He joins Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the only players to win consecutive MVP awards in NFL history.
Thursday night marked the 11th edition of NFL Honors, and some of football’s finest were honored, both with The Associated Press awards and debuting the newest class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers took home his fourth MVP honor, the second most in league history. He joins Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the only players to win consecutive MVP awards in NFL history. Manning holds the most with five.
Meanwhile, Cooper Kupp joined Jerry Rice and Michael Thomas as the only wide receivers to take home Offensive Player of the Year.
It comes just three days before Super Bowl LVI where the Bengals and Rams will face-off in California’s SoFi Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 13. Los Angeles is coming off a narrow 20–17 victory over the 49ers thanks to a 13-point fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Cincinnati went into overtime against Kansas City, ultimately winning thanks to another crucial field goal by Evan McPherson.
But before we crown this season’s champion, here’s who won what at NFL Honors.
AP Defensive Player of the Year: T.J. Watt, Steelers OLB
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals WR
AP Offensive Player of the Year: Cooper Kupp, Rams WR. He led the NFL in all three major receiving categories: receptions, yards and touchdowns.
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Micah Parsons, Cowboys LB and first unanimous DROY in league history.
AP Comeback Player of the Year: Joe Burrow, Bengals QB
AP Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers, Packers QB. He led the NFL with a 111.9 passer rating and threw for 4,115 yards and 37 touchdowns. Rodgers averaged 275 yards passing per game and threw 20 touchdowns with zero interceptions over the last seven regular-season games.
AP Coach of the Year: Mike Vrabel, Titans head coach
AP Assistant Coach of the Year: Dan Quinn, Cowboys defensive coordinator
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Andrew Whitworth, Rams OT
Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022: Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour, Bryant Young, Cliff Branch, Art McNally, Dick Vermeil
More NFL Coverage:
- Eric Dickerson on Learning to Love the Rams Again (Almost)
- Andrew Whitworth and the Joy of Being Very, Very Wrong
- For Eric Weddle, It Was (Apparently) Never Over
- SoFi Stadium Went Up—and Then Everything Changed
- NFL Awards 2021: The MMQB’s Picks for MVP, Rookies of the Year, Coach of the Year and More