Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award

AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award
Christian McCaffrey, the most recent recipient
Awarded forOffensive player of the year in the National Football League
Presented byAssociated Press
History
First award1972
Most winsEarl Campbell, Marshall Faulk (3 each)
Most recentChristian McCaffrey

The Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award (OPOY) is given annually by the Associated Press (AP) to the offensive player in the National Football League (NFL) deemed to have had the most outstanding season. The winner is chosen by votes from a nationwide panel of sportswriters who regularly follow the NFL. Multiple-time awardees include Marshall Faulk and Earl Campbell, both of whom won the award three times, each consecutively. Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Tom Brady, Terrell Davis, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning have each won the award twice. Campbell is the only player to win the award as a rookie, doing so in 1978. Warren Moon and Priest Holmes are the only undrafted players to win the award. Manning is the only player to win the award with two different teams, doing so in 2004 with the Indianapolis Colts and in 2013 with the Denver Broncos. The award is currently held by running back Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers, who received it for the 2023 NFL season after being just the third player in NFL history to post more than 2000 scrimmage yards in a season for two different franchises.

Every winner of the award has been either a running back or a quarterback, with the exception of wide receivers Jerry Rice, Michael Thomas, Cooper Kupp, and Justin Jefferson [1] Running backs have been awarded 26 times, followed by quarterbacks, with 20 awards. Of the 49 winners, 28 were also named the AP NFL Most Valuable Player in the same season. Since 2011, both awards have been given out at the annual NFL Honors ceremony along with other AP awards, including the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and AP NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards.[2]

Players are often awarded after record-breaking or near-record-breaking offensive seasons. Running back O. J. Simpson won the award for 1973 after rushing for a record 2,003 yards, becoming the first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.[3] When his record was broken by Eric Dickerson in 1984, Dickerson placed second in voting behind quarterback Dan Marino, who that year was the first to pass for 5,000 yards in a season.[4] Marino's 5,084 yards stood as the record for 27 years before being broken by Drew Brees in 2011, who won that season's award.[5] In turn, 2013 winner Peyton Manning set league single-season records for passing yards (5,477) and passing touchdowns (55).[6]

  1. ^ Hope, Dan (July 7, 2013). "Ranking the Top 25 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Candidates". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 26, 2017. The award is typically given to the league's most productive quarterback or running back. Of the 41 times it has been given, it's been won 39 times by either a quarterback or running back. The exception is San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice, who won the award in both 1987 and 1993.
  2. ^ "First-ever 'NFL Honors' show will be hosted by Baldwin in Indy". NFL.com. National Football League. January 3, 2012. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simpson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Marino was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brees2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Manning2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).