SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Patrick Mahomes has a simple mantra he delivers to his teammates in the huddle every day he steps on to the practice: “Let’s be great today.”
On Thursday night at the NFL Honors, it was Mahomes’ turn to be recognized for his greatness as the league presented him as the Most Valuable Player for the 2022 season.
Mahomes ran away with the league’s top individual honor, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes from the Associated Press panel of media members who cover the NFL. Mahomes tallied 490 points, outpacing Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts, who received one first-place vote and earned 193 points. Buffalo quarter Josh Allen received the other first-place vote and finished third with 151 points.
Mahomes did not attend the NFL Honors ceremony in Phoenix Thursday night but thanked the Chiefs organization and his teammates in a pretaped acceptance speech.
“I would never be standing here without you 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.”
Head coach Andy Reid earlier Thursday said his quarterback was deserving of the award.
“He works extremely hard as you know at his profession, he works hard to be the best, he tries to help our team be the best,” Reid said. “He says it every day when he comes into practice into the huddle, ‘Let’s be great today.’ He lives that. My hat goes off to him for that, very proud of him for it, the way he goes about his business.”
Mahomes was also nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, which was presented to Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott. Last month Mahomes won the NFL Man of the Year Charity Challenge as selected by fans.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Mahomes explained he has a different perspective on the MVP award than he did when he won the honor in the 2018 season at age 23.
“I think it gives you a great appreciation of this sport, man,” Mahomes said. “The hard work you put in every single day, and playing the last few years and not being up for the award I think gives me even a better appreciation. It’s something that at the end of my career, I want to look back and say, ‘Man, I was able to win the MVP once,’ and hopefully have a chance to win it again this year.”
The Chiefs quarterback finished second in the voting for Offensive Player of the year with 10 first-place votes and 75 points, far behind winner Justin Jefferson. The Minnesota receiver took 35 of 50 first-place votes with 192 points. Hurts finished with 52 points followed by Miami receiver Tyreek Hill with 43 points. Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce ranked sixth in the voting with 20 points.
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, finished third in the voting while receiving one first-place vote and 56 points. Jones also received 11 second-place votes and 18 third-place votes.
San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa won the award with 46 of 50 first-place votes and 237 points. Dallas linebacker Micah Persons finished second with no first-place votes and 101 points.
Other members of the Chiefs organization receiving consideration for the seasonal awards included Reid, who finished eighth in the voting for NFL Coach of the Year but received two first-place votes. Running back Isiah Pacheco ranked 10th in voting for Offensive Rookie of the Year while offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy came in 11th for Assistant Coach of the Year.
Mahomes is the 10th player to win at least two MVP awards, matching quarterbacks Joe Montana, Steve Young and Kurt Warner. Other multiple MVP winners are Peyton Manning (5), Aaron Rodgers (4) and Tom Brady, Jim Brown, Brett Favre and Johnny Unitas with three each. The 27-year-old passer is also the third player to win a second MVP award before turning 28, joining Brown (22) and Favre (27)
Now Mahomes wants to add one more honor, and he’ll need to break a curse to pull off that feat. The last nine MVP winners to reach the Super Bowl in their award-winning season lost the big game. The last MVP winner to claim the Lombardi Trophy was Warner, who the award in 1999 and led the St. Louis Rams to the world championship that season.
Coincidentally, it was Warner who pronounced Mahomes the MVP award winner Thursday night.
2022 NFL Honors
Associated Press Awards
Most Valuable Player: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Coach of the Year: Brian Daboll, New York Giants
Comeback Player of the Year: Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Offensive Player of the Year: Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Sauce Gardner, New York Jets
Assistant Coach of the Year: DeMeco Ryans, San Francisco 49ers
NFL Awards
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Calais Campbell, Baltimore Ravens
Deacon Jones Award: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
Jim Brown Award: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
NFL Fan of the Year: Larry Bevans, Seattle Seahawks
Sponsor Awards
Next Gen Stats Best Moment of the Year: Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year
Air: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Ground: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Salute to Service Award presented by USAA: Ron Rivera, Washington Commanders
Head & Shoulders Never Not Working Protection Play of the Year: George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
Bud Light Celly of the Year: Cincinnati Bengals, Roller Coaster Celebration
