Johnny Unitas won three AP NFL MVP awards as quarterback of the Baltimore Colts.

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

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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
Season Player Position Team Refs
1957 Jim Brown Running back Cleveland Browns
1958 Jim Brown (2) Running back Cleveland Browns [8]
1959 Johnny Unitas Quarterback Baltimore Colts
1960 Norm Van Brocklin Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
1961 Paul Hornung Running back Green Bay Packers [9]
1962 Jim Taylor Running back Green Bay Packers
1963 Y. A. Tittle Quarterback New York Giants [10]
1964 Johnny Unitas (2) Quarterback Baltimore Colts [11]
1965 Jim Brown (3) Running back Cleveland Browns [12]
1966 Bart Starr Quarterback Green Bay Packers [13]
1967 Johnny Unitas (3) Quarterback Baltimore Colts [14]
1968 Earl Morrall Quarterback Baltimore Colts [15]
1969 Roman Gabriel Quarterback Los Angeles Rams
1970 John Brodie Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
1971 Alan Page Defensive tackle Minnesota Vikings
1972 Larry Brown Running back Washington Redskins
1973 O. J. Simpson Running back Buffalo Bills
1974 Ken Stabler Quarterback Oakland Raiders
1975 Fran Tarkenton Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
1976 Bert Jones Quarterback Baltimore Colts
1977 Walter Payton Running back Chicago Bears
1978 Terry Bradshaw Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
1979 Earl Campbell Running back Houston Oilers
1980 Brian Sipe Quarterback Cleveland Browns
1981 Ken Anderson Quarterback Cincinnati Bengals
1982 Mark Moseley Placekicker Washington Redskins
1983 Joe Theismann Quarterback Washington Redskins
1984 Dan Marino Quarterback Miami Dolphins
1985 Marcus Allen Running back Los Angeles Raiders
1986 Lawrence Taylor Linebacker New York Giants
1987 John Elway Quarterback Denver Broncos
1988 Boomer Esiason Quarterback Cincinnati Bengals
1989 Joe Montana Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
1990 Joe Montana (2) Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
1991 Thurman Thomas Running back Buffalo Bills
1992 Steve Young Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
1993 Emmitt Smith Running back Dallas Cowboys
1994 Steve Young (2) Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
1995 Brett Favre Quarterback Green Bay Packers
1996 Brett Favre (2) Quarterback Green Bay Packers
1997 Brett Favre (3)
Barry Sanders
Quarterback
Running back
Green Bay Packers
Detroit Lions
1998 Terrell Davis Running back Denver Broncos
1999 Kurt Warner Quarterback St. Louis Rams
2000 Marshall Faulk Running back St. Louis Rams
2001 Kurt Warner (2) Quarterback St. Louis Rams
2002 Rich Gannon Quarterback Oakland Raiders
2003 Peyton Manning
Steve McNair
Quarterback
Quarterback
Indianapolis Colts
Tennessee Titans
2004 Peyton Manning (2) Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
2005 Shaun Alexander Running back Seattle Seahawks
2006 LaDainian Tomlinson Running back San Diego Chargers
2007 Tom Brady Quarterback New England Patriots
2008 Peyton Manning (3) Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
2009 Peyton Manning (4) Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
2010 Tom Brady (2) Quarterback New England Patriots [6]
2011 Aaron Rodgers Quarterback Green Bay Packers [16]
2012 Adrian Peterson Running back Minnesota Vikings [17]
2013 Peyton Manning (5) Quarterback Denver Broncos [18]
2014 Aaron Rodgers (2) Quarterback Green Bay Packers [19]
2015 Cam Newton Quarterback Carolina Panthers [20]

Multiple-time winners

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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

