The Sporting News NFL Player of the Year Award

The Sporting News (formerly Sporting News from 2002 to 2022) began awarding a National Football League (NFL) player of the year award in 1954. From 1970 to 1979, The Sporting News chose American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) players of the year, and returned to a single winner in 1980. Beginning in 2008 The Sporting News chose an offensive player of the year and a defensive player of the year.^[1][2]

Winners

Season	Player	Team	Position	Ref
1954	Lou Groza	Cleveland Browns	Tackle, kicker	[3]
1955	Otto Graham	Cleveland Browns	Quarterback	[1]
1956	Frank Gifford	New York Giants	Running back
1957	Jim Brown	Cleveland Browns	Fullback
1958	Jim Brown (2)	Cleveland Browns	Fullback
1959	Johnny Unitas	Baltimore Colts	Quarterback	[4]
1960	Norm Van Brocklin	Philadelphia Eagles	Quarterback	[1]
1961	Paul Hornung	Green Bay Packers	Running back
1962	Y. A. Tittle	New York Giants	Quarterback
1963	Y. A. Tittle (2)	New York Giants	Quarterback
1964	Johnny Unitas (2)	Baltimore Colts	Quarterback
1965	Jim Brown (3)	Cleveland Browns	Running back
1966	Bart Starr	Green Bay Packers	Quarterback
1967	Johnny Unitas (3)	Baltimore Colts	Quarterback
1968	Earl Morrall	Baltimore Colts	Quarterback
1969	Roman Gabriel	Los Angeles Rams	Quarterback
1970	NFC- John Brodie AFC- George Blanda	San Francisco 49ers Oakland Raiders	Quarterback Quarterback, kicker
1971	NFC- Roger Staubach AFC- Bob Griese	Dallas Cowboys Miami Dolphins	Quarterback Quarterback
1972	NFC- Larry Brown AFC- Earl Morrall (2)	Washington Redskins Miami Dolphins	Running back Quarterback
1973	NFC- John Hadl AFC- O. J. Simpson	Los Angeles Rams Buffalo Bills	Quarterback Running back
1974	NFC- Chuck Foreman AFC- Ken Stabler	Minnesota Vikings Oakland Raiders	Running back Quarterback
1975	NFC- Fran Tarkenton AFC- O. J. Simpson (2)	Minnesota Vikings Buffalo Bills	Quarterback Running back
1976	NFC- Walter Payton AFC- Ken Stabler (2)	Chicago Bears Oakland Raiders	Running back Quarterback
1977	NFC- Walter Payton (2) AFC- Craig Morton	Chicago Bears Denver Broncos	Running back Quarterback
1978	NFC- Archie Manning AFC- Earl Campbell	New Orleans Saints Houston Oilers	Quarterback Running back
1979	NFC- Ottis Anderson AFC- Dan Fouts	St. Louis Cardinals San Diego Chargers	Running back Quarterback
1980	Brian Sipe	Cleveland Browns	Quarterback
1981	Ken Anderson	Cincinnati Bengals	Quarterback
1982	Mark Moseley	Washington Redskins	Kicker
1983	Eric Dickerson	Los Angeles Rams	Running back
1984	Dan Marino	Miami Dolphins	Quarterback
1985	Marcus Allen	Los Angeles Raiders	Running back	[5]
1986	Lawrence Taylor	New York Giants	Linebacker	[1]
1987	Jerry Rice	San Francisco 49ers	Wide receiver
1988	Boomer Esiason	Cincinnati Bengals	Quarterback
1989	Joe Montana	San Francisco 49ers	Quarterback
1990	Jerry Rice (2)	San Francisco 49ers	Wide receiver
1991	Thurman Thomas	Buffalo Bills	Running back
1992	Steve Young	San Francisco 49ers	Quarterback
1993	Emmitt Smith	Dallas Cowboys	Running back
1994	Steve Young (2)	San Francisco 49ers	Quarterback
1995	Brett Favre	Green Bay Packers	Quarterback
1996	Brett Favre (2)	Green Bay Packers	Quarterback
1997	Barry Sanders	Detroit Lions	Running back
1998	Terrell Davis	Denver Broncos	Running back
1999	Kurt Warner	St. Louis Rams	Quarterback
2000	Marshall Faulk	St. Louis Rams	Running back
2001	Marshall Faulk (2)	St. Louis Rams	Running back
2002	Rich Gannon	Oakland Raiders	Quarterback
2003	Peyton Manning	Indianapolis Colts	Quarterback
2004	Peyton Manning (2)	Indianapolis Colts	Quarterback
2005	Shaun Alexander	Seattle Seahawks	Running back
2006	LaDainian Tomlinson	San Diego Chargers	Running back
2007	Tom Brady	New England Patriots	Quarterback	[6]
2008	Offense – Drew Brees Defense – Albert Haynesworth	New Orleans Saints Tennessee Titans	Quarterback Defensive tackle	[7][8]
2009	Offense – Drew Brees (2) Defense – Charles Woodson	New Orleans Saints Green Bay Packers	Quarterback Cornerback	[7][9]
2010	Offense – Tom Brady (2) Defense – Clay Matthews	New England Patriots Green Bay Packers	Quarterback Linebacker	[10]
2011	Offense - Aaron Rodgers Defense - Jared Allen	Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings	Quarterback Defensive end	[11]
2012	Offense - Adrian Peterson Defense - J. J. Watt	Minnesota Vikings Houston Texans	Running back Defensive end	[12]
2013	Offense - Peyton Manning (3) Defense - Luke Kuechly	Denver Broncos Carolina Panthers	Quarterback Linebacker
2014	Offense - Aaron Rodgers (2) Defense - J. J. Watt (2)	Green Bay Packers Houston Texans	Quarterback Defensive end
2015	Offense - Cam Newton Defense - J. J. Watt (3)	Carolina Panthers Houston Texans	Quarterback Defensive end
2016	Offense - Tom Brady (3) Defense - Khalil Mack	New England Patriots Oakland Raiders	Quarterback Defensive end
2017	Offense - Antonio Brown Defense - Calais Campbell	Pittsburgh Steelers Jacksonville Jaguars	Quarterback Defensive end	[13]
2018	Offense - Patrick Mahomes Defense - Aaron Donald	Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Rams	Quarterback Defensive tackle	[14]
2019	Offense - Lamar Jackson Defense - Stephon Gilmore	Baltimore Ravens New England Patriots	Quarterback Cornerback	[15]
2020	Offense - Patrick Mahomes (2) Defense - Aaron Donald (2)	Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Rams	Quarterback Defensive tackle	[16]
2021	Offense - Jonathan Taylor Defense - T. J. Watt	Indianapolis Colts Pittsburgh Steelers	Running back Linebacker
2022	Offense - Justin Jefferson Defense - Nick Bosa	Minnesota Vikings San Francisco 49ers	Wide receiver Defensive end
2023	Offense - Tyreek Hill Defense - Myles Garrett	Miami Dolphins Cleveland Browns	Wide receiver Defensive end	[17]
2024	Offense - Saquon Barkley Defense - Myles Garrett (2)	Philadelphia Eagles Cleveland Browns	Running back Defensive end

