Dear NFL fans,
The Denver Broncos were impressive this year. Peyton Manning broke records, but he could not have done so without a great receiving crew—among them, Julius Thomas. The tight end had a breakout year, and gained national recognition not only for himself, but also for his alma mater, Portland State.
Thomas’ performance this year was nothing short of spectacular. The fact that he is not among the top 50 highest-paid tight ends in the league is even more amazing. Thomas was not even the highest-paid tight end on the Broncos: His contract was definitely the least impressive part of his season. What did impress was 65 receptions, 788 yards and 12 touchdowns while being a focal point of the Denver offense. Before this year, Thomas had one catch for five yards. Yeah, you could call this year a bit of a breakout season for the former Viking.
So with all of this in mind, Vizio presents an award, voted on by the fans, to the NFL player who is the Top Value Performer. In a perfect world, the athlete who wins this award is the one whose performance on the field most exceeds the value of his contract.
So fans, I am calling out to you right now to get online and vote for Julius. Especially those of you in the PSU community. We do not have a chance to be recognized like this very often. The PSU name does not often gain national recognition like some other colleges farther down the I-5 corridor. But today we have the opportunity to be recognized.
This award is fantastic in a sense: It is not for the big, famous athlete who makes the most money and recieves the most national press. This award is about who is literally worth the most to their team. And even though it is not an MVP or anything along those lines, this is an awesome award that more sports should include.
So, why not pile on to the incredible season our fellow alumni has had? What better way, than giving him a great reward: One that reflects what he accomplished on the field this year? This award is fan decided. That’s right, we decide who wins. There are a lot of other great names on the list that you can vote for, but for fans in the Northwest, there is definitely only one real option on that list.
This guy worked his ass off. That much is clear. He came from a school which obviously is not known for its NFL prowess when it comes to individual athletes. He came from a school that blew up Twitter after Neil Lomax was mentioned on SportsCenter, due to his opening game performance. Thomas came out of nowhere, but found himself catching touchdown passes from one of the best quarterbacks of ALL TIME. Yeah, that’s how he jumped onto the scene.
Thomas did all of this for a salary of $555,000. Injuries decimated his first two years in the NFL, but after getting past all that adversity, Thomas put himself on the map not only in the city of Portland, but all over the nation.
So this is how you vote NFL fans. Visit vizio.com/TVP, or tweet the players handle, with the hashtag of TVP followed by the players name. For example, to vote for Julius Thomas one would tweet @Julius_Thomas #TVPJuliusThomas.
Sincerely,
Alex Moore
Vanguard Sports Desk
