I get worked up because someone like Hooker 100% deserves the award and, I assume, would place immense value on winning it. If he came out and said he didn't give a shit about it, then I'd take the same stance. I won't give a shit about it again until Tennessee has another deserving candidate.
Sure, he had an amazing season and that deserves to be recognized. Had he not been named to the ALL SEC first team or SEC Offensive POY, that would have been a travesty and worthy of outrage. But the Hypseman, specifically, is a [uck fay]ing joke. And has been a [uck fay]ing joke for 2 decades.
I don't really care about him winning it. It's the fact that he's been out of the running from the moment his ACL snapped that bothers me. Not one player on the list had a solidifying "he's the guy" moment since Hooker got injured, and, in fact, a number of them had "he's not the guy" moments, yet remain listed. Blake Corum got injured the same [uck fay]ing week as Hooker, and his team went on to beat #2 Ohio State the following week without him, with his back up running for *checks notes* TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN [uck fay]ING YARDS. It's the equivalent of Hooker going down the week before UGA and Milton coming in and throwing for 500 yards and 6 TD's.
It’s amazing how much was undone by that SoCar loss. I don’t know if we will ever know exactly what happened with Banks, but we lost a playoff spot and Hooker at least being a finalist. It’s right there with the 2001 SEC Champ loss as far as costly. The fact that Hooker was injured might even make it more so. I sincerely hope Heupel finds a way to humiliate them every year going forward.
I hate it for Hooker because even if it’s a bullshit award kids grow up dreaming of being on that stage and he deserves to be there. That being said, I hope at some point Danny White or somebody on campus realizes Tennessee needs to lean all the damn way into playing the heel.
This is exactly the truth and the reason is not so much because of Peyton not winning but because of how ABC/ESPN exposed themselves and devalued the award in the process. Most of us here remember it clearly but those who don't need only to go back and watch how ALL of their programming became shameless shilling for Michigan, Brian Griese, and ultimately Charles Woodson.
You shouldn't have to politick for an award that should be won on merit. It's a total joke of an award and has been for a long time.
Even when you know it's gonna happen, it's still infuriating. Hard to imagine people who cover this sport professionally can say there were 4 better players than Hooker this season. Bonkers.
Agree, so much. That it requires a media campaign is evidence the whole thing is just populist bullshit.