A National Football League Most Valuable Player (NFL MVP) award has been given by various entities over time to honor the National Football League (NFL) player deemed most valuable to his respective team. Today, the winner of the AP Most Valuable Player Award presented by the Associated Press (AP) is considered the de facto official NFL MVP award.[1] Since 2011, the NFL has held the annual NFL Honors ceremony to recognize the winner of each year's Associated Press MVP award, along with other AP awards, such as the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year and AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year.[2]
The AP has presented its MVP award since 1957,[3][4] although the 2015 NFL Record and Fact Book refers to the pre-1961 awardees as winning the AP's "NFL Most Outstanding Player Award".[5] The award is voted upon by a panel of 50 sportswriters at the end of the regular season, before the playoffs, though the results are not announced to the public until the day before the Super Bowl. The sportswriters chosen regularly follow the NFL, and remain mostly consistent from year to year. They are chosen based on expertise and are independent of the league itself.[3] Voters of the award have included Troy Aikman of Fox Sports; Chris Collinsworth and Tony Dungy of NBC Sports; and Herm Edwards of ESPN.[3]
Peyton Manning has won the award five times, more than any other player. Manning is also the only player to win the AP MVP award with more than one team, winning with four with the Indianapolis Colts and one with the Denver Broncos. Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, and Brett Favre have won three times each, with Favre winning three consecutively. Two-time winners include Joe Montana, Steve Young, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers. The award has been overwhelmingly dominated by offensive players; of the 59 winners, 56 played offensively. Alan Page won in 1971 as a defensive tackle, and Lawrence Taylor as a linebacker in 1986. The sole special teams player to be named AP NFL MVP was Mark Moseley, who won as a placekicker in 1982. Thirteen awardees also won the Super Bowl in the same season, with Kurt Warner being the latest to accomplish this feat as he was named the 1999 AP NFL MVP and won Super Bowl XXXIV with the St. Louis Rams.[5] The only player to be voted unanimously is quarterback Tom Brady, as he received 50 out of 50 votes in 2010.[6] The incumbent AP NFL MVP is quarterback Cam Newton, who garnered 48 out of 50 votes for 2015 after leading the Carolina Panthers to Super Bowl 50.[7]
Awardees
edit| Denotes player who is still active in the NFL | |
| Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been named MVP |
Multiple-time winners
edit| Ranking | Player | Position | Team | Awards | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peyton Manning | QB | Indianapolis Colts/Denver Broncos | 5 | 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013 |
| 2 | Jim Brown Johnny Unitas Brett Favre |
RB QB QB |
Cleveland Browns Baltimore Colts Green Bay Packers |
3 | 1957, 1958, 1965 1959, 1964, 1967 1995, 1996, 1997 |
| 5 | Joe Montana Steve Young Kurt Warner Tom Brady Aaron Rodgers |
QB QB QB QB QB |
San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers St. Louis Rams New England Patriots Green Bay Packers |
2 | 1989, 1990 1992, 1994 1999, 2001 2007, 2010 2011, 2014 |
Awards per team
edit- *indicates MVP award was shared
Awards per position
edit| Ranking | Position | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quarterback | 38* |
| 2 | Running back | 18* |
| 3 | Defensive tackle | 1 |
| Linebacker | 1 | |
| Placekicker | 1 |
- *In 2003, the award was shared between two quarterbacks, and thus counts for two MVPs in one year. In 1997, the award was shared between a running back and a quarterback, giving both categories an MVP in one year.
See also
edit- National Football League Most Valuable Player Award for an overview of similar awards from other organizations
- AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award
- AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award
- NFL Honors
References
editGeneral
edit- "AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
- Lee, Brenden; Gellerman, Jacob; King, Robert, eds. (2015). 2015 Official NFL Record and Fact Book (PDF). National Football League. p. 524. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
- "MVP Winners". mvpvoting.wordpress.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
- "NFL History: Awards". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
Footnotes
edit- ^ Bieler, Des (January 20, 2016). "Pro Football Writers name Cam Newton their NFL MVP". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
- ^ "First-ever 'NFL Honors' show will be hosted by Baldwin in Indy". NFL.com. National Football League. January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ a b c Kreinberg, Jake (February 3, 2016). "How we count the votes for the NFL's top awards". insights.ap.org. Associated Press. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ^ "AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- ^ a b Lee, Brenden; Gellerman, Jacob; King, Robert, eds. (2015). 2015 Official NFL Record and Fact Book (PDF). National Football League. p. 524. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ a b "Tom Brady unanimous as NFL MVP". ESPN. Associated Press. February 7, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ^ Inabinett, Mark (February 6, 2016). "Cam Newton nearly unanimous choice for NFL Most Valuable Player". The Birmingham News. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ^ "Brown Tops Unitas In Most Valuable Player Vote". Park City Daily News. Associated Press. January 12, 1959. p. 7. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
- ^ "Noses Out Taylor; Hornung Most Valuable". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 21, 1961. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ Becker, Jim (December 13, 1963). "Tittle named most valuable". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. p. 16. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "John Unitas Given Honor As Most Valuable Player". Sarasota Journal. Associated Press. December 11, 1964. p. 23. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "Jim Brown Honored As 'Most Valuable'". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. December 23, 1965. p. 18. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
- ^ Hand, Jack (December 15, 1966). "Bart Starr Most Valuable Player". The Morning Record. Associated Press. p. 9. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
- ^ "Johnny Unitas Wins Most Valuable Title". Ellensburg Daily Record. Associated Press. December 14, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ Beard, Gordon (December 19, 1968). "Morrall Most Valuable Player". The Evening News. Associated Press. p. 6D. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "Aaron Rodgers wins MVP in landslide". ESPN.com. ESPN. February 5, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
- ^ Klemko, Robert (February 2, 2013). "Adrian Peterson overcomes knee injury to win NFL MVP". USA Today. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
- ^ "Peyton Manning wins fifth NFL MVP award". Los Angeles Times. February 1, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
- ^ "Aaron Rodgers wins second MVP at NFL's annual awards program". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. January 31, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
- ^ Maske, Mark (February 6, 2016). "Cam Newton named NFL's MVP on eve of Super Bowl appearance". Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016.