One thing is certain. Not ONE analyst or sports comentator picked Chad Pennington to be able to play at this level, never mind start NFL games again. Not one. Not only is he starting QB for the Jets he is a WINNING QB playing at a high level. I would say for shock value alone he is the prime candidate. Everyone counted him out. No one believed he could come back. Yet here he is in the middle of the playoff race. I am not sure about you guys but I was NOT hearing the same crap about Brees or even Palmer. Knee injuries, while painfull (believe me I know) many times are not career threatening. Two consecutive shoulder surgeries? Come on now. Most people on THIS board counted him completely out. Obviously I think he is a shoe in.
Well don't be surprised that he misses it. Chad is a very smart quarterback, and his 2 injuries had zero effect on his skill to be a smart QB. But the injury however, definitely shows that it took a toll on more of the physical aspect of being a solid QB in the NFL... which is why in my opinion you see a 15TD 16INT stat. But 2 shoulder surgeries is going to be well noted, but I don't think they are going to base that on CPY. I have no hate toward Chad... I think he deserves to be mentioned but others deserve it more. It's just my opinion and sorry its not on the side of Chad, so I'm sure I am going to hear it from a few of you guys...
Comeback player of the year? He's rating is lower than any of his other 3 seasons where he played more than 10 games.
How? This isn't an award for the player with the best numbers who got injured last year. Obviously Brees and Palmer are having better years, but that's not what this award's about, it's about overcoming adversity. Nobody has ever come back from 2 torn rotator cuffs. Palmer, serious injury, but everybody knew he would come back for it. There's question of how long it would take, but eventually he was coming back. Brees had a serious shoulder injury too, but he never missed any time, and didn't have to deal with nearly as much of the doubt as Chad did. Brees got a big contract with the Saints, and if he didn't get one there, he would have got one somewhere. Chad tore his rotator cuff, rehabbed came back and looked awful and tore it again 3 games back. Everyone thought his career was over, there was serious consideration to just cut him and move on. He had to fight for a starting job in training camp, won it, and went on to lead a team that was supposed to win 6 games to at least a .500 season, and maybe a playoff berth. I don't think it's that close who should win the award.
