There never has been a three-time MVP in the NFL, not that there shouldn’t have been. Most valuable players tend quickly to become most taken for granted.
If the Bears were voting, Brett Favre would win every year. The Packers without Favre are the Bulls without Michael Jordan, who doesn’t win every year either.
Jim Brown won in only his first and last years with the Cleveland Browns, who wouldn’t have been much good without him. Walter Payton won only once in his 13 years of carrying the Bears. Barry Sanders never has won and can you imagine the Detroit Lions without him?
Quarterbacks are the most frequent winners, for good reason. There are no good teams without good quarterbacks. Of the 41 MVPs since the award was introduced in 1957, 25 have been quarterbacks. Running backs are next with 11.
You would think most valuable players usually would play on the best teams. Yet only 12 MVPs have won championships the same season.
MVPs in the NFL also tend to earn the honor. Teams don’t turn the MVP race into an advertising campaign like colleges treat the Heisman Trophy.
In pro football, front-runners emerge as the season progresses. Favre was a virtual no-brainer the last two years. This year, he has early competition from Denver, where John Elway last won 10 years ago.
As the only undefeated team in the league, the Broncos have earned the right to ask how they got that way. The answer was clear in Monday night’s romp over the previously undefeated New England Patriots. They have a player who is dominating his position. It’s not Elway; it’s running back Terrell Davis.
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Davis ran more than Elway passed and gained almost as many yards on the ground (171) as Elway did in the air (196). That he did it on Monday night certified the performance by introducing Davis to anybody who hasn’t been paying attention. A sixth-round draft choice in 1995, long after Ki-Jana Carter and Rashaan Salaam and Tyrone Wheatley were tabbed, he is leading the league with 776 yards. He has emerged as the best. Of his class? Or of the league?
Before the game, Davis said: “It is strange, but I don’t consider myself to be in Barry’s or Emmitt’s (Smith) class right now. I think the key to that is probably longevity. Right now, I probably compare myself with Curtis Martin, Eddie George, Napoleon Kaufman.”
After the game, Davis again was asked if he thought of himself as the best.
“I leave that up to you,” he said.
The way he runs is a blend of power and elusiveness that appears unmatched. He looks bigger than his listed 5 feet 11 inches and 210 pounds and runs much bigger.
“I don’t see many people with my style. I’m a power runner at times, finesse at times,” Davis said.
“That guy, you try to hit him low and, hopefully, someone will hit him high,” Patriots safety Willie Clay said.
After two 1,000-yard seasons, Davis didn’t exactly come from nowhere. But this year, he’s on pace for 2,000.
“My confidence level is unbelievable now,” he said. “When I go, I run with authority. I run with purpose. Before, I was running not to make mistakes; now I’m running to make plays.”
It is ironic that Elway in his 15th season looks like he finally might have his best chance to win a Super Bowl because of his handoffs rather than his passes.
“It’s Terrell’s team,” Elway said. “My job now is picking up third downs, not making any mistakes, not messing it up. Make third downs and keep us on the field . . . keep Terrell on the field.”
“He’s the man,” Clay said. “To beat them, you have to stop Terrell Davis. John Elway is a Hall of Fame quarterback and all, but a championship team has a good running game. They have a heck of a running game.”
It’s one handoff Davis refuses.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Davis said. “John always will be the leader of this team as long as he’s on this team. Maybe his role is changing a little bit, as far as him having to go out there every week and win the game for us. But as far as him passing the torch on to me, I just don’t see that.
“I mean without John, you know the record, you know the history of this team when John’s not playing. Without Terrell Davis, life goes on. I mean, who knows? They might not miss me at all. But they’d miss John. There are no questions about that at all.”
That’s another thing that makes Davis an MVP to coach Mike Shanahan.
“Such a class act. A team guy. He doesn’t care if he runs it 10 times or 30 times, he wants to help us win. I think the world of him,” Shanahan said.