NOTEWORTHY
Mahomes named MVP
IN THE WORLD OF SPORTS
Patrick Mahomes dominated the voting for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award. Now, he’ll try to break the MVP curse.
Mahomes, who also won in 2018, easily outdistanced Jalen Hurts, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. He earned 490 points to 193 for Hurts, who got one first-place vote, 26 seconds, 11 thirds and 10 fourths.
Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (16-3) face Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Mahomes thanked the Chiefs organization and his teammates in a video at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
“I would never be standing here without y’all,” Mahomes said. “Every day we’ve given everything we have together to win the ultimate goal, the Super Bowl. Let’s continue to go for that dream this weekend.”
The last nine MVPs to play in the Super Bowl that season are 0-9. Kurt Warner was the last to win both the MVP award and Super Bowl following the 1999 season.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen received the other first-place vote, finishing third with 151 points. Bengals QB Joe Burrow placed fourth and Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson came in fifth.
The 27-year-old Mahomes is the third player to win his second MVP before turning 28, joining Brett Favre (27) and Jim Brown (22).
NFL
Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre filed defamation suits earlier this week against Mississippi State Auditor Shad White and sports commentators Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee over Favre’s alleged involvement in a $77 million Mississippi welfare fraud case.
Favre’s lawsuit against White, whose office first discovered the fraudulent spending that ultimately led to criminal charges against six people, accuses White of “shamelessly and falsely attacking Favre’s good name” to advance his political career. Favre has not been criminally charged.
Favre’s lawsuit against Sharpe, an NFL veteran of 14 seasons who now serves as co-host of FS1’s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed,” alleges that Sharpe defamed Favre by saying that Favre was a “sorry mofo to steal from the lowest of the low.”
Similar allegations were made in the lawsuit filed against McAfee. According to the suit, McAfee called Favre a “thief” who was “stealing from poor people in Mississippi” on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
GOLF
Tiger Woods is returning to competition for the first time without the use of a cart since July, announcing Friday he will play at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles next week.
It will be his first regular PGA Tour event since Oct. 25, 2020, when he tied for 72nd against a 78man field in the Zozo Championship.
That he can play next week is an encouraging sign that he will return to the Masters in April.
MLB
Infielder Bo Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided a salary arbitration by finalizing a $33.6 million, three-year contract late Thursday.
Bichette gets a $3.25 million signing bonus payable within 30 days of the contract’s approval by the commissioner’s office and salaries of $2.85 million this year, $11 million in 2024 and $16.5 million in 2025.
The 24-year-old, a son of former all-star and Brewer Dante Bichette, hit .290 with 43 doubles, 24 home run and 93 RBI last year.