The NFL Most Valuable Player debate is usually left to fans on bar stools or capricious media members creating controversy.
Usually the players stay above the fray, giving boilerplate answers that won't end up on another team's bulletin board.
However, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the 2011 MVP award winner, jumped into the discussion on Thursday, telling USA Today Sports' Lindsay Jones he understands he isn't in this year's picture, which comes down to "Adrian (Peterson) or Peyton (Manning)."
The Packers meet Peterson's Minnesota VikingsSaturday in a rubber match after the destructive running back dashed for 409 yards in the two previous meetings. One would think Rodgers would point to Peterson as his MVP after the back ran for 2,097 yards, if only to butter up the Vikings.
However, Rodgers has a larger bias.
"You've got to go with the quarterback," he said.
Follow Kevin Patra on Twitter @kpatra.