New England Patriots - NESN.com
The NFL Honors provided their fair share of surprises on Thursday.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was voted MVP, despite many expecting that honor to go to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson surprisingly showed up to the event, rocking some shiny apparel and being the butt of many a joke throughout the night. The AP released ballots from every single voter following the event, too, which is the root of perhaps the most surprising outcome of the evening.
Alex Van Pelt received a vote for Assistant Coach of the Year.
Yes, that Alex Van Pelt.
CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala threw him a bone and placed him fifth on her ballot, and you can technically see why. Van Pelt did a great job working with rookie quarterback Drake Maye and showed consistent improvement throughout his first season calling plays.
The New England Patriots did move on from him, though.
Josh McDaniels was quickly hired to replace the veteran coach in New England, and there hasn’t been much movement on the job front since. The Patriots reportedly thought about keeping him on the staff to continue helping with Maye’s development, but that likely was never going to happen.
Ben Johnson ultimately came away with the award, parlaying it into a head coaching job with the Chicago Bears. Aaron Glenn and Liam Cohen both also earned votes and did the same, while Vic Fangio and Steve Spagnuolo parlayed their votes into an appearance in Super Bowl LIX.
The Patriots decided to cut ties with their guy, though, serving as another brutal reminder of how tough things can be in the NFL.
