Aaron Rodgers Named the AP NFL Most Valuable Player for Second Year in a Row

Aaron Rodgers has been named the AP NFL Most Valuable Player for the 2021 season.

The accolade was given during the eleventh edition of the NFL Honors awards show, which took place on Thursday from YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

“What a year, huh?” Rodgers quipped to start the speech, before thanking his team, the Green Bay Packers for “an amazing 17 years.”

“I’m so thankful for the memories and the moments over the years,” Rodgers said, also thanking his teammates and adding, “This is a special league that provides you so many incredible friendships that last longer than your time in the league.”

He additionally expressed gratitude for his “inner circle, you know who you are.”

Rodgers waswidely expected to win the award, thanks to an impressive 2021-2022 that saw him achieve a 111.9 passer rating and 37 touchdowns during the regular season — with only four interceptions.

This is the second time in two seasons that Rodgers has been named the NFL MVP, having won the honor last year with amargin of 44 votesahead of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. He is nowone of only five NFL playersto win back-to-back awards, joining former fullback Jim Brown, and former quarterbacks Joe Montana, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning.

Manning — who presented Rodgers with the honor Thursday — is the only player to win consecutive MVP awards on two separate occasions for a total of five before his retirement following the 2015-2016 season.

Aaron Rodgers.Quinn Harris/Getty

Rodgers has now won a total of four MVP awards (2011, 2014, 2020, and 2021), breaking a tie with Favre, Brown,Tom Brady, and Johnny Unitas, who each have three.

Brady, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback who announced hisretirementshortly after his team was eliminated from Super Bowl contention, was also considered a favorite to win the award. Brady won the award three times during his illustrious two-decade career in the NFL.

Rodgers and the Packers last won the Super Bowl in 2011, when Green Bay defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25.

During the 2021 season, Rodgers caused a stir when it was revealedhe did not receive a COVID-19 vaccinationafter previously telling reporters he was “immunized.”

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After his admission, Rodgers wasfinedfor violating the league’s COVID protocols, including not wearing a mask during his news conferences and going maskless in the team’s facility.

source: people.com