The NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award winners

No, not the legendary basketball coach. The first winner of the Offensive Player of the Year award back in 1972 was a different Larry Brown. He was a running back for Washington’s football franchise now known as the Commanders. This was Brown’s fourth, and final Pro Bowl season in a row, and he also won MVP. His 1,216 yards on the ground didn’t lead the NFL, but he added 32 catches for 473 yards, giving him the most yards from scrimmage of any player.

Umm…yeah. Hey, Simpson was a great running back. He deserved his Heisman, and he deserved his OPOY and MVP awards in 1973. That season, Simpson became the first NFL running back to run for over 2,000 yards in a campaign. This was back when the NFL season was only 14 games, by the way. Yes, O.J. was a Hall of Fame player. He’s also a convicted felon.

Back in the day, running backs were stars. They would often win Offensive Player of the Year or MVP. Quarterbacks weren’t airing it out for 5,000 yards on the regular in the 1970s. On occasion, though, a quarterback stood out, even if not by modern standards at the position. Stabler is the first QB on this list. He wowed the NFL with the Raiders by throwing for 2,469 yards and a league-leading 26 touchdowns! Stabler paired those 26 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Funnily enough, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions are the same numbers Aaron Rodgers put up in 2023 in a campaign that had many wondering about his future. We promise this is the first, and last, time we do the old-school versus new-school QB comparison.

Tarkenton had a long NFL career. Early on, he was known for his scrambling, but by the 1970s he ran a bit less and aired the ball out quite a bit. In fact, in his final season, 1978, he led the NFL with 572 passing attempts and 3,468 yards. Tarkenton even threw 25 touchdowns, but with an NFL-high 32 interceptions that perhaps showed the writing was on the wall. A few years earlier, though, in 1975, the Vikings quarterback won OPOY MVP (a common pairing, as you’ve likely noticed), with 2,994 passing yards and a league-leading 25 touchdowns.

Jones is in the College Football Hall of Fame and, well, had one notable NFL season. What a season, though! Jones was in his second full season starting for the Baltimore Colts when he threw for 3,104 yards, 24 touchdowns, and only nine picks. He made the Pro Bowl, was a first-team All-Pro, won OPOY, and, yes, won MVP. It would be his only Pro Bowl, though. Jones had a couple of injury-plagued seasons, and while he had two more full campaigns after that, he was suddenly interception prone and the always-sack-prone quarterback saw his career come to a conclusion.

When the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985, Payton was still capable of rushing for over 1,500 yards, which he did indeed do. That was a full decade into his career, though! “Sweetness” was already a legend. In 1977, the last 14-game NFL season, Payton led the NFL with 1,852 rushing yards and 14 rushing scores. The man who would retire as the running back with the most career yards – and who will likely forever be second behind Emmitt Smith – won his only MVP.

If you loved smash-mouth football, you loved Earl Campbell. He’d run through you any chance he got. In 1978, Campbell was a rookie with the Houston Oilers. He exploded out of the gate by leading the NFL with 1,450 yards. Yes, Campbell won OPOY as a rookie.

One season later, in 1979, Campbell became the first repeat Offensive Player of the Year winner. He led the NFL in rushing yards, again, with 1,697 yards. Campbell also set a personal best, and led the league, with 19 rushing scores. This would lead the Oiler to win MVP along with OPOY.

That’s right, in each of Campbell’s first three NFL seasons, he was Offensive Player of the Year. Campbell fell just short of 2,000 yards, rushing for 1,934. That led the NFL, as did his 5.2 yards per carry. However, so did his staggering 373 carries as well. In a different era of football, Campbell was run into the ground, which sadly took the toll on his body. He’s an icon, but Campbell paid for it.

Anderson, a career-long Bengals quarterback, is one of the classic examples of a “Hall of Very Good” player. He made four Pro Bowls, and twice in the 1970s led the NFL in passing yards. In 1981 he just sort of put it all together, throwing for 3,754 yards and 29 touchdowns in leading Cincinnati to a 12-4 record. That got Anderson OPOY and MVP, though it was also his last season of any significance.

