Portal:American football/Selected award/3
The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is given by various entities, most notably the Associated Press (AP), to the player who is considered most valuable in the league. When the award is referred to without mentioning the organization, it generally means the AP award. The AP NFL MVP has been shared twice, in 1997 and 2003. Peyton Manning has won the award four times in his career, the most of any NFL player. Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, and Brett Favre all were named MVP three times, while Joe Montana, Steve Young, Kurt Warner and Tom Brady each won the award twice. The winners of the AP award have overwhelmingly been quarterbacks and running backs; the only defensive players to win the AP award were Alan Page and Lawrence Taylor, and the only special teams player was Mark Moseley.
On January 2, 2009, the AP stated that their version of MVP award began in 1961. It is possible that this is a reaction to an article published at Pro Football Weekly that suggests the AP awards as listed by the AP were incorrect. As recently as the morning (EST) of January 2, 2009, the AP listed the 1957 MVP as Jim Brown, the 1958 MVP as Gino Marchetti, the 1959 MVP as Charlie Conerly, and the 1960 co-MVPs as Norm Van Brocklin and Joe Schmidt. The Pro Football Weekly.com article disputes the 1958, 1959, and 1960 winners. Since, as the PFW article points out, the AP began using the term "MVP" in 1961, it seems the pre-1960 winners are no longer considered "MVPs" but "Players of the Year". Adding to the confusion put out by the AP, the 1962 winner, Jim Taylor-in the story that moved across the AP wire in 1962, was the "Player of the Year" not the "Most Valuable Player". In 1963 the term "MVP" was used once again. According to an article by Pro Football Weekly, the terms "Player of the Year" and "Most Valuable Player" were generally interchangeable at the time.
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