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Question: Ed, why are the winners of the MVP awards not chosen until after playoffs? In the past two weeks several winners of those awards are out of playoffs and their contenders are still in. Why do the events that happen in playoffs not count towards voting, especially when playoffs are all anybody really remembers anyway?

Shelley Ott, Washington, DC.

BOUCHETTE: It's a good point and one that has been brought up through the years. Basically, if you waited until after the playoffs, it would not be fair to those individuals whose teams did not make the playoffs. An example would be Drew Brees of New Orleans, who was AP offensive player of the year. Even for offensive linemen who get more extended publicity in the playoffs. One might have a good game and people might vote for him based on that. They do have a separate MVP for the Super Bowl, of course.