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UPDATE: The answer: Frank Cooney

The question: Who was the one that didn't vote for Tom Brady for MVP?

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has identified Cooney, the founder of SportsXchange, an information provider for news organizations, as the one voter out of 50 who didn't select Brady as the league's most valuable player. Cooney chose Green Bay's Brett Favre.

UPDATE: Cooney appeared on WEEI this morning to defend his choice of Favre and insisted that statistics played no role in his decision. Here's a partial transcript of his defense:

"Our website isn’t a public website, provide information and analysis for professionals. So the concept that I was trying to produce some 15 minutes of fame or publicity for my website is moot."

"Last year at this time, the Green Bay Packers organization was a woebegotten group that had no concept, none whatsoever, of what was in its future in the year 2007, it was disheveled, the youngest team in the NFL. Merely by [Favre] announcing he was going to come back for another season, it gave them hope, it gave them spirit. This is just one guy. This was not Belichick, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, the offensive line and Tom Brady. One man. Understand that this is a distinctly individual honor... I take that to mean what single person was most valuable in determining the outcome of his team’s fortune in that given year."

What if the award was Most Outstanding Player and not Most Valuable, Cooney was asked.

"Your own fans have thrown a monkey wrench into that question. Among the 300 or so e-mails I received from New England fans, half of them said perhaps I should have voted for Randy Moss. There is no such dichotomy with the Green Bay Packers."

For the record, Cooney also voted for Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy for Coach of the Year, which Bill Belichick won.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 3:02 PM to Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 1

Brady wins AP Offensive POY -- over Moss

Tom Brady won his second Associated Press postseason award today, claiming the league's Offensive Player of the Year.

Brady got 35 1/2 (out of 50) votes, while teammate Randy Moss received 12 1/2. Wes Welker even drew one vote, as did Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.

In case you hadn't heard, Brady threw 50 touchdown passes this season, setting a new NFL record, and his 4,806 passing yards were third most all-time.

Moss was on the receiving end of 23 of those TD passes (a league record), and Welker caught a franchise-record 112 of Brady's 398 completions.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:40 PM to Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 0

Practice peek

The Patriots are holding their first practice session of the week today inside Gillette Stadium, and the players are in full pads.

The only player missing was Kyle Eckel, who was spotted briefly in the locker room today.

That means Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Kyle Brady, Nick Kaczur and Ty Warren, all of whom missed one or both days of practice last week, were on the field.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Vote for Brady, Vrabel & Belichick

Three members of the Patriots are up for fan-selected year end awards on nfl.com.

Tom Brady is one of three nominees for FedEx Air Player of the Year; Mike Vrabel is one five choices for GMC Defensive Player of the Year, and Bill Belichick is one of five nominees for Motorola Coach of the Year.

There's information on all of the nominees on nfl.com.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Download today's Sports cover

Can the Patriots' defense weather Jacksonville's tandem threat of running backs Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew? Read Robert Lee's story to find out. On the baseball front, will Jim Rice finally get into the Hall of Fame? Also, get the latest on the Roger Clemens' saga. And find out how to watch the Top 25 basketball showdown between URI and Dayton tomorrow.
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Posted by Rich Lee  at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments 0