Dec 08 2019
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I began this decade as a fifth grader and will exit it as a college junior. When I’m old, I will look back on my childhood and point to right now: the 2010’s. The 2010’s established my sports fandom and will forever shape the way I view the world. I often recall the series finale of The Office when Andy talks about wishing you could know when you’re in the “good old days”. Here’s my attempt to remember the good ol’ days of sports while I’m living in them.

We spend seemingly every season comparing whichever athlete is enjoying their 15 minutes of fame to the greatest seasons of all-time. Remember when we thought Ryan Fitzpatrick might win the NFL MVP in September 2018? At the same time, the old saying “records are meant to be broken” rings true. Maybe nobody will ever break DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak — but some athletes did break 50-plus year-old records this decade. Here are the greatest single-season performances of the 2010’s:

Anthony Davis, 2012

Stats: 14.2 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.7 SPG, 4.7 BPG

Notable Awards: AP Player of the Year; NABC Defensive Player of the Year; Naismith Award, Wooden Award; Consensus All-American; NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player; SEC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year

Davis didn’t light up the scorebook, but his dominance in 2012 cannot be understated. He took home essentially every relevant award and his 186 blocks are the fourth-most in NCAA history for a single season. Kentucky went 38-2 en route to their national championship victory.

Miguel Cabrera, 2012

Stats: .330 batting average, 44 home runs, 139 RBI’s

Notable Awards: MVP, AL Hank Aaron Award, AL Batting Title, Silver Slugger 3B

No player had won the Triple Crown in nearly 50 years, until Cabrera did in 2012. He finished the season batting .330 with 44 home runs and 139 RBI’s. He also led the American lead with a .606 slugging percentage and the entire MLB with a .999 OPS.

Adrian Peterson, 2012

Stats: 2,097 rushing yards, 12 TD’s

Notable Awards: AP MVP, AP Offensive Player of the Year, PWFA Comeback Player of the Year, First Team All-Pro

Peterson tore his ACL in December of 2011, which should have put his 2012 season in jeopardy. Instead, he started Week 1 — an unprecedented eight month recovery time — and nearly broke the single-season rushing record. He finished just eight yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 yard total. His season was ranked the best comeback and among the greatest rushing seasons in NFL history. He took home the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award — no non-quarterback has won it since Peterson in 2012.

Peyton Manning, 2013

Stats: 5,477 passing yards, 55 touchdowns, 10 interceptions

Notable Awards: AP MVP, AP Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Pro

Manning answered all the doubts about his 2011 neck injury with perhaps the greatest season by a quarterback in NFL history in 2013. He broke the single-season passing yards record by just one yard, but shattered the touchdowns record with 55. In Week 1, he tied the single-game record with seven touchdown passes. He was named league MVP and First Team All-Pro.

Melvin Gordon, 2014

Stats: 2,587 rushing yards, 32 total touchdowns, 2,740 yards from scrimmage

Notable Awards: Doak Walker Award, Consensus All-American, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Heisman Finalist

In 2014, Gordon came within 41 yards of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. Invoking Sanders’ name is rarified air in college football lore. He also came within 69 yards of the single-season record for yards from scrimmage set by UCF’s Kevin Smith in 2007. Add in his 32 total touchdowns (T-4th all-time), and you’ve got one of the greatest non-Heisman winning seasons of all-time.

Stephen Curry, 2015-16

Stats: 30.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 6.7 APG, 2.1 SPG, 402 made 3-pt field goals

Notable Awards: MVP, First Team All-NBA

It’s not often a player wins the MVP award and then drastically improves the next season, but that’s exactly what Curry did in 2016. His 402 made three-pointers shattered his own single-season record by 116, which he accomplished while shooting a near career-high 45% from long-range. He added in over 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals a game just for fun and his Warriors established a new record for wins in a season. Curry was named the first unanimous MVP in NBA history.

Russell Westbrook, 2016-17

Stats: 31.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 10.4 APG

Notable Awards: MVP, First Team All-NBA

Here’s the full list of NBA players to average a triple double for an entire season before 2016: Oscar Robertson, 1961-62. That’s it.

Nobody thought it would be done ever again, until Westbrook averaged a mind-boggling 31.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 points per game in 2016-17. Then, he did it again for two more seasons. Regardless of your personal opinions on Westbrook’s numbers, they are literally unprecedented in NBA history.

