Best Actor -- Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers. Remember when Al Pacino won an Oscar for Scent of a Woman, even though it was probably his most cartoonish role because all he did was play "Al Pacino" and shout his lines the entire film? That was Favre this season. Especially in the playoffs. It sure seemed to us like he was playing the role of "Brett Favre, fun-loving quarterback," throwing snowballs and underhand passes, except against the New York Giants, when it was so darn cold and he looked a lot like a 38-year-old dad with salt-and-pepper hair who wants to go inside but can't because his kids are begging him to play in the snow. When they make Favre's life into an ESPN original movie (and you know it's going to happen), they'd be wise to throw a bunch of money at Ben Affleck, who excels at overacting.
Lifetime Achievement Award -- Ray Lewis, Ravens. Watching Ray this season was like watching Denzel Washington in Spike Lee's He Got Game. Even though the overall product was a complete mess, you have to admire the effort. And the Ravens' quarterback play was probably as bad as Ray Allen's acting in that film. In all likelihood, 2008 will be Lewis' last season in Baltimore, unless he decides, for some inexplicable reason, he doesn't need a $16 million signing bonus. If you look at the 2000 season as Lewis' Training Day, when he, like Denzel, made it OK to root for the morally ambiguous antihero, then maybe next season can be his American Gangster.