To the extent it is a designation with any distinction, Fouts is often considered the best quarterback to never play in the Super Bowl. He’s in the Hall of Fame, and he put up numbers previously not seen in the NFL. Although, some of that was the Air Coryell offense of Chargers head coach Don Coryell. Suddenly, Fouts was throwing the ball well over 500 times a season, sometimes over 600. He became the first NFL quarterback with consecutive 4,000-yard campaigns, which he did three times in a row. However, in his Offensive Player of the Year campaign, Fouts only threw for 2,883 yards and 17 touchdowns. There’s a caveat on that, though, as he only played nine games in the strike-shortened 1982 season. Fouts won OPOY, but he wasn’t named MVP. That went to kicker Mark Moseley. No, seriously. We aren’t joking. A kicker won NFL MVP in 1982.

Given his success at Notre Dame, and how successful his NFL career would become, it’s a little surprising that Theismann spent three years in the CFL to start his professional career, and then didn’t become Washington’s primary quarterback until 1978, his fifth season with the team. One season after leading Washington to a Super Bowl in the strike year, Theismann had a great campaign, throwing for 3,714 yards and 29 touchdowns against 11 picks. Given that Washington also finished with a 14-2 record, the OPOY and MVP awards were effectively locks. Unfortunately, two seasons later, Lawrence Taylor and Theismann’s leg had a meeting that would end his playing career, but begin an immensely successful broadcasting career.

Okay, not to do the comparing quarterback generations thing again, but Marino was so far ahead of his compatriots that it would take decades until his numbers started to appear as anything other than staggering. In just his second NFL season, Marino would throw for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns for the Dolphins, two numbers that would stand as records for years on end. Interestingly, this would be his only MVP, and only Offensive Player of the Year award. This from a quarterback who led the NFL in passing yards five times and touchdowns three times. Marino remains the best quarterback never to win a ring.

After a five-year run of quarterbacks winning this award, we’re back to a running back. Allen, then with the Los Angeles Raiders, ran for 1,759 yards, which led the NFL. His 11 rushing scores were impressive, if not great, but Allen was quietly one of the better receiving backs as well. The Hall of Famer added 67 catches for 555 yards and three scores in 1985, paving the way for the usual OPOY and MVP combo. Maybe there’s a reason why the NFL voters came around to tacitly splitting these two up much of the time. It kind of feels like athletes winning the gold and the silver.

Now, you may be thinking, “Oh yeah of course, Dickerson set the NFL record for running yards in a season, naturally he won MVP and Offensive Player of the Year.” Actually, he led the NFL with 2,015 rushing yards and 14 rushing scores in 1984, i.e. the year Marino rewrote the passing record books. Now, Dickerson won OPOY in 1986 with the Rams, when he racked up a staggering 404 carries for 1,821 yards. And he wasn’t named MVP! That honor, for the second, and probably last, time, went to a defensive player. In this case, Lawrence Taylor.

So, there's a position in football known as a “wide receiver.” Apparently their job is to “catch” the “football?” Big, if true. It took until 1987 for a receiver to win Offensive Player of the Year. Fittingly, the first one to win it is the greatest receiver of all time. Rice had 65 catches for 1,078 yards and 22 touchdowns. Impressive by any standards, but here’s the thing: This was a strike season. Rice only played in 12 games, and he still racked up over 1,000 yards and a whopping 22 scores.

Rice won Super Bowl MVP in 1988, but it was a teammate of his, running back Craig, that won Offensive Player of the Year. It’s a little surprising that Craig isn’t in the Hall of Fame, because he was the face of the “dual-threat back” for many years. Once, he had over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving. That was 1985, though. In 1988, he caught 76 passes for 534 yards, while also rushing for 1,502 yards. Interestingly, we are on a three-season streak of the OPOY not also being MVP.

Three 49ers in a row, but each of them a different player at a different position. Montana is, of course, the quarterback of the Niners’ dynasty, and for a long time the popular choice for best quarterback ever (especially among the “ringz” crowd, as he has four of them). The Niners won the Super Bowl in 1989, but Montana also was named Offensive Player of the Year and MVP. “Joe Cool” would also be named MVP in 1990, as he led San Fran to a 15-1 record, but he was not a repeat OPOY winner.

