Tuesday morning, Green Bay Packers defensive back Charles Woodson beat out New York Jets defensive back Darrelle Revis for The Associated Press 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year honor. Tuesday afternoon, Jets coach Rex Ryan expressed his displeasure with the AP’s choice, newyorkjets.com reports.
"I wasn't going to comment on it, but I would like to congratulate the people that voted for Darrelle Revis,” Ryan said at a news conference on the Jets’ Web site. “These guys obviously really know the game. And you've got to look at all the numbers, not just a number about this, or this stat or that stat.
"A number I think is interesting would be eight. And no, that's not the amount of touchdown passes Green Bay gave up against Arizona. That is the number of touchdown passes we gave up all season. And the biggest reason for that is Darrelle Revis.
"There's plenty of things to look at. We had the No. 1 defense in the National Football League, by 35 yards a game. We were No. 1 in scoring … basically 187 points is all the defense gave up all season. That might be a consideration for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
"And it really was for the people that voted for Darrelle Revis. I tip my hat to them because they really know the game. That's all I'm going to say about it."
Woodson received 28 votes from the panel of 50 voters, while Revis came in second with 14. Woodson led the NFL with nine interceptions and helped Green Bay rank second in team defense and first in interceptions, takeaways and turnover margin.
Ryan didn’t think the disappointing news would have much of an effect on Revis, though, because Revis, along with the rest of the Jets, has something more important to focus on right now.
"Revis is going for different hardware right now, so we'll see," Ryan said. "We'll feel a lot better if we can put a ring on our fingers.
“But you can't get a higher individual award than that award, and it's unfortunate. … For me, this is the best year a corner has ever had, the most impact a corner has ever had in the National Football League. That's my opinion. But apparently that wasn't the opinion of everybody who voted."
