Aaron Rodgers wins MVP in landslide
INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has won the 2011 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award in a landslide.
Rodgers earned 48 votes to two for New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Packers star is the first Green Bay player honored since Brett Favre concluded a run of three straight seasons as MVP in 1997.
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Rodgers led the NFL in passing with a 122.5 rating built on 45 touchdown passes, six interceptions and a 68.3 completion percentage as the Packers went 15-1 and won the NFC North.
He joins former Packers Bart Starr, Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung in being selected MVP.
Rodgers is the third consecutive quarterback voted MVP, joining New England's Tom Brady (2007, 2010) and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (2008, 2009).
Brees' record-setting season earned him the Offensive Player of the Year award.
Brees shattered Dan Marino's 27-year-old mark by passing for 5,476 yards, and his 468 completions broke Manning's 2010 record of 450. Brees finished the season completing 71.6 percent of his passes, breaking his own 2009 NFL record (70.6). He also surpassed 300 yards passing for seven straight games and 13 times during the season, both beating league marks he already held.
Brees, the 2008 top offensive player, received 43 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. Rodgers got the other seven votes.
Thanks to Brees' brilliance, the Saints set several single-season records, including offensive yards with 7,474 and first downs with 416.
Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs, the 2003 Defensive Rookie of the Year, added the Defensive Player of the Year award to his resume.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller won a two-man race with 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh won the Coach of the Year award for leading the 49ers back to the playoffs.
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford won the Comeback Player of the Year award.
Newton is the second straight No. 1 overall draft pick to take the honor in voting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Rams QB Sam Bradford won it last year.
"I want to thank the man upstairs," Newton said.
The first Panther to take the award, Newton received 47 votes to three for Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton.
“
It's special because you only get one rookie season. You don't get two tries at it.
”
-- Broncos LB Von Miller
on winning Defensive Rookie of the Year
No quarterback had won the award until Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Since, Vince Young, Matt Ryan, Bradford and Newton have been chosen.
"He set a standard, a very high standard, for any rookie quarterback coming in, and he wants to improve," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. "He's gotten better in so many different areas. ... He's really taken his game to next level, and there's so much room for him to grow. He's got such a high ceiling."
Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, sparked a defensive turnaround in Denver with his steady and sometimes spectacular play. He teamed with quarterback Tim Tebow to energize the Broncos, who rallied from a 2-5 record to the AFC West title and a playoff win over Pittsburgh.
"It's special because you only get one rookie season," Miller said. "You don't get two tries at it. It's really a one-and-done thing. That was probably the most special thing about it, you only get one shot to accomplish this feat."
Miller received 39 votes out of 50. Smith, also a first-round choice, got the other 11.
"Aldon and me are good friends. If he got it, I wouldn't have been mad. That's still like my buddy," Miller said. "If anybody else would have gotten him, I probably would have been sick. But knowing him and knowing what kind of guy he is and spending time with him, I know what type of player he is and he deserved it, too."
The second Bronco to win the award -- LB Mike Croel got it in 1991 -- Miller made 64 tackles and had 11½ sacks despite missing one game and playing the last four contests with a cumbersome cast protecting his surgically repaired right thumb.
On a team featuring longtime stars Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, Suggs stood out most for voters. He earned 21 votes, seven more than Minnesota end Jared Allen.
Suggs had 70 tackles, including 14 sacks, and was a force all over the field from his hybrid linebacker-end position. He also forced seven fumbles and had two interceptions as the Ravens went 12-4 to win the AFC North. Baltimore allowed 266 points, third fewest in the NFL.
Safety Reed won the award in 2004, while Lewis won in 2000 and 2003.
In his first season as an NFL head coach, Harbaugh guided the 49ers to a 13-3 mark and the NFC West Championship Game. They beat New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs before losing the conference title game to the Giants.
Harbaugh
Stafford
A former NFL quarterback and successful coach at Stanford, Harbaugh earned 45 votes out of 50, easily outdistancing Green Bay's Mike McCarthy, who received three votes, and Denver's John Fox, who got two.
Atlanta's Mike Smith is the last man to win the award in his initial season as an NFL head coach, in 2008.
Stafford, who beat out six other candidates for Comeback Player of the Year, fought through injuries his first two seasons, then threw for more than 5,000 yards in 2011 to lead Detroit to its first playoff berth in 12 years.
He received 21 votes, six more than Cleveland linebacker D'Qwell Jackson. San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith finished third, followed by Carolina receiver Steve Smith, Denver defensive end Elvis Dumervil, New England defensive end Andre Carter and Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Stafford is the first Lion and the ninth quarterback -- four straight -- to win the award since its inception in 1998.
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Aaron Rodgers officially wins MVP
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