Instead, the NFL voters split MVP and Offensive Player of the Year between two quarterbacks. Montana got the big award, but Moon won OPOY to break in the new decade. Honestly? Moon had the better season. He led the NFL with 4,689 yards and 33 touchdowns, and he only threw 13 picks. Heck, he even ran for 215 yards and two scores. However, Montana’s Niners went 15-1, while Moon’s Oilers went 8-7, and therein lies the way the MVP voting shook out.

Right in the middle of a five-season run as a Pro Bowler that makes up most of Thomas’ Hall of Fame resume, 1991 was Thomas’ one MVP campaign for the Bills. He, of course, also won OPOY. Averaging a league-high 4.9 yards per carry, Thomas ran for 1,407 yards and seven touchdowns, and he added 62 catches for 631 yards and five scores in that high-flying Bills offense as well. Of course, it couldn’t help them win a Super Bowl.

Montana was out, Young was in, and the Niners machine kept whirring. In his first full season starting for San Francisco, Young was highly efficient. He led the NFL with a 66.7 completion percentage, and his league-high 25 touchdowns were paired with a mere seven interceptions. Oh, and he added 537 yards on the ground for good measure. As good as Montana was, Young showed he was not a step down by 1992.

The first receiver to win Offensive Player of the Year was also the second to do it. Hey, the passing revolution would arrive eventually. This time, with a full 16 games to play, Rice reeled in 98 catches for 1,503 yards and 15 touchdowns. He fell just short of averaging 100 yards and a touchdown per game. Yeah, that’s well worth this award.

For years, there was one bright spot to being a Lions fan: You got to root for Barry Sanders. In 1994, he only had seven rushing scores, but he still won Offensive Player of the Year for the first time. It’s simple, really, as the Hall of Famer ran for 1,883 yards on 331 carries. Sanders averaged a stunning 5.7 yards per carry, which won him OPOY, if not MVP.

Favre was a great quarterback, and a deserving Hall of Famer, but he favored a style of play built on immensity. When he retired, his 508 passing touchdowns were the most of all time. However, he also remains the leader in interceptions and fumbles. At his peak, though, he could be great, and he was named NFL MVP three seasons in a row. Interestingly, the only time he was also OPOY was in 1995, the first year of that run.

This year begins an eight-season run of running backs winning Offensive Player of the Year, an unmatched run for any position. Davis had a fascinating career. He made the Hall of Fame off of what was effectively a four-season career, and really it comes down to three top-notch campaigns. This year, 1996, is the least impressive of that trio, but the Broncos back was still quite good. He ran for 1,538 yards and 13 touchdowns, but it is the only time in this three-year run he didn’t lead the NFL in either of those categories.

While Davis’ 1997 season was better than his 1996 campaign, he didn’t really have a chance here. Sanders won his second OPOY, and only MVP, on the strength of the best season by a back since Eric Dickerson. In addition to 11 rushing scores, Sanders ran for 2,053 yards, making him the first back to cross 2,000 yards since Dickerson did it back in the ‘80s. The Lion also averaged a whopping 6.1 yards per carry on 335 attempts. Incredible stuff.

Sanders may have kept Davis from winning three OPOYs in a row, but TD’s 1998 season was as good as anything Barry ever did, to be honest. Davis also ran for over 2,000 yards, though just barely at 2,008, but he also led the NFL with a whopping 21 rushing scores. He was an easy pick for MVP in what would be his last season playing in more than eight games.

Before the 1999 season, the Colts traded Faulk to the Rams, now in St. Louis. The “Greatest Show on Turf” had several notable players. With all due respect to Kurt Warner and Torey Holt, though, Faulk was on another level. One of the best receiving backs ever, Faulk pulled a Craig and finished with over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in 1999.

In 2000, Faulk was even better, winning MVP as well. While the back “only” had 81 catches for 830 yards and eight scores, he also rushed for 1,359 yards and a league-high 18 touchdowns. Oh, and he only played in 14 games. An all-time season.

That’s right, a second threepeat at OPOY. Faulk and Campbell are the only players with three OPOY awards to their name, and they both happen to be backs who did it three seasons in a row. While Faulk dipped down to 12 rushing scores, he ran for a personal high of 1,382 yards and also added a personal best nine receiving scores. What a peak.

