List of National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award Winners

When any athlete enters the professional National Football League (NFL), he has walked into a select group of individuals whose aim and focus is to put their best foot forward and help the team achieve greatness. In a team sport such as American Football, contributions from every member matter irrespective of the position they play. However, it is important to note that a few players will always be on an elite level and their individual brilliance throughout the course of the season will guide their respective teams as far as possible.

Taking into consideration the positions on the offensive side of the ball, in today’s game, we typically have the offensive line, the quarterback, the tight end, the wide receivers, and the running back. If a player is playing the role of a tight end or is a member of the O-line, then the unfortunate fact is that none of these players have ever won the Offensive Player of the Year award. While each member of the offense gives his best for the team, it’s just that some of the other positions are much more important to the game and are also the ones putting up huge statistical numbers.

Having said that, even the wide receivers have not fared too well in this category. Looking at the overall list of players who have won this award since its inception in 1972, only four receivers can boast of winning it. In that sense, this award has been completely dominated by the quarterbacks who have won 20 times and the running backs with 26 wins.

The Offensive Player of the Year award is given by three distinct organizations. This award was started in 1972 by the Associated Press (AP) and is the one which the NFL’s honors ceremony recognizes. The other two organizations to hand out the award are Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) and Sporting News (SN).

List of AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year winners