The night before the Super Bowl saw players from the NFL walk away with some hardware. Tonight the NFL named the league’s MVP, Comeback Player, Defensive, Rookie, and the Coach of the Year awards. Here is the breakdown of who won these prestigious awards.
MVP Award
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson might have come up 9 yards short in passing Eric Dickerson’s all time rushing record for a single season, but he is this year’s NFL MVP. He won the award during the NFL Honors award show. Adrian ran for 2,097 yards this year and helped lead the Vikings into the playoffs.
Defensive Player of the Year Award
Houston Texans, J. J. Watt takes home the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. Watt led the league in sacks with 20.5 sacks. Watt’s defense helped propel the Texans into the playoffs. J.J. was locking to be a lock to win this award with his sack total and he forced four fumbles and was able to block an abundance of passes from opposing quarterbacks.
Comeback Player of the Year Award
Peyton Manning didn’t walk away empty handed at the NFL Honors ceremony. Manning won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Manning led the Broncos to the number one seed in the AFC. Peyton threw for 4,659 yards and threw for 37 touchdowns. Plus you should not feel bad for Manning not winning the MVP award, he already has four already.
Offensive Rookie of the Year Award
In a tight award race the honor went to Robert Griffin III. The Redskins quarterback beat out Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Griffin, III threw for 3,200 yards, passed for 20 touchdowns, ran for 815 yards and 7 touchdowns. Griffin III, who just recently had knee surgery joked about his injury on stage winning the award saying “It’s truly a blessing to be up there — to be able to stand, first and foremost.” I am looking forward to see what Griffin, Luck, and Wilson will do next season for an encore.
Defensive Rookie of the Year Award
Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly won Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Kuechly led the league with a whopping 164 tackles. Luke recovered 3 fumbles and had 2 interceptions. Luke is a definite bright spot in Carolina’s defense and is a great building block for the Panthers future.
Coach of the Year
Bruce Arians not only won the Coach of the Year award, but he is the first interim coach to win this award. Arians who is now the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals help the Colts get into the playoffs. During his time as the head coach of the Colts the team went 9-3. Back in September when Colts head Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia, Arians stepped in to guide rookie quarterback Andrew Luck and the Colts into the postseason.
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February 02, 2013
