This year’s MVP race was one of the closest and most controversial in recent memory, so naturally, every single voter is going to be under the microscope.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was the presumptive favorite to win his third MVP award, especially after earning first-team All-Pro honors last month, considering the same group of voters decide both. However, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen wound up winning his first MVP award in a stunning upset, denying Jackson his hat trick.
Allen had 27 first-place votes and 383 points, while Jackson had 23 first-place votes and 362 votes. Considering Jackson had 30 first-team All-Pro votes to Allen’s 18 (Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had the remaining two), there were several voters who voted the former for All-Pro and the latter for MVP.
However, that wasn’t even the most controversial part of the voting results.
Jim Miller, a former NFL quarterback who now works for Sirius XM, placed Jackson at fourth in his MVP vote, being the only voter who didn’t have Jackson in his top two. From the moment the AP released the full voting results, Miller received a ton of criticism from fans, with former Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith perhaps being the most prominent voice in that group.
What makes it even more bizarre is that Miller did vote for Jackson as his Offensive Player of the Year, which the Ravens star finished as a distant second place behind Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. Maybe he did so because he knew Jackson wasn’t going to be his MVP and he threw him a bone elsewhere, but it’s still very strange nonetheless.
As it turns out, this wasn’t Miller’s first controversial vote involving Jackson.
Back in 2019, Jackson became just the second player ever to win MVP unanimously, but he was not a unanimous first-team All-Pro. Three voters instead picked then-Seattle Seahawks star Russell Wilson as the first-team All-Pro, and as one might be able to guess, Miller was one of those three.
Additionally, Miller was the only one who voted for Tom Brady as MVP in 2013, when Peyton Manning received 49 first-place votes after throwing an NFL-record 55 touchdowns.
It seems Miller is no stranger to controversial votes. Voting Allen as his MVP is understandable, but placing Jackson in fourth is simply preposterous