Jason Belmonte, 2017

Stats: 229.39 average, 4 titles, 3 major titles

Notable Awards: GEICO Chris Schenkel Player of the Year, George Young High Average Award

Belmo is well on his way to becoming the greatest bowler of all-time. (I think he’s already there.) His best season to date came in 2017, when he achieved the highest average ever (229.39) in a PBA tour season. Belmonte won three majors titles (the Barbasol PBA Players Championship, USBC Masters and PBA World Championship). He also took home victories at the World Bowling Men’s Tour Finals and the PBA Main Event Tour Finals.

James Harden, 2018-19

Stats: 36.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 7.5 APG, 2.0 SPG

Notable awards: MVP runner-up, First Team All-NBA

Harden averaged the most points per game since Michael Jordan in 1986-87. It was the seventh-highest scoring season of all-time (second highest non-Wilt). He also scored 30 or more points in 32 consecutive games, a non-Wilt NBA record. He did not win the MVP award (nor should he have), but his historic scoring achievements merit his position on this list.

Joe Burrow, 2019

Stats: 76.3 completion percentage, 5,671 passing yards, 60 passing touchdowns, 5 rushing touchdowns, 10.8 YPA

Notable Awards: Heisman, Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Walter Camp Award, Unanimous First Team All-American, National Champion

Parsing through college football passing records is difficult because the efficiency records are broken nearly every season. It’s not that the quarterbacks are necessarily better every year, it’s that the offensive schemes and total offensive talent have evolved faster than defenses can keep up, which leads to more explosive offenses than ever before.

With that said, Burrow’s 2019 season is in the conversation for the greatest season by a quarterback in college football history. He set the SEC records for passing yards (4,715) and passing touchdowns (48). Burrow threw for less than 300 yards just twice (and was pulled in a 55-3 blowout win in one of those); he threw for less than 3 touchdowns just twice (and was pulled in a 65-14 blowout win in one of those). He defeated five top-ten ranked teams, while averaging 365 yards and 3 touchdowns in those games. Entering the College Football Playoff, he is on pace to set the single-season completion percentage record. Burrow will assuredly be named the 2019 Heisman winner, and who knows how many other awards he’ll take home.

UPDATE: Burrow did indeed take home the Heisman trophy. In fact, he secured the record for highest percentage of first place votes and the largest margin of victory in Heisman voting history.

Then, Burrow polished off his illustrious regular season with the greatest postseason performance in college football history. In the College Football Semifinal, he threw for 493 yards and seven (7!) touchdowns, while adding another score on the ground. He threw all seven touchdowns in the first half as LSU obliterated Oklahoma 63-28.

In the national championship against Clemson’s elite defense, Burrow torched the Tigers to the tune of 463 yards and five touchdowns through the air, and another 58 yards and a touchdown with his legs. LSU defeated Clemson to win the national championship 42-25.

Before the playoffs, Burrow had an argument for the greatest season in college football history. Now, it’s indisputable. He set the single season record for passing touchdowns (60), total touchdowns (65) and passer rating (202.0), and cracked the top four all-time in passing yards (5,671). Burrow went undefeated in four games against AP top-5 teams, averaging 424.5 passing yards, throwing 19 touchdowns and posting a 97.9 QBR.

I think Burrow has already secured a spot in the “Greatest Postseason Performances of the 2020’s”.

Honorable Mentions:

Cam Newton, 2010: 2,854 passing yards, 1,473 rushing yards, 50 total touchdowns

Jimmer Fredette, 2010-11: 28.9 PPG (third-most in NCAA history)

Calvin Johnson, 2012: 122 receptions, 1964 yards (NFL record), 5 TDs

Matt Ryan, 2016: 4,944 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 9.3 YPA

Trae Young, 2017-18: 27.4 points per game, 8.7 assists per game (first player to lead NCAA in both in the same season)

Mookie Betts, 2018: 10.9 WAR, 3rd highest since 1975

Patrick Mahomes, 2018: 5,097 passings yards, 50 passing touchdowns, 8.8 YPA

Kyler Murray, 2018: 5,362 total yards, 54 total touchdowns, 11.6 YPA

Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2018-19: 27.7 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 5.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.5 BPG

Posted in2010's in Review
Tagsadrian peterson anthony davis james harden jason belmonte joe burrow melvin gordon miguel cabrera peyton manning russell westbrook stephen curry

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