Alan Page was an undersized but overachieving defensive tackle in the days of three channels and computers the size of Winnebagos.  I was introduced to him by a book from the NFL’s “Punt Pass and Kick” library, a ’70s-era not-so-subtle attempt at indoctrinating a generation of America’s youth.  (And it worked.) 

On the cover of Gamebreakers of the NFL was a picture of Alan Page with that old-time spiderweb facemask riding some poor sap from the 49ers to the ground.  Thirty-five years later, I’ve still got the thing.

Page was a dominant presence in the NFL in the years just before and just after the merger, anchoring the Purple People Eaters and winning the league’s MVP award in 1971. 

He earned a law degree while playing for the Vikings, and became a practicing attorney after his football career ended in 1981.  Eleven years later, Page was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and has since been re-elected twice.

Page is the best defensive tackle we’ve ever seen, and for his on-field exploits and post-football success we name the annual award given to one of the league’s defensive linemen after him.

The first recipient of the Alan Page award is Michael Strahan.

Other defensive linemen had better stats and bigger impacts.  But without Strahan the Giants wouldn’t have won Super Bowl XLII; we’re convinced of it.  And though we disagreed with his phony retirement posturing in August and we believed that his ugly divorce proceedings from a year ago portrayed him in a very unflattering light, he was all business when he finally reported, and he provided solid leadership for the team that showed as much improvement from September to February as perhaps any team in the history of the league.