jackson won his second Most Valuable Player Award on Thursday night, an expected outcome after Jackson’s strong season as a passer and runner helped lead the Baltimore Ravens to the NFL’s best regular season record. However, Jackson missed out on a second unanimous selection for the award by a single vote, stirring controversy throughout the NFL world.
Stephen A. Smith Dishes on Lamar Jackson Not Winning MVP Unanimously
Jackson received 49 of 50 first-place votes for the award, which he was announced as winning during Thursday night’s NFL Honors ceremony. However, one voter put Jackson third on the ballot and selected Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen first instead.
Stephen A. Smith made his thoughts on the matter crystal clear during Friday’s edition of First Take.
“That was a stupid homer vote by that individual, probably scared to go back in the locker room if he had voted against Josh Allen,” Smith said. “That compromises everything. You have to be objective when you have a vote. And that writer — I don’t know who the hell it was — but that’s an embarrassment.”
Jackson won his first MVP Award unanimously back in 2019, joining Tom Brady as the only unanimous winner in league history. Jackson put up quite the stat line that season with 3,127 passing yards for 36 touchdowns alongside 1,206 rushing yards for seven more scores.
This year, he missed out on being the first player to win the award unanimously twice after putting up 3,678 passing yards for 24 touchdowns and rushing for 821 yards and five more scores.
FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to confirm he was the lone voter not to have Jackson at the top of the ballot.
MORE: Lamar Jackson Nabs His Second MVP After Impressive Season
“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” Schatz tweeted.
Schatz took Allen first on his ballot and had Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott second before listing Lamar third. It’s the same order in which he voted quarterback-wise for the All-Pro team, a decision he discussed at length in an article about his All-Pro selections.
Allen ultimately finished fifth in MVP voting after throwing for 4,306 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions alongside running for 524 yards and 15 scores. Prescott finished second after throwing for 4,516 yards and 36 touchdowns with nine interceptions while also rushing for 242 yards and two scores.
A pair of San Francisco 49ers players finished third and fourth, running back Christian McCaffrey and quarterback Brock Purdy, respectively, to round out the top five.
Tyreek Hill, Patrick Mahomes, C.J. Stroud, Matthew Stafford, and Myles Garrett each received votes as well.
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