Make no mistake, the NFL is chock full of talent. Only the best of the best of the game actually make it this far, and even within that elite fraternity is a further-refined cream that rises to the top. At a certain point, it becomes a matter of preference, even if those preferences will come with strongly held views by the individuals who share them.
That’s one of the reasons that it was odd to take a glance at the league’s official Twitter page and see Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett featured in its banner image with his teammates praising him. More specifically, it was odd that this came in conjunction with the new bio for the profile, which simply reads, “Myles Garrett for DPOY? 👀”.
So much for impartiality, I suppose. Notably, Garrett does not lead the league in any statistic short of forced fumbles, which he shares with three other players, forcing three fumbles on the season. He is third in the NFL with 7.5 sacks after recording two strip sacks on Sunday in Cleveland’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.
But it would be too much to call Garrett the frontrunner for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, especially this early. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt has had an equally great season, with eight sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception, and so on. The Minnesota Vikings’ Danielle Hunter has more sacks and tackles for loss than anybody else. And that’s just limiting our attention to edge rushers.
Now, to be perfectly clear, this is not a big deal in the slightest. It’s really rather quite silly that the league would allow this on its profile. It’s not even the first time that its Twitter profile has attracted stupid attention.
Earlier this offseason, the NFL switched things up to exploit the attention that singer Taylor Swift was garnering for attending Kansas City Chiefs games. It got to the point that the league had to put out a statement, which already tells you how stupid things have gotten.
“We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what’s happening in and around our games, as well as culturally”, the statement read, in part, the rest containing ridiculousness defending its decision to become a Taylor Swift fan account until it was forced to alter its course following accusations of cynical capitalization—which is of course exactly what it was.
Now, one might say that at least Garrett is about football. And yes, that’s true. The Steelers’ George Pickens has been featured as the NFL banner at least once, if not twice, if memory serves. But never was he propped up in an official league channel as a favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Given how deeply invested the league is now in all things gambling, it may not be the wisest idea to be promoting one player over another for awards. It can give off the impression of bias or manipulation, and you know there will be betting on who will win every award under the sun.
Besides, Watt is going to win it again, anyway. Will he get his banner?
