Rodgers earns third MVP award
Donald is top defensive player for third time
A pair of Aarons pulled off an NFL hat trick Saturday night.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers earned his third Associated Press Most Valuable Player award, while Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald took his third top defensive player prize at NFL Honors.
Also taking home awards were two members of the Washington Football Team: quarterback Alex Smith was the Comeback Player of the Year in one of the most inspirational stories of 2020, and edge rusher Chase Young got the top defensive rookie.
Titans 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry won Offensive Player of the Year, and the offensive rookie honor went to Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski was the Coach of the Year, and Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll earned assistant coach honors.
Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
Rodgers had perhaps the best season of his 16-year career, leading Green Bay to a 13-3 regular season, the NFC’s best mark. Just a few months after questions arose about his comfort level with the Packers — and their choosing a quarterback in the first round of April’s draft — Rodgers, who turned 37 in December, tore up the NFL.
Rodgers topped the league with 48 touchdown passes, completion rate (70.7 percent) and a 121.5 rating.
“It is really special to have won it in my fourth year as a starter and now to win it in my 13th year as a starter in a new offense is pretty amazing and something I am very proud of,” Rodgers said.
Donald, the Los Angeles Rams’ unanimous All-Pro, added the 2020 top defensive player honor to his wins in 2017 and 2018. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor (1981, ’82, 86) and Houston edge rusher J.J. Watt (2012, ’14, ’15) have earned the award three times.
“You just named two great defensive players,” Donald said, “so any time your name is mentioned with greats, you will be honored — especially there’s only a few that have accomplished that. To be the third to do it that is truly a blessing. It shows the body of work that I have; any time your hard work is rewarded you are going to be happy about that. It is just a blessing.”
Smith, 36, completed a remarkable comeback from a broken right leg that required 17 surgeries to repair. He stepped in to start eight games before a strained right calf sidelined him for the postseason spot he helped the team secure.
Everyone across the league cited Smith as an inspiration.
“It is humbling when I hear that,” Smith said. “I know for how long I spent thinking about and looking at the men and women who inspired me. I am stuck in the hospital bed, stuck in a wheelchair, spent countless hours Googling and looking at videos of our service men and women going through the same rehab as I went through. …
“So there were definitely people in front of me that I am so thankful for that allowed me to go down this path.”
Henry ran for 2,027 yards, the eighth player to surpass 2,000.
“Two thousand yards is always on a running back’s mind, especially in the league because it is so unique,” Henry said. “Always put the team goals first, then individual goals come second. But I knew we take a lot of pride in the running game and have had success, and then anything is possible with the group I am with, (so) we could accomplish it.”
HALL OF FAME: Peyton Manning, the quarterback whose meticulous attention to detail helped turn the 21st-century gridiron into a chessboard on turf, was awarded his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in his first year of eligibility.
He will be joined later this year in Canton by another first-ballot pick, defensive back Charles Woodson, who beat out Manning for the Heisman Trophy in 1997, and then spent nearly two decades trying to stop him. Calvin Johnson — aka “Megatron” — was also a first-ballot selection, his mere nine years of playmaking excellence with the Lions more than enough to convince the panel.
Also making it were guard Alan Faneca, who made nine Pro Bowls and missed only one game over 13 seasons with the Steelers, Jets and Cardinals; and John Lynch, the hard-hitting safety who burnished his reputation in Tampa Bay.
Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson, Raiders coach Tom Flores and longtime Steelers scout Bill Nunn made it in the senior, coach and contributor categories, respectively.