Red Bryant for MVP

Red Bryant is clearly the team's Most Valuable Player.

We suspected as much in 2010, when his season-ending injury transformed the league's stoutest run defense into the world's worst.

The first ten games of 2011 have further solidified his case.

Statistics vastly understate Bryant's importance. He ranks thirteenth in tackles, and has recorded but a single sack so far.

However, Bryant dominates his section of the line. From his position at right defensive end, he draws double teams, clogs lanes, snarls traffic, and creates opportunities for his teammates to make plays.

Lesser men aspire to inhabit "The Zone" occasionally, when the stars align and fate smiles upon them, but Bryant forges his own destiny, having established permanent residence in The Zone, that vaunted Elysium of elite athletic performance.


Many big men run out of gas fast and phone in a few plays while catching their breath.

Not Bryant. He plays with ferocious and unrelenting energy, a furious hulk bulling through double teams and triple teams, contemptuously pushing aside 300-pound opponents as if they weighed nothing and had no power of their own to pit against his awesome strength.


But Bryant is no mere brute. A player of extraordinary intelligence, he reads the offense expertly and never loses sight of his assignment, always maintaining disciplined containment on the right side. Lesser players bite on fakes and misdirection, but not Bryant.

One play last week illustrated what a complete football player he is.

With five and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Seahawk defense worked to protect a 17-7 lead.

Having just shared a sack of Sam Bradford with Chris Clemons, Bryant lined up as the Rams came out in their spread formation, facing 2nd and 19 from their own 14-yard line.

Seattle knew that Bradford would throw. Our defensive linemen appeared to pin their ears back, ready to charge across the line of scrimmage, collapse the pocket, and sack the St. Louis quarterback again.


However, at the snap, instead of crashing into the offensive line, Bryant dropped back into shallow pass coverage.

I am generally skeptical when coaches assign fat, slowfooted linemen to defensive duties better undertaken by fleeter linebackers and defensive backs with better ball skills.

But big #79 made a believer out of me on this play.

Defensive tackle Brandon Mebane tipped Bradford's pass. As the leathery oblong spheroid tumbled through the air, Bryant read it like a kick returner and ran swiftly to get under the descending pigskin.

At this point, the practiced ball skills Bryant honed as a high school tight end kicked in. With soft hands, he snared the pigskin in stride and did what comes naturally to a right-handed player: he cradled it under his right arm. However, noting that he was on the left side of the field, he immediately transferred the ball to his left side, his huge paw securely clutching the pigskin to breast and bicep.

When a Ram--rookie wideout Austin Pettis--ran up to try to tackle Bryant, the big man shot out a stiffarm,
flinging the receiver aside. To his credit, the agile rookie recovered and dove at the lineman's knees, taking him down after a 5-yard return.

A few plays later, little Justin Forsett transmuted the turnover into 6 points with a 22-yard touchdown run, lathering backbreaking icing upon the slaughter of the lambs.

Red Bryant is the glue that holds our defense together. He is clearly Seattle's MVP. He should be in the conversation for the league's most valuable player. What other athlete has proven so pivotal to his team's success?