AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award

AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Myles Garrett, the 2023 recipient.
Awarded forDefensive player of the year in the National Football League
Presented byAssociated Press
History
First award1971
Most winsLawrence Taylor
J. J. Watt
Aaron Donald
(3 each)
Most recentMyles Garrett

The AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award (DPOY) is given by the Associated Press (AP) to the most outstanding defensive player in the National Football League (NFL) at the end of every season. It has been awarded since 1971. The winner is decided by votes from a panel of 50 AP sportswriters. Since 2011, the award has been presented at the annual NFL Honors ceremony the day before the Super Bowl, along with other AP awards, such as the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award, AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award, and AP NFL Rookie of the Year Award. The most recent winner of the AP Defensive Player of the Year award is defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.

Lawrence Taylor, J. J. Watt, and Aaron Donald are the only three-time winners of the award.[1] Joe Greene, Ray Lewis, Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, and Reggie White have each won it twice. Taylor is the only player to win the award as a rookie, doing so in 1981.[2] In 2008, James Harrison became the only undrafted free agent to win the award.[3] White is the only player to win the award with two different teams, winning in 1987 with the Philadelphia Eagles and again with the Green Bay Packers in 1998.[4] J. J. Watt is the only player to win the award unanimously, receiving 50 out of 50 first place votes in 2014.[5] He was also a near-unanimous winner in 2012 as he earned 49 out of 50 votes.[5]

As of the end of the 2022 NFL season, linebackers have won the award seventeen times, more than any other position. A defensive end has won fourteen times, followed by ten defensive tackles, six cornerbacks, and five safeties. Only two winners of the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award have also won the AP's Most Valuable Player Award for the same season: defensive tackle Alan Page in 1971 for the Minnesota Vikings and linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986 for the New York Giants.[6]

  1. ^ Wesseling, Chris (February 6, 2016). "J.J Watt wins third Defensive Player of Year award". NFL.com. NFL. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  2. ^ Lewis, Michael (2007). The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 17. ISBN 978-0393066227. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  3. ^ Kremer, Andrea (January 8, 2017). "Ageless Steelers star James Harrison strives to be like his father". NFL.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference White2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Watt2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Corry, Joel (December 30, 2014). "Who deserves the NFL MVP award?". National Football Post. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2017.