Playing on America’s Team apparently sells more jerseys than being MVP.
The NFLPA just released their list of the 50 NFL players who have sold the most NFL-licensed merchandise, in the time frame between March 1, 2018 and February 28, 2019.
It is no surprise who sits at the top of the list, as Tom Brady holds down the first overall spot. But it immediately gets interesting from there — Dak Prescott came in at No. 2 overall!
Here is the top 10:
- Tom Brady
- Dak Prescott
- Carson Wentz
- Ezekiel Elliott
- Patrick Mahomes
- Saquon Barkley
- Aaron Rodgers
- DeShaun Watson
- Khalil Mack
- Drew Brees
Two things are shocking about this list. One, Dak Prescott is at number two! And two, he is ahead of Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley!
Let’s consider the first aspect for a moment. Dak Prescott, in his entire three year career, has 67 touchdown passes, for an average of 22 per year. When this period of merchandise sales began last March, he had just completed a very pedestrian year, with a QBR of 69.9. He followed that up with a similarly unattractive season this past year, despite adding Amari Cooper, a legitimate number one receiver. His QBR in 2018 was only 57.7! Yet his jersey keeps selling off the racks, despite these sub-par numbers and despite the fact that the Cowboys are habitually either not making the playoffs or are barely sneaking in.
This speaks to the power of being America’s Team. If you are a Cowboys fan, apparently you are all-in on Dak Prescott (and Ezekiel Elliott as well, since he came in at No. 4). It seems the sheer number of Cowboys fans is pushing these players up the list. They also had two other players also in the top 50, Amari Cooper and Leighton Vander Esch.
But how, we might ask, is Prescott ahead of both Patrick Mahomes and Saquon Barkley? Both of them play for historic franchises with very large fanbases as well. And the difference in talent level is astonishing! To contrast Mahomes with Prescott, Mahomes’ QBR during the same season was 81.6, which is the sixth highest QBR during a season of all time. He threw 50 touchdown passes in one season, compared to Prescott’s 67 over three seasons! He is widely viewed as one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and he may end up becoming one of the greatest ever if he continues improving.
As for Saquon Barkley, his rookie season compares with some of the best rookie seasons out of a running back of all time. If he continues to improve and stays healthy, he will almost certainly go down as an all-time running back.
These are two of the best young players we have seen in decades, and they are trailing Dak Prescott in merchandise sales. We must collectively shake our heads at that — and go buy some jerseys to make it right!