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Ranking Franchise Awards Players Years
1 Baltimore Colts/Indianapolis Colts 9 Johnny Unitas
Earl Morrall
Bert Jones
Peyton Manning
1959, 1964, 1967
1968
1976
2003*, 2004, 2008, 2009
2 Green Bay Packers 8 Paul Hornung
Jim Taylor
Bart Starr
Brett Favre
Aaron Rodgers
1961
1962
1966
1995, 1996, 1997*
2011, 2014
3 San Francisco 49ers 5 John Brodie
Joe Montana
Steve Young
1970
1989, 1990
1992, 1994
4 Cleveland Browns 4 Jim Brown
Brian Sipe
1957, 1958, 1965
1980
Los Angeles Rams/St. Louis Rams 4 Roman Gabriel
Kurt Warner
Marshall Faulk
1969
1999, 2001
2000
6 Washington Redskins 3 Larry Brown
Mark Moseley
Joe Theismann
1972
1982
1983
Los Angeles Raiders/Oakland Raiders 3 Ken Stabler
Marcus Allen
Rich Gannon
1974
1985
2002
Minnesota Vikings 3 Alan Page
Fran Tarkenton
Adrian Peterson
1971
1975
2012
Denver Broncos 3 John Elway
Terrell Davis
Peyton Manning
1987
1998
2013
10 New York Giants 2 Y. A. Tittle
Lawrence Taylor
1963
1986
Cincinnati Bengals 2 Ken Anderson
Boomer Esiason
1981
1988
Buffalo Bills 2 O. J. Simpson
Thurman Thomas
1973
1991
Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans 2 Earl Campbell
Steve McNair
1979
2003*
New England Patriots 2 Tom Brady 2007, 2010
15 Philadelphia Eagles 1 Norm Van Brocklin 1960
Chicago Bears 1 Walter Payton 1977
Pittsburgh Steelers 1 Terry Bradshaw 1978
Miami Dolphins 1 Dan Marino 1984
Dallas Cowboys 1 Emmitt Smith 1993
Detroit Lions 1 Barry Sanders 1997*
Seattle Seahawks 1 Shaun Alexander 2005
San Diego Chargers 1 LaDainian Tomlinson 2006
Carolina Panthers 1 Cam Newton 2015
24
Houston Texans 0
New York Jets 0
Baltimore Ravens 0
Jacksonville Jaguars 0
Kansas City Chiefs 0
New Orleans Saints 0
Atlanta Falcons 0
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
Arizona Cardinals 0
*indicates MVP award was shared

Awards per position

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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

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References

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General

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  • "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

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  1. ^ Bieler, Des (January 20, 2016). "Pro Football Writers name Cam Newton their NFL MVP". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  2. ^ "First-ever 'NFL Honors' show will be hosted by Baldwin in Indy". NFL.com. National Football League. January 3, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b "Tom Brady unanimous as NFL MVP". ESPN. Associated Press. February 7, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  7. ^ Inabinett, Mark (February 6, 2016). "Cam Newton nearly unanimous choice for NFL Most Valuable Player". The Birmingham News. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  8. ^ "Brown Tops Unitas In Most Valuable Player Vote". Park City Daily News. Associated Press. January 12, 1959. p. 7. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  9. ^ "Noses Out Taylor; Hornung Most Valuable". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 21, 1961. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  10. ^ Becker, Jim (December 13, 1963). "Tittle named most valuable". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. p. 16. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "John Unitas Given Honor As Most Valuable Player". Sarasota Journal. Associated Press. December 11, 1964. p. 23. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  12. ^ "Jim Brown Honored As 'Most Valuable'". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. December 23, 1965. p. 18. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  13. ^ Hand, Jack (December 15, 1966). "Bart Starr Most Valuable Player". The Morning Record. Associated Press. p. 9. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  14. ^ "Johnny Unitas Wins Most Valuable Title". Ellensburg Daily Record. Associated Press. December 14, 1967. p. 5. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  15. ^ Beard, Gordon (December 19, 1968). "Morrall Most Valuable Player". The Evening News. Associated Press. p. 6D. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  16. ^ "Aaron Rodgers wins MVP in landslide". ESPN.com. ESPN. February 5, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  17. ^ Klemko, Robert (February 2, 2013). "Adrian Peterson overcomes knee injury to win NFL MVP". USA Today. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  18. ^ "Peyton Manning wins fifth NFL MVP award". Los Angeles Times. February 1, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  19. ^ "Aaron Rodgers wins second MVP at NFL's annual awards program". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. January 31, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  20. ^ Maske, Mark (February 6, 2016). "Cam Newton named NFL's MVP on eve of Super Bowl appearance". Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2016.