One month and one day after the end of the high school football season, The Associated Press is finally ready to announce Mr. Football and its coach of the year and all-state teams today.
This won’t have a lot of impact locally because there isn’t a viable Mr. Football candidate in the Advocate’s coverage area this year and there will be few if any local players on the all-state roster, but it’s still worth noting.
Lone Oak quarterback Corey Robinson will be named Mr. Football. WPSD-TV of Paducah reported last week that the AP had called Robinson’s coach, Jack Haskins, with the news.
Robinson may or may not be the best senior in the state, but it’s hard to ignore his gaudy statistics, including a national-record 91 touchdowns. Jeremy Simpson of Lincoln County and Scott Russell of Evarts earned Mr. Football awards in the 1990s on the basis of statistically impressive senior seasons, so why not Robinson?
Incidentally, Robinson’s scholarship offers include one from Troy, where Boyle County graduate Neal Brown was named offensive coordinator last week. Until his promotion, Brown worked under Tony Franklin, whose offensive system was used by Robinson at Lone Oak.
Back to the delay in getting this information out: It’s inexcusable. The AP’s all-state team used to be released the week of the state finals, and the Mr. Football announcement was made by Christmas. This year the nominations stretched into December, and voting didn’t even begin until around Christmas. And that’s despite the fact that an Internet-based voting system is supposed to make the voting and counting easier.
This isn’t the fault of the AP members who vote, including the Advocate. But it makes us all look a little silly.
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