Rodgers in 2011: G.O.A.T. in any sport?

By Jonathan Comey
Cold, Hard Football Facts Crowner of Kings

Aaron Rodgers put a nice green-and-gold bow on his 2011 NFL MVP award Sunday night with his five touchdown, zero-interception performance.

Drew Brees and Tom Brady will finish with some impressive numbers on some very good football teams, but they won’t do what Rodgers has done. Assuming he doesn’t play at all in Week 17 (which could make an ass out of u and me, because who knows?), Rodgers would have the following stats:

• 9.25 yards per attempt (best by a player with more than 400 pass attempts)
• 45 touchdowns to six interceptions (record low INTs for a QB with 4,000+ passing yards)
• 122.5 passer rating (NFL record)
• 13 games with passer ratings over 100 (NFL record, had been Brady in 2010 and Steve Young in 1994)

All of this for a 14-1 team that doesn’t play good defense, can’t run the ball, played a pretty tough schedule (only three games vs. bottom-feeding teams)  and had only six other players start every game.

So, is this the best season by an individual in NFL history? If the Packers win the Super Bowl and Rodgers has three great playoff games, there’s almost no debate about it.

We bring up another question: if Rodgers wins it all, will it be the best season by an individual in the history of the American “Big Four” sports?

BREAKING IT DOWN

There have been other great passing seasons in the last decade that prompted similar talks: Peyton Manning in 2004, Tom Brady in 2007 and 2010.

But those three seasons didn’t end in championships. In the case of Brady, it was certainly close in 2007, but his big numbers had faded by the time the Patriots came up short in the end.

And Brady in 2007 had a heck of a lot more help than Rodgers seems to. His line was healthy, his defense was veteran and stout. He had maybe the greatest deep receiver of all time outside and one of the greatest slot men of all time inside. And he had one of the greatest coaches of all time on the sidelines.

Then you have Rodgers, who has made Jordy Nelson the most efficient wideout in the game, whose defense had allowed as many yards as the offense had piled up heading into Sunday's game, and who has had some shuffling going on with the big boys in front.

Rodgers and the Packers show no signs of letting up. And if the Packers win the Super Bowl with games against, say, Detroit, New Orleans and New England? His numbers might be so high that no amount of hot coffee will sober them up.

So let’s go ahead and project Rodgers to be standing on that big platform apparatus they have now for the Super Bowl celebration, accepting the Lombardi Trophy from Roger Goodell at Lucas Oil Field in a few weeks.

How would that season stack up with the great wire-to-wire performances of all time? We pulled together the top contenders, from baseball, hockey, basketball and football, using the “legends criteria” (patent pending).

Each athlete had to have put in phenomenal individual numbers, they all had to be the obvious driving force for their teams, they all had to win at an epic level in the regular season and they all had to win a championship.

No easy feat. So many of the great outlier years – Wilt Chamberlain, Don Hutson, Barry Bonds, etc. – came on mediocre teams or those that fell short.

But some did all. Here’s the list, in chronological order.

THE LIST

1927 Babe Ruth

Too bad Babe Ruth didn’t play football. He probably would have been the greatest left tackle in the game, although he wouldn’t have earned more than the president, and might have had to build up those spindly legs a bit.

In 1927, he hit 60 homers (a record that stood for 34 years), hit .356, led the league in just about every key stat, and led the Yankees to a 110-44 record. He capped the season by hitting .400 with two homers in a four-game Series sweep.

Oh, and he surely did it all while at least partially hammered. This is the type of stuff that gets you your own candy bar.

1956 Mickey Mantle

At 24, before his body betrayed him, Mantle had an ease for the game that he shares with Rodgers. Never got ruffled, never had a slump, always won.

That year, he led the league in homers, runs, RBIs and batting average (a Quadruple Crown) and played a stellar center field. He was the only Yankee to score 100 runs or hit above .311, and there wasn’t a 20-game winner on the pitching staff.

They won the World Series in a seven-game battle with Brooklyn, Mantle providing three homers along the way.

His salary? $33,000.

1963 Sandy Koufax

The Koufax story is one of the greats. Seven years of mediocrity, followed by five of the best years ever, followed by retirement. End of story.

In 1963, Koufax was at his peak. He won the pitcher’s version of the triple crown (25 wins, 1.88 ERA, 306 strikeouts), and single-handedly led a team that couldn’t hit or pitch particularly well to 99 wins and an NL title. He won the Cy Young and MVP, and there wasn’t much debate about either.

In the World Series, against the potent Yankees, he pitched Games 1 and 4 of a sweep, going the distance in both, striking out 23 and allowing three runs.

He also had the best nickname ever: “The Left Arm of God.”

1971-72 Bobby Orr

It was pretty awesome to be 23-year-old Bobby Orr. Good-looking, playing in hockey-mad Boston, and as dominant as you could possibly imagine.

Orr was MVP of the regular season, after leading the Bruins to a 54-13-11 record, then capped it off by winning the postseason MVP award to boot. (They have fancy names for this s--- in hockey, but we are still a football site after all).

He had a plus-minus rating of +86 that year, and the Bruins lost a total of three games in their three-series playoff run to glory.

1984-85 Wayne Gretzky

Yes, Gretzky had some help. And he had other phenomenal seasons – the guy is so high on the all-time NHL scoring list that there should be a vacant spot between himself and No. 2 Mark Messier.

But he scored 208 points in 80 games, had a plus-minus of +98, and was the unquestioned king of an Oilers team that went 15-3 in the playoffs and cruised to a title.

The Great One, indeed.

1990-91 Michael Jordan

What do you do to top a regular season where you go 61-21, average 31.5 PPG and lead the NBA’s All-Defensive Team?

You dominate in the postseason, against four glamour franchises: New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, L.A. – a.k.a. Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson. All with a supporting cast of Jordannaires, role players all with the exception of Scottie Pippen.

In the playoffs, where the Bulls went 15-2, Jordan had the following totals: 28, 26, 33, 29, 29, 46, 25, 38, 22, 35, 33, 29, 36, 33, 29, 28, 30.

Wow.

1991-92 Michael Jordan

It’s easy to forget just how great Jordan was until you realize he followed one of the 10 best seasons ever with another one of the 10 best seasons ever.

There were no flukes with this guy – he was the most reliably great player in any sport we’ve ever seen. The Bulls won 67 games in the regular season, and again ran a remarkable gauntlet in the postseason, repeating as champs on Jordan’s back.

Other than the fact that he played f---ing basketball, he was perfect.

2000 Ray Lewis

An odd addition to this list? Perhaps. But the 2000 Ravens were arguably the greatest defensive team of all time – they certainly were the worst offensive team to ever win a Super Bowl, and the most reliant on their defense.

And what player has ever been the face of a defense more than Lewis?

In 2000, he had 137 tackles and three sacks, and at 25 was the defensive QB of a team that had HOFer Rod Woodson in the twilight of his career and a bunch of good-not-great types.

Maybe Lewis’ inclusion here points out just how difficult it is for one player to stand out in the NFL, where there are 22 starters and 40 guys who play significantly every week.

And perhaps it goes to Rodgers’ greatness even further.

Let the debate commence!
 

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