NFL MVP Winners By Position Since 1957

Contrary to common belief, the MVP position is not exclusive to quarterbacks. The award as we know it today has been around since 1957, and a player (or two) has been awarded every season besides 1960. You can call that year a ‘fumble.’ Let’s break down the stats for all of our award winners and get a true idea of their positions.

An MVP Breakdown

This section is a little date and name heavy. If you want to know who won what and when, we will break it all down here.

1950s

1957-1958: Fullback Jim Jones won both times.

1959: Quarterback Johnny Unitas was voted MVP.

1960s

1961: Halfback Paul Hornung took the award.

1962: Fullback Jim Taylor won.

1963-1964: QBs Y.A. Tittle and John Unitas were awarded in that order.

1965: FB Jim Jones is back!

1966-1970: QBs Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, Earl Morrall, Roman Gabriel, and John Brodie won in that order.

1970s

1971: Lone Right Defensive Tackle Alan Page took the award.

1972-1973: RBs Larry Brown and OJ Simpson were the first running backs to win in their respective years.

1974-1975: Quarterbacks Ken Stabler and Fran Tarkenton won.

1976: Bert Jones, the quarterback, won.

1977: RB Walter “Sweetness” Payton got the pretty sweet award.

1978: QB Terry Bradshaw won.

1979: Running back Earl Campbell won MVP.

1980s

1980-1981: QBs Brian Sipe and Ken Anderson were voted MVP.

1982: The Man, the Myth, the Legend Kicker Mark Moseley won MVP.

1983-1984: QB Joe Theismann, who had his leg snapped by the 1986 MVP, won in ’83. Dan Marino won in ’84.

1985: RB Raiders Marcus Allen rushed his way to the award.

1986: Right Outside Linebacker Lawrence Taylor tackled the other candidates and claimed his award.

1987-1990: QBs won four years in a row: John Elway, Boomer Esiason, and Joe Montana twice in back-to-back years.

1990s

1991: Thurman Thomas (RB) snagged 1991.

1992: QB Steve Young won MVP, attempting to get out of 2x winner Joe Montana’s shadow.

1993: RB Emmett Smith was awarded.

1994-1997: QBs snagged the majority of the 1990s with Steve Young winning again in ’94, and Brett Favre taking the award three years in a row. In 1997 RB Barry Sanders was co-MVP with Favre.

1998: RB Terrell Davis broke Favre’s streak.

1999: Barnstorming QB Kurt Warner won in 1999.

2000s

2000: RB Marshall Faulk kicked off the 2000s with a non-QB win. And we all made it through Y2K!

2001-2004: QBs reigned for the next several years. Kurt Warner said, “Oops, I did it again,” in 2001. Rich Gannon was the ’02 winner. Steve McNair and Peyton Manning were co-MVPs in 2003, and Peyton was re-awarded in 2004.

2005-2006: Running backs Shaun Alexander and LaDainian Tomlinson reclaimed the MVP award in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

2007-2011: The QBs said “Cry Me A River” to all the other positions, with Tom Brady winning in ’07 and ’10, Peyton Manning in 2008 and 2009, and Aaron Rodgers in 2011.

2010s – 2020s

2012: RB Adrian Peterson was the last non-QB to win the award as of January in 2025.

2013-2023: QBs: Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers (2020-2021), Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, in that order.

Summary Of Position Stats

QBs certainly have monopolized the position for the majority of the years, but they aren’t the only ones to win the award. In other words, there’s still hope for Saquon Barkley.

47 out of the 68 MVP winners have been quarterbacks (69.1%), and 13 were running backs (19.1%). 5 players (11.8%) broke the mold. 3–time winner Fullback Jim Brown (1957-1958, 1965), fullback Jim Taylor (1962), defensive tackle Alan Page (1971), kicker Mark Moseley (1982), and linebacker LT (1986). 30.9% of winners have not been quarterbacks, and we can do it again.

Is There A MVP Team Advantage?

Interestingly, if the statistics removed from specific circumstances and environments are looked at, there does appear to be an advantage.

Only 25 of 32 teams have representation in prior MVPs. The seven that don’t include the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two potential reasons for the lack of presence on the list for these teams are some of the franchises being rather new and the teams being monumentally bad (you know who you are). But for some, neither is true, and it is truly surprising. If you are a fan of one of those teams, that could be a bad sign.

If you are one of the 25, your chances are also small unless you are one of the select few teams. The percentages of chance for the 25 franchises to win the award are below.

Percentage Breakdowns

1.5%: Nine franchises only have one individual in past MVPs. Those teams are currently 1.5% of the overall 68 nominated people. These teams include the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles (and San Diego) Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

2.9%: Two players (or the same player twice) have been enshrined with the MVP title for these six franchises. Your team represents 2.9% of the MVPs if you are a fan of the Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Tennessee (and Houston Oilers) Titans.

4.4%: You’re nearing five percent if your franchise has had three players (or the same player multiple times) named the MVP. These teams include the Washington (and variety of potato) Commanders, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, and the Las Vegas (and Oakland and Los Angeles) Raiders.

