By Thomas Sellers Jr.
As we turn the tide against this global pandemic, an important U.S. American holiday is going to take place this Sunday.
The first Sunday in February is Super Sunday, a.k.a., Super Bowl Sunday. This year’s holiday features the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs taking on the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the icon Tom Brady.
Who will be this year’s MVP? Will Chief quarterback Patrick Mahomes repeat along with his team? Mahomes led the fourth comeback against my beloved San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl LIV MVP award.
His opponent Tom Brady is the winner of 6 Lombari Trophies and has taken home the MVP award four times.
Through the nearly 55-year history of the championship game between the NFC vs. AFC, some unknown players like Larry Brown, Dexter Jackson and Deion Branch became legends for one night winning the award.
Then legends like Peyton Manning, Richard Dent, Terry Bradshaw and Joe Namath have the honor on their resume’. Being the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player can come down to luck, being in the right place at the right time, effort or the best player being the best.
It’s time for The Best Sellers’ List to rank my favorite 10 Super Bowl MVP through the first 54 games. Here are a few honorable mentions: John Riggins (Washington XVII), Franco Harris (Pittsburgh IX), Patrick Mahomes II (Chiefs LIV), Bart Starr (Green Bay I), Larry Csonka (Miami VIII), Von Miller (Denver 50), Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh XLIII), Desmond Howard (Packers XXXI) and Ottis Anderson (NY Giants XXV).
- Nick Foles
(Philadelphia LII)
One of the biggest arguments against Tom Brady being the official GOAT of the NFL is one man. How could he lose a Super Bowl to Nick Foles.
The backup signal caller for the Philadelphia Eagles led his time to a 41-33 upset of Tom Brady’s New England Patriots.
While Brady was awesome in that game, Foles held his own against the playing-legend. Foles passed for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns in Minneapolis.
What got Foles on this list was one play. The “Philly Special” became one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history. Foles caught a touchdown pass on the trick play right before halftime to give the Eagles a 10-point lead.
Later in the contest Foles led the game-winning drive throwing a touchdown pass to Zach Ertz. Eagles were the winner of their franchise’s first Lombari. - Jerry Rice
(San Francisco XXIII)
Of course the greatest football player to ever play the game was going to make this list. A lot of people remember Super Bowl XXIII as the game Joe Montana driving the San Francisco 49ers down the field for a 92-yard game-winning drive. After spotting actor John Candy in the stands, Montana hit his weapons to set up the John Taylor TD pass for the 20-16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Miami.
The only reason Montana didn’t take home the MVP award was became of the performance of the overall GOAT Jerry Rice.
Rice was named the Super Bowl MVP after catching 11 passes for 215 yards. His late touchdown got the 49ers back into the game. And Rice made several crucial catches in traffic to help the 49ers win their third Super Bowl in the 1980s. - Terrell Davis
(Denver XXXII)
The “Mile-High Salute” became a national trend because of this one man. The snake-bitten Denver Broncos came into Super Bowl XXXII losers of 4 Big Games. They were also the victims of the worst loss in Super Bowl history going down to the 49ers 55-10 in Super Bowl 24.
It was going to take a miracle worker to get the Broncos over the hump. Enter Terrell Davis and the running back ripped through the Green Bay Packers for 30 carries tallying 157 yards. Davis crossed the goal line three times in helping Denver pull off the upset over the defending champs Packers 31-24 in San Diego.
What earns Davis a spot on this list was him playing a portion of the game with a blinding, migraine headache. Davis was a decoy on a goal line with his Head Coach Mike Shanahan telling him the only way the play would work was to make the Packers think he was getting the hand-off. That is sacrifice. - Tom Brady
(New England LI)
The best of Tom Brady’s four Super Bowl MVPs has to be the amazing, record breaking comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in Houston. Trailing 28-3, it appeared the Patriots were done.
Then Brady became captain comeback. He led the Patriots back from the 25-point deficit by completing 43 of 62 passes for 466 yards.
