Honor roll:
Brady wins third MVP.
MINNEAPOLIS — For the third time, Tom Brady is the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
Now he goes for his sixth Super Bowl title, and perhaps with it a fifth MVP trophy for the NFL championship.
Brady added the Associated Press 2017 NFL MVP award Saturday night at NFL Honors to his wins in 2007 and 2010. The Patriots quarterback was joined as an honoree by three Los Angeles Rams: Coach of the Year Sean McVay, Offensive Player of the Year running back Todd Gurley and Defensive Player of the Year tackle Aaron Donald.
Other winners in voting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league were Los Angeles Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, a Cal alum, as Comeback Player; New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara and cornerback Marshon Lattimore as top offensive and defensive rookies, respectively; and former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, now head coach of the New York Giants, as Assistant Coach of the Year.
Brady is the second player in the four major professional sports to win MVP at age 40; Barry Bonds won baseball’s award in 2004.
Wide receiver Julian Edelman, who missed the entire season with a knee injury, accepted for Brady.
Brady competed 385 of 581 passes (66.2 percent) for 4,577 yards and 32 touchdowns with eight interceptions as New England went 13-3, the AFC’s best record. At an age when many QBs are deep into retirement, Brady is throwing deep — and short — as well as ever.
Donald was the first pure defensive tackle to win the award since Warren Sapp in 1999. He said it means “everything. That’s one of the best to ever do it. So, even for my name to be next to that guy’s name is beyond a blessing. This is what you dream about as a kid, dreaming about playing in the NFL to have success like this, to be able to (play good enough) to win this trophy.”
Gurley’s sensational turnaround season in which he ran for 13 touchdowns and caught six TD passes sparked an equally impressive reversal of fortunes by his team, which won the NFC West at 11-5.
Allen returned from two devastating injuries to win the comeback honor. He missed half of the 2015 season with a kidney issue, then was lost in the 2016 season opener with a torn right ACL. There were doubts that Allen would play at a high level again.
He answered those emphatically this season with the best year of his career. Allen caught 102 passes for 1,393 yards and six touchdowns. He was targeted 159 times, nearly 10 per game.
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt received the league’s Walter Payton Award as man of the year. Watt raised $37 million for Hurricane Harvey relief.