See also

• NFL Most Valuable Player Award
• NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award
• NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award
• List of NFL awards

References

1. Archived July 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
2. Barry Wilner (2013-04-04). "Adrian Peterson Wins 2012 Offensive Player Of The Year Award". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
3. "Groza Named MVP in Pro Football". The Dayton Daily News. AP. December 20, 1954. p. D-21. Retrieved June 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Sporting News Names Unitas Pro Football Player Of Year". Carlsbad Current-Argus. January 3, 1960. p. 19. Retrieved June 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Allen honored". The Galveston Daily News. Associated Press. January 23, 1986. p. 20. Retrieved May 24, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Taped-up Brady, Patriots begin work in Arizona". The Indianapolis Star. January 29, 2008. p. D3. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Triplett, Mike (January 12, 2010). "New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees named POY by The Sporting News". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
8. Bishop, Greg (January 16, 2020). "Albert Haynesworth Doesn't Need Your Love. Just Your Kidney". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 14, 2021. Even then, the man The Sporting News named its Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 seemed worth the headaches.
9. Dougherty, Pete (January 14, 2010). "NFL defense late no-call". Green Bay Press-Gazette. p. B-2. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Matthews honored". Wisconsin State Journal. January 13, 2011. p. B3. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "NFL Awards 2011". The Sporting News.
12. "NFL Awards 2016". The Sporting News.
13. "NFL Awards 2017". The Sporting News.
14. "NFL Awards 2018". The Sporting News.
15. "NFL Awards 2019". The Sporting News.
16. "NFL Awards 2020". The Sporting News.
17. "NFL awards 2023: Lions, Dolphins clean up in voting for Sporting News' honors". The Sporting News.