By Betmaker Team

The highest individual honor in the NFL is the regular season MVP award. Most of the game’s greatest players have won at least one MVP award, and the winners etch their name in history. Peyton Manning is the most decorated player in NFL history in this regard with five regular season MVPs.
Betting on the NFL MVP


When looking to bet on the regular season MVP, it’s important to focus on who can actually win the award. A wide receiver has never been named NFL MVP by the Associated Press. For as great as players like Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, and Marvin Harrison were in their careers, the AP never dubbed any of them the best player over the course of the season.


A couple defensive players have won the award though. Alan Page was the first defensive player to be named the NFL MVP as part of the Minnesota Vikings’ Purple People Eaters defense in 1971. The great Lawrence Taylor was the second (and most recent) defensive player to earn the accolade in 1986, recording 20.5 sacks in that season.


We talk about things that will never be repeated in sports often, but a lot of that is hyperbole. However, there is no doubt that we will never see a kicker when the NFL MVP award again. Washington’s Mark Moseley was named MVP during the strike-shortened 1982 season. Moseley had a good season converting 20 of 21 field goal attempts, but he was largely rewarded as a throwback for being a straight on kicker instead of a soccer style kicker.

Nearly every NFL MVP has been either a running back or a quarterback, and it’s been largely a quarterback award over the last two decades. Since 2002, 16 of the last 19 NFL MVPs have been quarterbacks with the other three selections being running back. We haven’t seen a non-QB or non-RB win the MVP since Taylor.

NFL Regular Season MVPs in the 21st Century

Year Position Winner Team
2020 QB Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers
2019 QB Lamar Jackson Baltimore Ravens
2018 QB Patrick Mahomes Kansas City Chiefs
2017 QB Tom Brady New England Patriots
2016 QB Matt Ryan Atlanta Falcons
2015 QB Cam Newton Carolina Panthers
2014 QB Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers
2013 QB Peyton Manning Denver Broncos
2012 RB Adrian Peterson Minnesota Vikings
2011 QB Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers
2010 QB Tom Brady New England Patriots
2009 QB Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts
2008 QB Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts
2007 QB Tom Brady New England Patriots
2006 RB LaDainian Tomlinson San Diego Chargers
2005 RB Shaun Alexander Seattle Seahawks
2004 QB Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts
2003 QB Peyton Manning/Steve McNair Split
2002 QB Rich Gannon Oakland Raiders
2001 RB Marshall Faulk St. Louis Rams
2000 RB Marshall Faulk St. Louis Rams

Peyton Manning is the most decorated player in this aspect. Manning was named NFL MVP a record five times, and he was named the top player four times in seven years from 2003 to 2009. He split the award with the late Steve McNair in 2003, and he won his last MVP during the 2013 season with the Denver Broncos. Manning threw for an NFL record 5,477 yards with 55 TD passes that year.


Five different players have been named the NFL MVP three times in their careers. Jim Brown was the first to achieve the feat, followed shortly by Johnny Unitas. We didn’t see another player do this until the mid-1990s when Brett Favre won three straight MVP awards starting in 1995. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers were the other two to accomplish the feat, and both signal callers would love to add another piece of hardware to their trophy case.


There has been talk of an MVP curse in recent years though. A player hasn’t been named NFL MVP and gone on to win the Super Bowl since Kurt Warner did it in 1999. Oddly, this exact double happened five times in the 1990s, but we have seen league MVPs struggle in the postseason in the 21st Century. Many of those players led their team to the Super Bowl, but they ended up falling just short of breaking the curse.