Titans’ running back Chris Johnson was voted the Offensive Player of the Year for the 2009 season according to the AP.
Considered the fastest man in pro football, Johnson was uncatchable in setting a league mark for yards from scrimmage (2,509) and becoming the sixth player with a 2,000-yard rushing season.
“I kind of realize what I did and I feel like I had a dream season,” said Johnson, who scored 16 touchdowns (14 rushing), second to Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, and tied the NFL mark with six consecutive games rushing for at least 125 yards.
Johnson, who has run a 4.2 40 and believes he’ll remain the NFL’s fastest player unless a team signs Usain Bolt, has bigger dreams, too: breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, and winning the league MVP award.
“I didn’t even get one vote at all (for MVP),” Johnson said. “Like the season I had, it seemed like, `What more do they want me to do?’ That just felt like rookie of the year; it’s a quarterback thing I guess.”
Considering Johnson became just the sixth player in NFL history to run for more than 2,000 yards and set the record for most total yards from scrimmage with 2,509, it is a little perplexing why he didn’t get at least one MVP vote.
But to correct Johnson, it isn’t a “quarterback thing” – it’s a “playoff thing.” Peyton Manning had the Colts on the verge of a perfect season and lifted them to the No. 1 seed in the AFC. For as good as Johnson was this season, the fact that the Titans didn’t make the postseason hurt him when it came down to MVP voting.
Regardless, Johnson was incredibly deserving of OPOY honors and considering this was only his second season, I shudder to think what the future holds for him.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
