Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Every offseason in the NFL is the same; it starts with the combine, then comes free agency, the draft, OTA’s, mini-camps and then training camp follows it all. Along the way, every media outlet around seems to do some sort of list of NFL players that gives fans something to talk about while games aren’t being played. The NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2012 is probably the most popular list of them all, and it’s completely meaningless.
Way too much attention is given to a list that doesn’t mean a single thing. I’m not going to get into how ridiculous the list actually is in regards to what players don’t deserve their spot on it because fans do enough of that by throwing tantrums about the list when it comes to their favorite players. What I will do is try to explain how dumb the list is to begin with.
For starters, the list is compiled by the players. There is no way NFL players can evaluate every player in the league because there simply isn’t enough time to do so. The NFL season is a long and tedious one for the players and they are constantly preparing for their opponent, so I doubt that in their spare time they’re watching film of players they won’t play during the year. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said it best when asked about the list.
“I know this, I would have a hard time telling you who was great in the AFC last year. You just go by what’s written about and talked about.”
And that may be the biggest problem, too much of the list is garnered on reputation and not actual play. There are players on the list who only played in a few games in 2012, how is that possible? The Top 100 players list, like any list, is still biased by individual opinions and that makes it suspect to begin with. No NFL player can evaluate the entire league and asking them to rank players throughout the league is meaningless.
Yet here we sit, year after year, with fans and players debating the list when it comes out as if it has any meaning at all. Heck, the NFL Network actually has a post-show on the list every week! Even the network is trying to build the importance of the list.
The NFL Network’s Top 100 List is fun to watch and debate but the reality is that too much attention is paid to something with so little relevance.
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