The best quarterbacks bring fans out of their seats. Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning did exactly that Saturday night when the NFL Most Valuable Player accepted the trophy from the only four-time winner of the award.
The Green Bay quarterback won the 2011 Associated Press award in a landslide. Manning, the hometown hero who didn’t play a down this season because of neck surgery, handed it to him.
Manning was greeted with a standing ovation when he came on stage at the Murat Theatre during “NFL Honors,” a primetime special on NBC. Moments later, the crowd was back on its feet for Rodgers.
“It means a lot to be recognized as a consistent player and contributing on my team,” Rodgers said. “I think it’s an award that relies on a player having the support of his teammates, obviously, guys blocking, guys running, guys catching, guys making plays. But I’m very honored to receive the award.”
Speaking to Manning, who didn’t miss a game for 13 seasons before 2011, Rodgers added: “We’re all really excited to see you back on the field next year.”
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.
Brees won Offensive Player of the Year for the second time.
Other winners included:
n Baltimore defensive end/linebacker Terrell Suggs, Defensive Player of the Year.
n San Francisco’s rookie coach Jim Harbaugh, Coach of the Year.
n Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford, Comeback Player of the Year.
The top two picks in last April’s draft took the rookie awards: Carolina QB Cam Newton and Denver linebacker Von Miller.
HALL OF FAME -- Curtis Martin has gone from the mean streets of Pittsburgh to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The star running back with the Patriots and Jets for 11 seasons was one of six players elected Saturday to the shrine. Martin once disliked playing the game, but used it to escape a neighborhood where his grandmother was murdered.
“When I get awarded something like the Hall of Fame, it’s almost foreign to me,” said Martin, the NFL’s No. 4 career rusher. “This wasn’t something I planned on doing. Football is something I did so I didn’t end up jailed or dead.”
Martin and four linemen were elected to the hall, along with one senior committee choice. He is joined by Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson, and senior selection Jack Butler.
Jerome Bettis, Cris Carter and Bill Parcells were among the finalists who didn’t make it.
