Former Super Bowl champion says NFL Honors ‘missed on almost every award’
The 13th annual NFL Honors took place on Thursday night in Las Vegas, ahead of Super Bowl LVIII.
Several yearly honors were presented to some of the league’s greatest players. However, former Super Bowl LV champion A.Q. Shipley was unimpressed with the majority of the winners.
“The NFL, I think, missed on almost every award,” Shipley remarked on the radio show “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I mean, how does M.C.D.C [Motor City Dan Campbell] not get the [Coach of the Year] award? … Detroit nearly had to relocate to another nation for several years.”
Shipley has a point. Although Kevin Stefanski, who won the award after leading the Browns to the playoffs with four different starting quarterbacks, deserved to be recognized, Campbell has built something special with the Lions.
Just two years ago, Detroit went 3-13-1. In 2023, the team finished 12-5, won the NFC North and came up just three points short in the NFC Championship Game.
Shipley doesn’t think Coach of the Year was the only award the NFL messed up on either.
“The other award was Defensive Player of the Year,” Shipley explained. “Assistant coach of the year.” Mike Macdonald was really good, right?”
The Defensive Player of the Year award may be the most contentious of them all. Browns DE Myles Garrett received the honor, although he is a Steelers linebacker. In 2023, T.J. Watt outperformed him in tackles (68), sacks (19), passes defensed (eight), interceptions (one), fumble recoveries (three), and touchdowns.
Watt had two more sacks in the third quarter of Week 18 than Garrett did in the final seven weeks of the season.
Finally, Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was chosen Assistant Coach of the Year, but Shipley believes Macdonald made a better argument.
Both men led two of the NFL’s top defenses. The Browns allowed the fewest total yards per game (270.2) and the Ravens allowed the fewest points per game (16.5).
The difference is that Baltimore was the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a 13-4 record and a playoff win, and Cleveland went 11-6 and was eliminated in the postseason. As a result, Macdonald has been named the next head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
It just so happened that Cleveland received all three trophies, which doesn’t mean Stefanski, Garrett, or Schwartz weren’t deserving. However, Shipley makes a compelling case that the NFL mishandled several of the yearly awards, and many others would likely agreed.
