The AP has presented an award recognizing the NFL's top player since 1957. 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.[5] Voters for the award have included Troy Aikman of Fox Sports; Cris Collinsworth and Tony Dungy of NBC Sports; and Herm Edwards of ESPN.[5] Only two players in the history of the award have won it unanimously: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in 2010 and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in 2019.[6]
Due to voters' tendency to favor offensive positions (mostly the quarterback and sometimes the running back),[7][8][9][10] the award has been overwhelmingly dominated by offensive players; of the 57 undisputed winners, 54 played an offensive position: 38 quarterbacks and 16 running backs. Two defensive players have won the award: Alan Page 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.[11]
Thirteen awardees also won the Super Bowl (or NFL Championship Game prior to 1966) in the same season. However, this did not occur from 2000 to 2022. During that span, nine AP NFL MVPs have led their team to the Super Bowl and were defeated each time.[12] This has led to tongue-in-cheek claims in recent years that there is a "curse" preventing the awardee's team from winning the Super Bowl.[13][14]
The Green Bay Packers have the most overall winners with ten; if including disputed awards (see below), the Colts would be tied with ten. The Green Bay Packers also have the most unique winners with five players winning the award.
Discrepanciesedit
The AP has presented an award recognizing the NFL's top player since the 1957 season,[5][15] although the pre-1961 awardees are recognized in the Official NFL Record and Fact Book as winning the AP's "NFL Most Outstanding Player Award",[11][16] and the 1962 winner was recognized as the AP's "Player of the Year".[17][18] The AP considers 1961 to be the first year in which it presented a "Most Valuable Player" award.[17][19][20] Thus there are numerous inconsistencies among sources regarding each of the first four awards, and whether or not the winners are included in the overall list of AP MVP winners at all. The discrepancies include 1958's winner being either Jim Brown or Gino Marchetti; the 1959 winner as Johnny Unitas or Charlie Conerly; and whether or not Norm Van Brocklin shared the award in 1960 with Joe Schmidt.[17]
^Beginning with the 2023 season, AP voters began filling out a ranked MVP ballot of five players. Jackson received 49 first-place votes and one third-place vote, for a total of 493 out of 500 potential points.[90]
Referencesedit
General
"AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
"Full list of NFL MVP winners". Sports Illustrated. February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
Gellerman, Jacob; Drexler, Sam; Marini, Matt; Cocchiaro, Nicolas; Zerkel, Alex, eds. (2016). 2018 Official NFL Record and Fact Book(PDF). National Football League. pp. 522–523. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
Citations
^Bieler, Des (January 20, 2016). "Pro Football Writers name Cam Newton their NFL MVP". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016. The AP NFL awards, which essentially serve as the official league honors...
^Thomas, Jim (January 10, 2002). "Warner is in hunt for another NFL honor". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 20. Retrieved February 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. The Associated Press MVP award is the most prestigious, but it's only Round 1 when it comes to NFL player-of-the-year awards.
^"First-ever 'NFL Honors' show will be hosted by Baldwin in Indy". NFL.com. National Football League. January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
^"Tom Brady Wins His Third M.V.P. Award". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
^ abcKreinberg, Jake (February 3, 2016). "How we count the votes for the NFL's top awards". AP Insights. Associated Press. Retrieved August 2, 2016. I think the first year we gave out awards was 1957.
^Jamison, Hensley (February 2020). "Ravens QB Lamar Jackson unanimous pick for NFL MVP after historic season". ESPN. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
^"NFL MVP Award is Flawed: How Quarterbacks and Running Backs Blind Voters". Bleacher Report.
^Mays, Robert (December 12, 2014). "How Hard Is It for a Defensive Player to Win NFL MVP? Just Ask These Guys". Grantland. ESPN. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
^Greenberg, Micah (December 21, 2016). "Forget the MVP, Award Position Groups". Fox Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
^ abLee, Brenden; Gellerman, Jacob; King, Robert, eds. (2015). 2015 Official NFL Record and Fact Book(PDF). National Football League. p. 524. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
^Campbell, Dave (February 5, 2018). "Brady takes his 3rd Super Bowl loss, despite 500-yard game". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
^Breech, John (February 2, 2017). "Tom Brady, Matt Ryan beware: NFL MVP is in the middle of an ugly Super Bowl drought". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
^Joyner, KC (January 28, 2016). "Why Cam Newton should worry about MVP curse in Super Bowl 50". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
^"AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
^Garven, Rich (December 18, 2016). "Strong showing in Denver should bolster Brady for MVP". The Providence Journal. Retrieved February 1, 2017. Including the four years prior to 1961 when it was known as the Most Outstanding Player award...
