In a surprising turn, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen secured his first NFL MVP title, edging out Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson during Thursday night’s NFL awards show. This sparked a lively debate on Friday morning when Dan Orlovsky explained his rationale for voting for Allen, leaving ESPN colleague Dominique Foxworth unamused.
The controversy between Allen and Jackson persisted throughout the season, yet by the close of the 2024 campaign, Jackson held the advantage in nearly every statistical metric. The reasons behind the voting outcomes remain contentious—whether voters felt Allen achieved more with less or were hesitant to award Jackson a third MVP title without substantial postseason success is still a topic for discussion. On Friday’s episode of Get Up, Orlovsky revealed that he voted for Allen as NFL MVP while selecting Jackson for first-team All-Pro quarterback. His justification fell flat as he grappled with the definition of “valuable,” visibly losing the support of Foxworth and Jeff Saturday. Mike Greenberg seized the moment to question Foxworth, who called Orlovsky out for “splitting the baby.”
.@danorlovsky7 explains why he voted for Josh Allen as the MVP and Lamar Jackson as the first-team All-Pro QB 👀 pic.twitter.com/cIAGHUH8rd
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 7, 2025
“I’m glad we have Dan here to defend him and the people who did this, but it feels like you’re trying to split the baby,” Foxworth remarked. “You don’t have the heart to say what you actually want to say. Both players had MVP-caliber seasons, yet it feels like you’re searching for a semantic loophole. It’s as if you think you can reward this one and that one without saying what you truly believe.” He further critiqued how the definition of “valuable” has become twisted in conversations surrounding the award.
Foxworth continued, “This semantics foolishness is what we engage in. The term ‘value’ provides us with an endless source of debate since it can be interpreted in multiple ways. Usually, MVP signifies ‘who is the best damn dude in the league,’ and while Josh Allen certainly had an MVP-caliber season, the standout player this year was the one who made first-team All-Pro.”
The vote was quite close: Josh Allen amassed 383 points compared to Lamar Jackson’s 362. Allen garnered 27 first-place votes, including one from Orlovsky, while Jackson received 23. Given Foxworth’s response to Orlovsky’s attempt to distinguish between “best” and “most valuable,” one might wonder how he would react to former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller, who controversially placed Jackson fourth on his MVP ballot… who voted Jackson 4th on his MVP ballot?
