Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best-performing player (or players) in an entire league, for a particular competition, or on a specific team. Initially used in professional sports, the term is now also commonly used in amateur sports, as well as in other completely unrelated fields such as business and music. In many sports, MVP awards are presented for a specific match—in other words, a man of the match award.

The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In other cases, "Player of the Year" is used. In Australia, Australian rules football clubs and leagues use the term "Best and Fairest", while those playing rugby league use "Player of the Year", such as the Dally M Medal. The National Basketball League, however, uses the American-style "MVP" for its awards. Insofar as there is a distinction between an MVP and a Player of the Year, a "player of the year" describes the greatest individual talent, while a "most valuable player" is a person most responsible for their team's success.

National Football League Most Valuable Player Award

The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered most valuable to his team in the National Football League.

Associated Press NFL POY/MVP Award

The AP NFL MVP award is voted upon by 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 award has been shared twice, in 1997 and 2003.Peyton Manning has won the award five times, the most of any player. In 2003, he shared the award with Steve McNair, of the Tennessee Titans. Manning is also the only player to win the MVP with more than one team (4 with the Colts, 1 with the Broncos). Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, and Brett Favre were named MVP three times, while Joe Montana, Steve Young, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers have each won the award twice. Favre is the only player to win the award three consecutive years, and Brady is the only player to ever be voted unanimously (2010). Most awardees have been quarterbacks and running backs; the only defensive players to be so honored have been Alan Page and Lawrence Taylor, and the only special teams player was Mark Moseley.

Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers played college football for California, where he set several career passing records, including lowest single-season and career interception rates. He was selected in the first round (24th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Packers.

After backing up Brett Favre for the first three years of his NFL career, Rodgers became the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback in 2008 and led them to a victory in Super Bowl XLV after the 2010 NFL season; Rodgers was named Super Bowl MVP. He was named Associated Press Athlete of the Year in 2011, as well as being voted league MVP for the 2011 and 2014 NFL seasons. Rodgers has led the NFL three times in touchdown-to-interception ratio (2011, 2012, 2014), twice in passer rating (2011, 2012), touchdown passing percentage (2011, 2012) and lowest passing interception percentage (2009, 2014), and once in yards per attempt (2011).

Tom Brady

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr. (born August 3, 1977), is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL).

After playing college football for the University of Michigan, Tom Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft. In Brady's 14 seasons as a starter (he did not start as a rookie, and missed nearly all of 2008 with a torn ACL), the Patriots have earned six trips to the Super Bowl (the most for any quarterback, ever), winning four. Brady has won three Super Bowl MVP (Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XLIX) and two league MVP awards (2007 and 2010), has been selected to eleven Pro Bowls, and has led the Patriots to more division titles (13) than any other quarterback in NFL history. Brady is fifth all-time in career passing yards and third in career touchdown passes. His career postseason record is 22–9; he has won more playoff games than any other QB, and appeared in more playoff games than any player at any position. He led the Patriots when they set the NFL record for the longest consecutive win streak, including the playoffs, with 21 straight wins in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He also set the record for most consecutive playoff wins with 10, and in 2007 led the Patriots to the first undefeated regular season since the season was expanded to 16 games. He has thrown for more passing yards and touchdowns than any quarterback in NFL postseason history, and has the sixth highest career passer rating of all time (96.6) among quarterbacks with at least 1,500 career passing attempts.

National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL's 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference (four division winners and two wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1923 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is among the biggest club sporting events in the world and individual Super Bowl games account for many of the most watched television programs in American history, all occupying the Nielsen's Top 5 tally of the all-time most watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015. The NFL's executive officer is the commissioner, who has broad authority in governing the league.