We're just past the middle of the NFL season, which means the midseason awards and rankings are coming out aplenty. Sporting News has been compiling responses from 111 different NFL players on 31 different teams to many questions that factor into their NFL awards. Questions such as "Who is the dirtiest player in the NFL?" and "Who is the top coach of the first half?" The answer to the former is Ndamukong Suh, and the answer to the latter?
San Francisco's own Jim Harbaugh, taking 50 of the 111 votes. Players asked were not allowed to say their own coaches, so it's not as though 50 of the 53 49ers players were asked and responded accordingly. Harbaugh has led the 49ers to a 7-1 record and is one overtime reception away from a stellar 8-0. Mike McCarthy and Jim Schwartz both received at least 20 votes apiece, but Harbaugh is the clear winner with 50. After the jump, some quotes.
From Sporting News' announcement:, there's some high praise:
"I probably would have to go with Jim Harbaugh. He didn't have any OTAs or minicamps because of the lockout. He had a shortened season. He's a rookie coach. He has a quarterback that people said quote, unquote ‘couldn't get it done.' And from the looks of things, they might clinch a playoff berth by Thanksgiving. That's pretty impressive."-Raiders CB Stanford Routt
"(Harbaugh) took over a program that was obviously struggling and installed an attitude. You can just see them playing with confidence and they're playing like their head coach-very disciplined, physical."-Denver Broncos WR Eric Decker