10 NFL players who have won the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year award

Buffalo Bills v New Orleans Saints

#5 - Drew Brees, 2010

NFL legend Drew Brees led the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl and lifted up an entire region in the process. He was involved in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts for years and won a Super Bowl MVP award as well.

Brees is a legend in New Orleans, and winning the Super Bowl during the 2009 NFL season was just a nice bonus after all the work he did in his new home.

#4 - Peyton Manning, 2013

Peyton Manning did not win a Super Bowl the year he won the award from Sports Illustrated. But he was on pace for his fifth NFL MVP award and ultimately reached the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos.

2013 also saw Manning throw for an NFL-record 55 touchdowns in the second stage of his career. Just getting back on the field in general was a minor miracle after the neck injury he suffered in Indianapolis.

#3 - JJ Watt, 2017

JJ Watt took charity to a whole new level following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. What started out as a fun trend saw Watt raise nearly $40 million toward relief efforts in the area.

Life is bigger than football, and Watt represented an NFL superstar who put the community first. This was greater than anything else he ever did in Houston, because there is truly no comparison to these relief efforts.

#2 - Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, 2020

2020 was an interesting year as a long list of athletes won the SI award, which made sense in a year impacted by COVID-19. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif won after not even playing during the 2020 season.

He sat out to work in healthcare as the country battled the virus. He did this after winning a Super Bowl earlier in 2020, becoming a noble NFL star whose legacy will live on for a long time.

#1 - Patrick Mahomes, 2020

Patrick Mahomes joined Duvernay-Tardif as another member of the Kansas City Chiefs to win in 2020. Mahomes' accomplishments make a long list. The most notable was him winning the Super Bowl and being named the game's MVP so early in his career. Mahomes led the Chiefs back to greatness and did so while battling adversity throughout the season.

Mahomes continued his greatness off the field, promoting social causes and using his voice for good. While Duvernay-Tardif was on the frontlines in healthcare, Mahomes was a strong voice in the world of social justice.

Mahomes was still in his early 20s while doing all this both on and off the field, meaning he is a candidate to win this prestigious award again as his career goes on.