There’s never a shortage of wild and crazy takes thrown about on sports media on any subject. But few ESPN analysts consistently get called out as much as Bart Scott and his latest claim about Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is just the latest in a series of wild takes.
On Friday’s edition of First Take, Scott argued that Allen likely believes that winning the NFL MVP award is a bigger deal to him than getting knocked out of the playoffs. He believes that it’s the opposite for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Both quarterbacks are currently at the center of the league MVP race.
“If Josh Allen leaves and gets knocked out of the playoffs and he wins MVP, he’s probably going to see that as a successful season because he proved that he didn’t need a number one [receiver],” Scott said, via Awful Announcing. “If Lamar Jackson gets an MVP and loses, he’ll view that as a disappointment. So that lets you know probably how the two even views their success with the MVP differently.”
Scott didn’t get a whole lot of pushback from debate partner Andrew Hawkins, but fans on social media were happy to pick up the slack and tear into Scott for the take:
“We need to not give these opinions any attention. They’re simply fishing for views. There’s no chance a former player thinks that another player in Josh Allen’s position prioritizes MVPs. I bet he set it as a personal goal, yes. But to say he “prioritizes” it is just sloppy,” one user wrote.
“Probably the worst take I’ve heard surrounding the mvp discourse goes to Bart Scott,” wrote another.
“They really gotta stop letting these people talk on television it’s getting embarrassing,” a third remarked.
The idea that Allen would be happier with winning his first NFL MVP award than making a deep run in the playoffs or winning the Super Bowl – based on no evidence for that matter – is pretty ludicrous. If anything, the fact that he’s never won either probably only makes him more hungry.
That’s a take that probably belongs in the trash can.