Undrafted out of college, Holmes spent an unremarkable four seasons with the Ravens, mostly as a backup. He signed a deal with the Chiefs that nobody thought much of, and then proceeded to lead the NFL with 1,555 rushing yards. The next year, he won Offensive Player of the Year by rushing for 1,615 yards and 21 scores. Then, the next season he had over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and set a new NFL record with 27 touchdowns, but he didn’t take home OPOY that year. No, instead, his old team got a bit of revenge.

How does a running back beat out the guy who just set the record for total touchdowns? Lewis hit that magic number. The Ravens back ran for 2,066 yards, so even though he had 14 touchdowns in comparison to Holmes’ 27, he won Offensive Player of the Year. Thus ends the eight-year reign of running backs.

Manning wrested the Offensive Player of the Year award back for quarterbacks by resetting the record books. Remember when Marino threw for 48 touchdowns? It took until 2004 for somebody to break that record. Peyton did it for the Colts, tossing 49 touchdowns, ensuring he would be named OPOY and MVP.

Alexander had been a Pro Bowler a couple times, but the Seahawks back, like many of these players, had the one season in which he popped and had a year to remember. The Alabama alum set personal highs with 1,880 yards and 27 rushing scores. Ah, but even though he only had 78 yards receiving, Alexander managed one receiving touchdown, which meant he broke Holmes’ record.

Alexander didn’t get to enjoy his record very long. Part of the reason he was only a first-team All-Pro once is the fact his career coincided with Tomlinson’s, and Tomlinson happened to be the best running back of his generation. The Chargers back only won OPOY and MVP once, but he also set a record that is unlikely to be beat. L.T. ran for 28 touchdowns, but always a good receiving back, he also had 508 yards and three touchdowns through the air. That gave him 31 total touchdowns, the new record. While they don’t count, Tomlinson also threw two touchdowns.

In 2007, Brady said “Your running back records are cute, but it’s time for me to go to work.” In the Patriots’ famed 16-0 season, Brady threw for 4,806 yards, but also set a new MVP record with 50 passing touchdowns. All those touchdown passes were paired with a mere eight interceptions. Sure, the Pats didn’t win the Super Bowl, but Brady put together what is arguably the best season a quarterback has ever had.

Brees is forever the “other guy” of the era of Peyton and Brady, which is an unfortunate circumstance of time, because he might be the third-best quarterback ever by current evaluations. Case in point, he never won an MVP, even though he was a 13-time Pro Bowler and was the most efficient passer ever. In 2008, the Saints quarterback became the second player to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season, and paired that with 34 passing touchdowns.

Even though we were in the era of the quarterback and pass-happy football, one fact remained true: If you ran for over 2,000 yards, you would win Offensive Player of the Year. Johnson only eked over the mark with 2,006 yards, but he added 503 yards through the air. CJ2K had a few more 1,000-yard seasons, but it is his 2009 year that made sure he would be remembered.

Brady would add a third MVP later in his career, but this is his second and last OPOY. He threw 36 touchdown passes, which isn’t 50 but did lead the NFL. Significantly, though, he only had four interceptions. Brady simply didn’t make mistakes back there, and that helped wow voters.

Yes, there is only a Johnson season between Brady and Brees going back-to-back twice. With all due respect to NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, it is truly surprising Brees did not win MVP as well as Offensive Player of the Year in 2011. He completed 71.2 percent of his passes for a whopping 5,476 yards and 46 touchdowns, both of which are Brees’ personal best. His 342.3 yards per game remains an NFL record. Heck, even the Saints went 13-3, so you can’t blame the team record. Well, Brees can say he has two OPOYs to Rodgers’ zero.

This was the last time a non-quarterback won MVP, and the way the game is going, who knows when it will happen again. All it took was an all-time legendary running back having an elite season and carrying his team on his back. Peterson ran for 2,097 yards, only six yards short of Dickerson’s record. However, Peterson averaged 6.0 yards per carry to Dickerson’s 5.6, and the Vikings back only fumbled four times, compared to Dickerson’s whopping 14 fumbles. So, yes, it took arguably the best season a running back has ever had to keep a quarterback from winning MVP.

