Anytime there is an MVP award voting in any league, outlying votes are sure to get close scrutiny. That was the case once again as Josh Allen narrowly beat out Lamar Jackson to win his first NFL MVP award thanks in part to former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller.
Miller played for eight seasons in the NFL, most notably with the Chicago Bears under Dick Jauron. His greatest success came in 2001 when he was 11-2 as a starter, but he then went on to mostly be a backup, even winning a ring behind Tom Brady with the New England Patriots.
He has gone on to have a media career as a host for SiriusXM Radio and is one of the 50 NFL MVP voters with the Associated Press. And unlike what can be a secretive Baseball Hall of Fame voting process, the AP publishes every voter’s ballot once the award has been given.
Lamar Jackson was first or second on 49 of 50 ballots. But Jim Miller voted him fourth behind Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, and Joe Burrow.
For what it’s worth, Josh Allen only received one vote outside of the top two as well, that was a third place vote from Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel behind Jackson and Burrow.
Immediately once the votes were released, Miller’s ballot drew scrutiny and criticism on social media.
I’d like to start a petition to remove Jim Miller’s MVP voting privileges.
Choosing Josh over Lamar, crazy but understandable.
Having Lamar Jackson at 4th place….CRIMINAL!
— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) February 7, 2025
I analyzed his season and never saw it as MVP worthy. What did I say about him that wasn’t about football?
Meanwhile, a big chunk of media pushed so hard for him.
But hey, congrats. Because Acho, Orlovsky and Jim Miller suck at voting, Allen has a Charity MVP. https://t.co/YdpB0aEz54
— Scott Kacsmar (@ScottKacsmar) February 7, 2025
What’s fascinating in all this is according to Mike Florio, another AP NFL award voter, the revelation that all ballots would become public came as a surprise. Transparency has always been a hotly contested item when it comes to major awards voting with scores of fans calling for voters to face accountability for their choices for these awards. But if voters weren’t aware that their ballots would be made public going into the process, it could make for some awkwardness like Jim Miller is experiencing now.
Miller has yet to comment on his MVP vote on his social media page, but his SiriusXM show just got a lot more people interested in what he has to say about it. Maybe he will take a page out of Mark Jackson’s playbook when he snubbed Nikola Jokic and say that it was simply just a mistake.
