Patrick Mahomes Looking To Become 7th Player To Win NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP In Same Season

On Thursday night, Patrick Mahomes won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award for the second time, becoming only the eighth quarterback to win multiple MVPs.

Mahomes, though, wasn’t in attendance at the league’s awards ceremony at Symphony Hall in Phoenix. He was at an undisclosed location nearby, preparing for Sunday’s Super Bowl between his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mahomes, not surprisingly, is the favorite to win the Super Bowl MVP. He is at +120 odds, just ahead of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts at +125, according to DraftKings. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is next at +1200.

The nearly 10 times discrepancy in odds between the quarterbacks and Kelce isn’t too surprising considering quarterbacks have been named Super Bowl MVP 31 times in the game’s 56 years.

Mahomes and Hurts were the league’s best quarterbacks this season, too. Mahomes threw for an NFL-high 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns, completed a career-high 67.1% of his passes and threw just 12 interceptions. Hurts, in his second season as starter, completed 66.5% of his passes for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns and ran for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns.

If Mahomes wins the MVP on Sunday, he would join a rarified company. Only six players have won the regular season and Super Bowl MVPs in the same season and none since Kurt Warner in the 1999 season.

Emmitt Smith (1993) is the only non-quarterback to achieve that feat, which all-time greats and multiple-time regular season MVPs such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers never accomplished.

Here is a look at the six previous players who won the regular season and Super Bowl MVPs in the same season. All of these players are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

1966 – Bart Starr, Green Bay Packers quarterback

Starr was 32 at the time and in his 11th season with the Packers. During the regular season, he completed a league-best 62.2% of his passes for 2,257 yards and 14 touchdowns. He then led the Packers to a victory in the first Super Bowl, defeating the Chiefs, 35-10, in Los Angeles. Starr went 16-of-23 for 250 yards and two touchdowns.

Starr was the Super Bowl MVP again the next season when he threw for 202 yards and a touchdown in a 33-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

1978 – Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback

Bradshaw threw for 2,915 yards and 28 touchdowns in the regular season to win his first and only MVP. He was even better in the playoffs, leading the Steelers to their third Super Bowl victory in five seasons, a 35-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, the reigning champions.

Bradshaw completed 17-of-30 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns. His 18-yard touchdown pass to Lynn Swann put the Steelers ahead, 35-17, in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys added two touchdowns in the final three minutes, but that wasn’t enough.

Bradshaw won another Super Bowl MVP the next season as the Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 31-19, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. That day, Bradshaw threw for 309 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

1989 – Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers quarterback

Montana entered the 1989 season as the league’s best quarterback of 1980s. He had led the 49ers to three Super Bowl titles during the decade and was a two-time Super Bowl MVP. Still, he had never been the regular season MVP.

That all changed in 1989 when Montana won the MVP, completing a career-high 70.2% of his passes for 3,521 yards and 26 touchdowns. He then led the 49ers to a 55-10 victory over the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. That is still the most points a team has scored in the Super Bowl and the most lopsided win in the game’s history. Montana went 22-of-29 for 297 yards and five touchdowns.

Montana won the MVP again in 1990, but the 49ers lost, 15-13, to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game. He never played in another Super Bowl.

1993 – Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys running back

During the regular season, Smith led the NFL in rushing for the third consecutive season, running for 1,486 yards and nine touchdowns. He also had 57 receptions and became the first Dallas player to win MVP.

The Cowboys then won their second consecutive Super Bowl as Smith ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns in the 30-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The game was tied, 13-13, in the third quarter before Smith scored two touchdowns and Eddie Murray made a 20-yard field goal to clinch the victory.

Smith never won another regular season or Super Bowl MVP, but he finished his career with an NFL-record 18,355 rushing yards and 164 rushing touchdowns.

1994 – Steve Young, San Francisco 49ers quarterback

After Montana missed the 1991 season due to an elbow injury, Young took over and never relinquished his starting position, becoming arguably the NFL’s best quarterback. He won his first MVP in 1992 and added another two years later when he led the league with a 70.3% completion percentage and 35 touchdown passes and threw for 3,969 yards.

In the Super Bowl, Young threw for 325 yards and a game-record six touchdowns as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. The 49ers have not won a Super Bowl since then.

1999 – Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams quarterback

This was one of the most unlikely stories in sports history. Warner had only played in one NFL game entering the 1999 season, and the Rams left him unprotected in the 1999 expansion draft. He then re-joined the Rams and won the starting job only after Trent Green sustained an injury in a preseason game.

Warner, who was 28 at the time, then won the regular season MVP after leading the league with a 65.1% completion percentage and 41 touchdowns and throwing for 4,353 yards. During the Super Bowl against the Tennessee Titans, Warner 24-of-45 for 414 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winning 73-yard touchdown to Isaac Bruce with 1:54 remaining.

Warner won the MVP again two years later when the Rams entered the Super Bowl as heavy favorites. But St. Louis lost, 20-17, to the New England Patriots, which won the first of their six Super Bowls.