Stephen A. Smith Slams Lone Media Member Who Didn’t Vote for Ravens QB Lamar Jackson for MVP: ‘That Was a Stupid, Homer Vote’

Stephen A. Smith took issue with the lone voter who prevented Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson from being a unanimous MVP.

On Thursday night, Jackson was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the second time in his six-year career. Of the 50 media members chosen by the Associated Press to vote on the award, 49 of them used their first-place vote on Jackson.

Just one reporter — Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy — didn’t. Instead, Schatz voted for Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen. Schatz then used his second-place vote on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, meaning Jackson received a single third-place vote and 49 first-place votes.

Smith went off on Schatz’s vote on Friday’s episode of First Take, claiming it compromises the integrity of the voting system.

“That one vote against Lamar Jackson?” Smith said. “That jeopardizes sports writers [and why] people talk about how sports writers shouldn’t be voting. That was a stupid, homer vote by that individual, probably scared to go back in the locker room if he had against Josh Allen. That compromises everything. You have to be objective when you have a vote. I don’t know who the hell it was, but that’s an embarrassment.”

Schatz anticipated the backlash from his vote and explained his decision in an article published late Thursday night. His argument was that statistically, both Allen and Prescott had better seasons than Jackson.

Unfortunately for Schatz, being the one and only person to prevent a player from a unanimous win will always look bad.

Watch above via ESPN.