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NFL: Ranking every MVP winner in league history based on pro career

By Hans Themistode

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 11: Running back Adrian Peterson #28 of the Minnesota Vikings carries the ball during a NFL game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 11: Running back Adrian Peterson #28 of the Minnesota Vikings carries the ball during a NFL game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /
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AP Most Valuable Player Award
AP Most Valuable Player Award (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

They all step up to the NFL podium, flash a bright smile, maybe even a disingenuous tear rolls down their cheek, then they proceed to tell us all how much the league MVP award isn’t near the top of their agenda. They’ll tell us how much they want to put the team first and win Super Bowl rings but they’ll check their stats to make sure their names are etched into the MVP award at the end of the season.

Let’s not kid ourselves here, winning an MVP award is the kind of thing that turns a player from a really good one, into an all-timer. With that said, winning an MVP award isn’t an automatic placement as an all-time great. Not including active players, 13 former MVP winners have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Meaning, just because you nab one, it doesn’t mean you can sit back on your laurels.

With nearly 50 different MVP winners in league history, we’ve decided to weed out the bad from the good, the good from the great, and the great from the all-timers. We’ll be ranking the careers of every NFL player to win MVP but, just to be clear, we’ll only be disccusing the winners of the Associated Press MVP Award as opposed to the AL MVP Award that was given out roughly a century ago. You’ll find some surprise selections in here, maybe even a few that you forgot grabbed an MVP award when nobody was watching. We remembered them all though and we’ll be judging them accordingly.

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