The Shelby Metro area was well represented with 9 out of 33 finalists in the various classifications yet failed to bring home a single award. It is hard for me to comprehend how this could be. You have a player on the verge on breaking the all time single season rushing record in state history in Mark Dodson yet he doesn't win. You have a QB that has simply had an amazing year in Jordan Rodgers (3,000 yds, 34 TD 4 INT) yet he doesn't win. As I watched the awards online and heard the bio's of the players, one thing struck me. There were numerous mentions of what a player had done in past years. I thought that this award was for what happened during this year. It's not supposed to be a career award but there are media across the state that don't realize this.
Why is is this happening? Has the Shelby Metro area been slighted once again? It is very obvious that overall the most of the schools here don't take football as seriously as they do in the middle and eastern parts of the state. I think this equation sums it up best: FB in middle and east TN = Basketball in Shelby Metro. The majority of people in the rest of the state think that since we don't win very many state titles in football, we must not be any good. That's wrong.
Every coach and media member across the state gets a say so in nominating players for this award. Some do a very good job and some don't give it the time of day. I think that we need to do a better job of promoting our players for these type awards by communicating with each other (media and schools) and making sure they get the recognition that they deserve. Until we do this, we can't complain when we get shut out of major awards such as Mr. Football.
There are 8 championship games being played in Cookeville starting this Thursday and we have a chance to bring home 4 state titles. Win those and they will know we can play a little football down here and aren't just waiting until the start of basketball season.
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