After missing the 2011 season, Manning moved from the Colts to the Broncos, and in 2012 showed he was healthy enough to still be a top NFL quarterback. In 2013, Peyton had perhaps the best season a QB has ever had. He set new NFL records with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. Granted, he lost six fumbles, but with those numbers, that is quibbling. A couple of years later, Manning would be grinding out one last season to win a Super Bowl ring, but in 2013, he was at the top of his game.

A decade removed from Murray winning Offensive Player of the Year, this is one that feels like it may age oddly. He’s already standing out like a bit of a sore thumb, a good running back that had one great season in a swift, seven-season career. In his final season for the Cowboys, Murray led the NFL with 1,845 yards and 13 rushing scores, but also 392 carries. It was a workhorse campaign, and once again Rodgers won MVP without winning OPOY.

The year the Broncos carried Manning to a Super Bowl, the team that meant them there was the Panthers, a juggernaut led by Newton. His MVP was in part because of Carolina’s 15-1 record, sure, but his OPOY also speaks to how good the Heisman winner was. Newton didn’t led the NFL in anything, but he was a dangerous dual threat. In addition to throwing for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns, he also ran for 636 yards and 10 scores.

If Ryan ends up in the Hall of Fame and not the “Hall of Very Good,” it will be because of the 2016 season. Never viewed as one of the top few quarterbacks in the NFL, the epitome of “Pro Bowler, but not All-Pro,” for one year the Falcons quarterback pieced together personal bests across the board that turned him into an OPOY winner and MVP. His completion percentage, passing yards, yards per attempt, touchdowns, and passer rating were all personal highs, if not league highs. Throw in a mere seven interceptions, and Ryan emerged as the Offensive Player of the Year.

Gurley is the modern face of the fleeting glory of the NFL running back. In 2017 he ran for 1,305 yards and an NFL-high 13 touchdowns. The Georgia product also caught 64 passes for 788 and six scores. This led to him winning OPOY. The Rams then made Gurley the highest-paid back in the NFL. He had one more excellent season in 2018, was fine in 2019, was a Falcon in 2020, and was out of the NFL by 2021. Blink, and you can miss running back greatness.

This is the last time a quarterback won Offensive Player of the Year. Arguably, Gurley was the beginning of the conceit of splitting OPOY and MVP and letting the quarterbacks dominate the latter, but Mahomes first season as a starter was just too good. The quarterback with the massive arm threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, the best season for a QB since Peyton’s last great campaign. It likely won’t be the last time a quarterback wins this award, but it definitely feels harder now.

Thomas marks a sea change. It’s not just the QB = MVP thing. The Saints receiver is the first receiver to win since Rice in 1993, and only the second receiver ever to do it. However, as you will see, receivers have won three of the last four OPOY awards. To get specific to Thomas, he set a new NFL record with 149 receptions, which will suffice.

Thanks to Henry, a fact remains true: If you run for over 2,000 yards in a season, you win Offensive Player of the Year. It’s probably the only reason we aren’t on a four-year receiver run in this award. Henry tallied not only 2,207 yards, but a league-high 17 touchdowns. In a different era, that would have also won MVP, but not in 2020.

Cupp’s route-running skills had already made him a notable player, but in 2021 he not only stayed healthy, but also got a major upgrade at quarterback with Matthew Stafford. The Rams receiver made history by winning the receiving Triple Crown. Cupp led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Oh, and he was Super Bowl MVP for good measure.

Jefferson has been a star since he was a rookie, when he made his first Pro Bowl and was second-team All-Pro. Each year, though, he’s gotten a little better. That culminated with him winning OPOY for the Vikings in 2022. While he dropped from 10 touchdowns to nine touchdowns, he elevated his numbers to 128 catches for 1,809 yards, both of which led the NFL. Jefferson is one of the league’s newest stars, and also a perfect example of the state of the Offensive Player of the Year award now.

McCaffrey has long been known as a dual-threat back, but was also previously a guy who had trouble staying healthy. He had no such issue this year as the star of the 49ers' offense. Yes, he had 67 catches for 564 yards and seven touchdowns, strong numbers for a back, if not unworldly. What he did, though, was pace the NFL comfortably with 1,459 rushing yards, and he added 14 rushing scores for good measure. Once Tyreek Hill got banged up and fell off his 2,000-yard pace, this became an easy call.