NBA icon and man who seemingly appears in every fourth commercial airing on television, Shaquille O’Neal, has given his choice for National Football League Most Valuable Player.
Everyone has an opinion on the NFL MVP race, and Shaq is no different, as he believes a specific AFC North division starting quarterback should take home the award.
However, it’s not the one that you’re thinking of. O’Neal is all in on Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to win the honor.
“Every time he steps on the field, and he’s playing well, he’s definitely considered the best,” O’Neal said in an exclusive interview with RG. “If he’s in the conversation, he has a chance to win.”
Yes, Shaq snubbed the three leading contenders: the favorite Josh Allen, the guys with the second and third best odds, reigning MVP Lamar Jackson (who happens to be Eli Manning’s pick, by the way), and 2,000-yard rusher Saquon Barkley.
Right now, you might be saying to yourself, “Hey Shaq, stick to basketball,” or “obvious alma mater bias! Both Burrow and Shaq went to LSU.”
And while Burrow is a long shot to earn the trophy, he’s not totally out of the running. Most sports books that take action on the NFL MVP race currently back Burrow with the fourth-best odds of anyone.
He also has the stats going for him, as he led the league in passing yards (4,918), completions (460), attempts (652) and touchdown passes (43). The completion mark is good for 6th best in a single season in NFL history. The TD pass total places him top ten.
So maybe Shaq is on to something here, but then again, Lamar, who has already claimed first-team All-Pro honors, is as deserving as anybody. He led the league in passer rating (119.6, the fourth-highest single-season rating in league history), yards per attempt (8.8), and passes of 40 yards or more (14).
And in mid-season, he was a very strong front-runner for the award.
However, the debate will continue until the day before the Super Bowl, when it is finally announced. While the overall sentiment seemed to shift even more in Allen’s favor following the Bills’ divisional-round win over the Ravens this past Sunday, it’s actually an irrelevant factor here.
A panel of 40 sportswriters (of which Manning and O’Neal are not a part) decides who wins the award, and the criteria are based on the regular season only.
