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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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Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas (Photo by Robert Riger/Getty Images) /

Ranking every MVP winner in NFL history: 21. Johnny Unitas

Stats:

  • 40,239 passing yards
  • 290 passing touchdowns
  • 253 interceptions

In today’s day and age, Johnny Unitas is rarely mentioned as an all-timer. Most of that is because he played his best football in the 1950s and 60s. Regardless of the minuscule amount of fanfare he receives, Unitas was a great player who could ball out in any era.

In 1957, only his second season in the NFL, Unitas led the league in passing yards with 2,550. He also led the league in passing touchdowns with 24, yards per game with 212.5, and passer rating with 88. Unitas immediately turned the Baltimore Colts into contenders and pushed them over the Super Bowl hump with back-to-back titles in 1958 and 1959.

Unitas would go on to lead the league in passing yards and touchdowns four times total and subsequently picked up three league MVPs in the process.

Even now, without throwing a football in an NFL game in roughly half a century, his name is still littered across the quarterback record books. Unitas ranks 22nd in passing yards with 40,239 and 15th in passing touchdowns with 290.

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