5.9%: You’re smack dab in the middle if you have players that were represented four times in the list of MVPs. Only two teams have this claim to fame: the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles (and St. Louis) Rams.

7.4%: You’re really cooking if your team has been represented five times in the Hall of MVP Fame. This is the case for San Francisco 49ers fans.

13.2%: If you are an Indianapolis (Baltimore) Colts fan, you have one of the most represented teams in this list, having been present nine times.

14.7%: The Green Bay Packers get everything—including the greatest chance to be selected an MVP. They have had 10 selections since 1957.

Thoughts on Numbers

Although these numbers are an interesting commentary on the successes and failures of franchises over time, among other things, it doesn’t appear to speak that much to the chance of future selections. However, the greater the number, the more likely you’ve had an amazing era of football in your team’s past with a generational quarterback, running back, fullback, halfback, kicker, linebacker, or defensive tackle.

Miller Musings

There are few opportunities that this author won’t take to study the occurrence of diagnosed CTE or neurological decline-related symptoms in a set group. Of course, many of these players are too young to experience these symptoms (or at least communicate them) and will likely develop these symptoms down the road.

However, we will look at players over 40 and see how the statistics line up. MVPs typically have long, talented careers that put them in the line of fire often. They are a perfect group to analyze. Especially since until very recently, quarterbacks were not protected with rules and took as many hits as any defensemen almost. All of the ‘backs’ and linebacker and tackle positions are highly at risk as well.

There are 43 players. These include Aaron Rodgers (41), LaDainian Tomlinson (45), Tom Brady (47), Shaun Alexander (47), Peyton Manning (48), Marshall Faulk (51), Terrell Davis (52), Kurt Warner (53), Brett Favre (55), Emmitt Smith (55), Barry Sanders (56), Thurman Thomas (58), Rich Gannon (59), Steve Young (63), Dan Marino (63), Boomer Esiason (63), John Elway (64), Marcus Allen (64), Lawrence Taylor (65), Joe Montana (68), Earl Campbell (69), Bert Jones (73), Joe Theismann (75), Ken Anderson (75), Brian Sipe (75), Mark Moseley (76), Terry Bradshaw (76), Larry Brown (77), Alan Page (79), Fran Tarkenton (84), John Brodie (89), Ken Stabler (deceased), O.J. Simpson (deceased), Roman Gabriel (deceased), Steve McNair (deceased), Earl Morrall (deceased), Johnny Unitas (deceased), Bart Starr (deceased), Walter Payton (deceased), Jim Brown (deceased), Y.A. Tittle (deceased), Jim Taylor (deceased), and Paul Hornung (deceased).

The Numbers

Just to lead with statistics, we will talk about the relationship with the neurocognitive decline and being an NFL player. Research has shown that players are more susceptible to strokes due to concussions, Parkinson’s, and CTE as well as nerve damage. The research is preliminary, so these are just the opinions based on the science we know. Symptoms of CTE include suicidal ideations (and uncomfortably sometimes homicidal), memory loss, impulse control problems, and substance abuse. Dementia is early onset if a person begins experiencing symptoms like memory loss prior to 65 years old. Since CTE can only be diagnosed at death, many players are concerned at the prospect of having the disease.

Out of our 43 MVP players over 40, there are 16 who either said they haven’t experienced symptoms (yet), haven’t talked about it, or passed away without mentioning it. Two out of 43 individuals passed away from strokes. Five out of 43 are strongly concerned about developing CTE, four out of 43 have passed away and received the diagnosis of CTE, one passed away due to Parkinson’s, and four experience(d) other neurological conditions attributed to football, as well as nerve damage. Substance abuse was strongly present in one individual, one was open about suicidal and homicidal ideation, and nine are experiencing memory loss. Six report early onset memory loss, and three experience that symptom at a typical age.

More Nuance

13.95% of the population of 43 have experienced early onset memory loss when the general population experiences it less than 0.11% of the time. One member of this group dying from Parkinson’s is only 2.33% of the overall group; however, in the general population, only 0.30% would pass away from the condition. That means that the numbers are really fu**ing high in the NFL population.

To explain some of the 16 individuals who haven’t reported symptoms, we need to consider a few factors. With older generations, there was a lot of stigma surrounding dementia and wanting to appear “strong,” which could be a contributing factor for some of our MVP players. Also, many of our individuals are in their 40s and early 50s, and there’s plenty of time for symptoms to develop or be in denial about symptoms.

Just as a side note with the numbers, many times a person who was diagnosed with CTE had substance abuse, memory loss, reckless behavior, and suicidal ideations, but we only counted them as being diagnosed with CTE. We picked the most significant diagnosis for each player.

In Conclusion

We covered a lot of ground in this article. It’s a QB-dominant position, but it doesn’t have to be and hasn’t always been. There may or may not be a team advantage. Also, what isn’t an advantage is being an MVP player because they are way more at risk for neurological decline than the general population. Maybe you don’t want your favorite player to be nominated because the statistics are a little scary. What are your thoughts? Sound off below!