Non quarterbacks and running backs who received an MVP vote

[SeahawkFever]

After all the talk on the other thread of biggest MVP snubs, and the fact that 1987 Jerry Rice received an MVP vote, I was curious what all the players who received an MVP vote are who aren’t quarterbacks, fullbacks, or running backs.

I notice that it appears to have been fairly common from the 50’s UPI voting up through the early 2000’s, then we go through an 17 year stretch where only three non quarterbacks or running backs receive an MVP vote, and it appears to have picked up again these past three seasons.

Note that UPI is referenced before AP voting begins in 1957, and in years where AP voting beyond the winner isn’t listed on Pro-Football Reference.

1951 UPI:
Lou Groza, Elroy Hirsch

1953 UPI:
Lou Groza

1954 UPI:
Jack Christensen, Lou Groza, Harlon Hill, Bobby Walston

1955 UPI:
Harlon Hill, Gene Brito, Chuck Drazenovich

1957 AP:
Joe Schmidt, Duane Putnam, Billy Wilson

1958 AP:
Rosey Grier, Sam Huff

1959 AP:
Sam Huff, Raymond Berry

1960 UPI NFL:
Raymond Berry

1960 UPI AFL:
Lionel Taylor

1961 AP NFL:
Del Shofner

1961 AP AFL:
Charley Hennigan

1962 AP NFL:
Bobby Mitchell, Roger Brown, Lou Michaels, Joe Schmidt

1962 AP AFL:
Chris Burford, Bud McFadin

1963 AP AFL:
Lance Alworth, Archie Matsos

1964 AP NFL:
Johnny Morris

1964 AP AFL:
Gino Cappelletti, Lance Alworth, Elbert Dubenion, Charley Hennigan

1965 AP NFL:
Dave Parks, Pete Retzlaff

1965 AP AFL:
Lance Alworth, Bobby Bell

1966 AP NFL:
Larry Wilson, Willie Davis, Bob Lilly, John Mackey

1966 AP AFL:
Nick Buoniconti

1967 AP NFL:
Deacon Jones

1967 AP AFL:
Miller Farr

1968 AP NFL:
Dick Butkus, Bob Lilly

1968 AP AFL:
Lance Alworth, George Sauer

1969 AP NFL:
Carl Eller, Dick Butkus, Deacon Jones, Alex Karras

1969 AP AFL:
Fred Biletnikoff, Tom Keating, Don Maynard, Jim Turner

1970 AP:
George Blanda*, Alan Page, Dick Butkus, Carl Eller, Mike Lucci, Charlie Sanders, Marlin Briscoe, Manny Fernandez, Merlin Olsen

1971 AP:
Alan Page, Otis Taylor, Paul Warfield, Carl Eller, Bob Lilly

1972 AP:
Chester Marcol, Willie Lanier, Larry Little, Merlin Olsen

1973 AP:
Harold Jackson

1976 AP:
Jack Lambert

1977 AP:
Lyle Alzado, Ray Guy, Tom Jackson

1979 AP:
Harold Carmichael, Steve Largent

1981 AP:
Fred Dean, Ronnie Lott, Kellen Winslow

1982 AP:
Mark Moseley

1983 AP:
Randy White

1986 AP:
Lawrence Taylor, Mark Bavaro, Jerry Rice

1987 AP:
Jerry Rice

1988 AP:
Mike Singletary, Keith Millard

1989 AP:
Keith Millard

1990 AP:
Bruce Smith, Jerry Rice

1991 AP:
Seth Joyner

1992 AP:
Sterling Sharpe, Cortez Kennedy

1993 AP:
Jerry Rice, Sterling Sharpe

1994 AP:
Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders

1995 AP:
Jerry Rice

1997 AP:
Dana Stubblefield, Carnell Lake

1998 AP:
Randy Moss

2000 AP:
Ray Lewis

2001 AP:
Brian Urlacher

2002 AP:
Derrick Brooks

2003 AP:
Ray Lewis

2008 AP:
James Harrison

2014 AP:
J.J. Watt, Bobby Wagner

2021 AP:
Cooper Kupp

2022 AP:
Justin Jefferson, Nick Bosa, Micah Parsons, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill

2023 AP: Tyreek Hill, Myles Garrett

[Brian wolf]

I feel Rice should have been MVP in 1995. Young was hurt and Rice kept the team in the race with Grbac at QB.

[SeahawkFever]

I feel Rice should have been MVP in 1995. Young was hurt and Rice kept the team in the race with Grbac at QB.

I don’t know if I’d necessarily vote for Jerry Rice over Brett Favre for MVP in 1995, but due to the fact that we saw him play with a different quarterback for five games and he still put up the stats he did, I would argue he may have had a better case that season than he did in 1987.

95 Niners were 11-5 (could’ve been 13-3 if Young never gets injured, and even the other three losses were within a touchdown), and it was led by Jerry Rice and a really good season by the defense (which ranked second by points
and became one of only three post-merger defenses to lead the NFL to allow the fewest yards per carry and lowest passer rating in the same season).

Rice’s numbers were excellent, but also possibly emblematic of a lack of other weapons around him that year on offense.

Ricky Watters was no longer in the backfield, and the running back that year Derek Loville has a good amount of receiving yardage but likely on screens or shorter air yardage given his position, and he averaged only 3.3 yards per carry which was about a yard and a half less than Watters had in 1994.

Other than Rice, they had Brent Jones at tight end, John Taylor at the very end of his career, and a rookie J.J. Stokes.

So the 49ers offense in 1995 sounds a bit one dimensional but because of how excellent that dimension was, and how well Rice played, they still had a first ranked offense by points.

The following year, Terrell Owens showed up, and Stokes would become a decent third receiver from the looks of it, and with Garrison Hearst, the Niners had a more well rounded offense and made the NFC Championship Game in 1997.