AFC North Roundup: NFL Awards, Hall of Fame Announcements
The NFL held their awards night ahead of the Super Bowl and both the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers came away with honors as a former Cincinnati Bengal and Baltimore Raven continues to be snubbed by the Hall of Fame.
The Browns had a good night with Kevin Stefanski being voted the NFL's Coach of the Year. A field that included Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, Stefanski separated himself at the end of the year, making the playoffs.
The Dolphins faltered down the stretch while the Browns had to win an 11th game to make the playoffs. Clearly the two are among the best new coaches in the NFL, but the circumstances under which Stefanski thrived in his first year were unprecedented.
A pandemic, racial unrest, fewer practices all before trying to bring harmony to a Browns organization that hasn't had it, Stefanski has been an effective delegator, empowering his coaches and players and his ability to plan ahead has often allowed the team to be a well-oiled machine.
Clay Matthews Jr. was not one of the inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, despite an incredible campaign led by his daughter, Jennifer. This was the last year for Matthews to be selected as a modern era candidate, so he will go from a group of writers as voters to the coaches/senior committee.
There is some belief that Matthews will have a better chance to make it from there given the fact this is the first time in 20 years that he was a finalist.
I wish I could give an impassioned case for Matthews, but it was before my time at a position that's difficult to truly appreciate from a distance. An All-Pro in 1984, he made a few Pro Bowls, but so much of his argument is based on excellence over the course of his career and without being able to watch it, it's a case better left for others to make.
The Steelers saw both Alan Faneca and Bill Nunn announced as Hall of Fame inductees this year. Faneca, a six time first team All-Pro as voted by the Associated Press for the Steelers. He defined the position for the decade of the 2010s.
I don't like the Steelers, but it's impossible to deny what Bill Nunn did to change the NFL in the best ways possible in terms of scouting. At a time when historically black colleges and smaller schools were an embarrassment of riches when it came to talent, Nunn put in the work and mileage to go find these players. His efforts enabled the Steelers to be on the cutting edge, helping build some of the most talented teams in NFL history.
Nunn started his career as a sportswriter, working for the Pittsburgh Courier, a publication that provided a voice for the black community. He displayed consistent excellence in knowing the landscape with talented prospects and the Steelers wisely hired him.
Mean Joe Greene was selected out of North Texas. Jack Lambert played at Kent State. Jack Stallworth, Donnie Shell and Mel Blount played at HBCUs.
As time has passed, teams have become more willing to go anywhere to find talent, which is a credit to Nunn. It also helped change college football as schools put in the effort to recruit kids that would traditionally go to HBCUs and make them more mainstream. Nunn was truly an inspiring individual and it's unfortunate that he's not alive to receive this honor. He passed away in 2014.
The Ravens did have one player receive votes on the NFL's awards night. Patrick Queen received two more votes than he had any business getting for defensive rookie of the year, which is embarrassing.
Throwing out stats which aren't terribly impressive is an attempt to belie the fact that Queen was abysmal. Consistently invisible in games, he couldn't get off blocks and was often exploited in coverage.
The games where he produced were largely games the Ravens already had in control. In games where they needed an impact, including the playoffs against the Buffalo Bills, he was nowhere to be found.
Queen might come back in his second year and be a far better player, but in a season where the Ravens had Super Bowl aspirations, he provided absolutely nothing at a position where the team needed immediate return.
The Bengals didn't have anyone up the Hall of Fame, which is a problem in itself. A team that almost seems penalized in the process has a backlog of players that deserve to be inducted.
Right now, one that stands out is former right tackle Willie Anderson, who had an outstanding career in Cincinnati before continuing with the Ravens.
Anderson was named 1st team All-Pro three times as a right tackle. It's important to point out that All-Pro are not differentiated between left and right tackle. Traditionally, all the tackles selected are left tackles as it's believed to be the more challenging position to play. So for Anderson to be dominant enough to draw votes away from talented left tackles three different times, that's worth of the hall of fame.
Browns right tackle Jack Conklin was named 1st team All-Pro this season. Anderson's career hopefully helps to illuminate just how impressive a feat that is.
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