He tossed 2 touchdowns to send the Super Bowl to the first overtime ever. New England completed the comeback with a short TD run and pulled off the 34-28 victory. Add another chapter to the legacy of TB12. - Steve Young
(San Francisco XXIX)
Let me grab my plate of nachos and get ready for this first quarter of action between the San Diego Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers. Less than 2 minutes into the game, Steve Young to Jerry Rice for a 44-yard touchdown.
Oh no! Young is at it again. He just hit Ricky Watters for a TD and it’s still 10 minutes to go in the first quarter. Young was nearly flawless during the entire game going 24 of 36 for 325 yards. The biggest stat of the night in the 49-26 victory was Young’s record 6 touchdown passes.
The night in Miami belonged to Young and his 49ers winning a then record fifth Super Bowl as franchise. Young also led San Francisco in rushing that night. - Joe Montana
(San Francisco XXIV)
Who’s record did Young break that night in Miami? For the answer you have to go back five years to the New Orleans Superdome. Young was there that night witnessing Joe Montana’s final Super Bowl championship. And it was Joe Cool’s greatest performance on the big stage.
Montana threw 5 touchdowns in the 55-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos. Montana was efficient throughout the demolition of the Broncos.
Montana located the great Jerry Rice three time that night. He finished going 22 of 29 for 297 yards. The MVP Award was Joe’s third in his career. - Doug Williams
(Washington XXII)
OK, so who held the touchdown passing record before Montana? We have to go back just two years. And the Denver Broncos and their quarterback John Elway know the answer very well. Before San Diego became the place of celebration for Denver, it was the setting for a nightmare against the Washington Football Team.
Washington quarterback Doug Williams threw four TDs in leading his team to a 42-10 win over the Broncos. Williams made history by becoming the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Williams came back into the game from a knee injury to complete 18 of 29 passes for 340 yards. The epic second quarter with Washington scoring 35 points pushes Williams up my list. - Marcus Allen
(L.A. Raiders XVIII)
There was a time only quarterbacks and running back won the Super Bowl MVP award. Back in the 1980s, if you had the better running back, you won the Big Game. The Los Angeles Raiders had Marcus Allen for Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa.
The first Super Bowl in the city was a blowout with the Raiders shutting down the high-power Washington squad 38-9. Los Angeles fed the ball to Allen for 20 carries for 191 yards. That performance on the ground was a record at the time.
What has Allen so high on my list is the iconic 74-yard touchdown run he had to put the game away officially. One of the best plays in Super Bowl history is memorable when Allen reversed field and exploded to the end zone. - Phil Simms
(NY Giants XXI)
“I’m going to Disney World!” is now a tradition of the Super Bowl. Usually the MVP of the game gets the honor of speaking this line for the commercial the day after the game. Unless you’re Jerry Rice or Ray Lewis… Back in 1987, the people at Disney was visioning Denver’s Elway as the guy would deliver that line on that Pasadena night. They causally mention it to New York Giants signal caller Phil Simms (left) just in case.
Simms delivered a near-perfect performance in earning the honor of speaking the iconic line first. He abused the Bronco defense going 22 of 25 passing. Simms complete 88 percent of his passes for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns.
New York won the Super Bowl 39-20. And Simms became a part of the Super Bowl lineage and got a free trip to Disney World. - Lynn Swann
(Pittsburgh X)
Who was the first Super Bowl MVP people remember? The first player to become a household name because of his performance? The answer is Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann.
Hall of Fame career? Check.
Iconic plays? Check
Clutch performance? Check
Memorable? Check
Swann’s day in Miami was legendary and set the standard for MVP performances. Swann only caught four passes that day from Terry Bradshaw. But two of them were amazing acrobatic catches only Swann could have made during that era. He tipped one pass to himself for a big gain. And his other grab he flew through the air going out of bounds but landed in the field of play.
Swann collected 161 yards in those four catches including a TD in the 21-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
THOMAS SELLERS JR. is the editor of The Millington Star and both the sports editor and a weekly personal columnist for West 10 Media/Magic Valley Publishing. Contact him by phone at (901) 433-9138, by fax to (901) 529-7687 and by email to [email protected].