^ abcTurney, John (January 11, 2010). "AP gets it partially right". Pro Football Weekly. Archived from the original on December 16, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Jim Taylor Player of Year and Allie Sherman Coach of Year in NFL Voting". The Evening Times. Associated Press. December 13, 1962. p. 14. Retrieved January 31, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^Pelissero, Tom (December 22, 2016). "Who's the NFL MVP: Our sampling of executives gives Ezekiel Elliott the edge". USA Today. Retrieved February 1, 2017. Fifty media members (I'm one of them) will vote by Jan. 4 for awards given out by The Associated Press, which began awarding the MVP in 1961 and has never given it to a rookie. (Cleveland Browns fullback Jim Brown did win what was then called NFL Player of the Year in his rookie year in 1957.)
^"National Football League MVPs". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. February 6, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
^"Tom Brady aiming for rare double: regular season MVP, Super Bowl MVP". NBCSports.com. February 4, 2018.
^ abHand, Jack (December 15, 1966). "Bart Starr Most Valuable Player". The Morning Record. Associated Press. p. 9. Retrieved August 3, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"O. J. Simpson Selected Most Valuable In NFL". Palladium-Item. Associated Press. January 10, 1974. p. 17. Retrieved January 31, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"Raiders' Allen MVP in NFL". The Zanesville Times-Reporter. Associated Press. December 30, 1985. p. 3-B – via Newspapers.com.
^"AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
^"Jim Brown of Cleveland is Grid Laurels Voted Top Pro". The Gettysburg Times. Associated Press. January 8, 1958. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
^ abcdMiller, Sterling (December 8, 2015). The Evolution of Professional Football: An Almanac (1920 to 2015). Hillcrest Publishing Group. pp. 52–56. ISBN 978-1-60057-207-4. Retrieved February 3, 2017. "AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2016. "Full list of NFL MVP winners". Sports Illustrated. February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
^"Brown Tops Unitas In Most Valuable Player Vote". Park City Daily News. Associated Press. January 12, 1959. p. 7. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
^ abLee, Brenden; Gellerman, Jacob; Marini, Matt, eds. (2016). 2016 Official NFL Record and Fact Book(PDF). National Football League. pp. 524–525. Retrieved May 2, 2017. Janssen, Sarah (December 6, 2016). The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2017. Simon and Schuster. p. 1,994. ISBN 978-1600572074. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
^"Unitas Named Player Of Year In Pro Football". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. December 24, 1959. p. 10. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
^"Hornung Is 'Most Valuable'". Star Tribune. Associated Press. December 21, 1961. p. 21. Retrieved February 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"FB Taylor top player for season". Austin American. Associated Press. December 14, 1962. p. 42. Retrieved February 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^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.
^"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.
^"Gabriel named MVP in NFL". Tallahassee Democrat. Associated Press. December 19, 1969. p. 10. Retrieved February 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Brodie Nips Blanda As 'Most Valuable'". Lincoln Evening Journal. Associated Press. January 7, 1971. p. 11. Retrieved January 31, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^Swanson, Merrill (January 8, 1972). "Vikings' Page takes the cake". Star Tribune. p. 17. Retrieved January 31, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Larry Brown 'Most Valuable'". Garden City Telegram. Associated Press. January 8, 1973. p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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^"Colts' Jones most valuable". Reno Gazette-Journal. Associated Press. December 30, 1976. p. 14. Retrieved February 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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^Lutz, Michael (December 19, 1979). "Campbell selected as 'Most Valuable'". The Free Lance-Star. Associated Press. p. 10. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
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^"Redskins Sweep Awards: Theismann, Gibbs Named". The Burlington Free Press. Associated Press. December 21, 1983. p. 25. Retrieved February 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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^"Taylor wins awards". Star-News. December 31, 1986. p. 2B. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
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^"AP Names Montana MVP". Albuquerque Journal. Associated Press. January 3, 1990. p. 17. Retrieved February 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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^ abHensley, Jeff (February 8, 2024). "Ravens QB Lamar Jackson wins 2nd career NFL MVP award". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2024.