Alright, so I spent some time looking into that big award they give out at the Super Bowl, you know, the MVP one. It wasn’t just a quick search online, I kinda went down a rabbit hole with it.
It started pretty simply. I was watching some old Super Bowl highlights, I think it was that crazy Patriots comeback against the Falcons. Obviously, Brady got the award. But it got me thinking, how do they really decide? It seems obvious sometimes, but other times, man, it feels like a toss-up.
Digging In a Bit
So, I decided to make it a little project for myself. Just outta curiosity. I started pulling up lists of all the winners, going way back. Didn’t just read the names, though. I tried to find footage or summaries of those games. Wanted to see why that specific guy got picked over everyone else on the field.
- Watched clips of guys like Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw back in the day.
- Looked at defensive players who won it, like Von Miller more recently, or even way back with guys like Larry Brown. That’s always interesting ’cause it’s usually a quarterback.
- Even checked out some of the weird ones, like the guy from the losing team who won it once (Chuck Howley, had to look that up again!).
This took up a few weekends, honestly. Just watching plays, reading old articles. Sometimes I’d pull up stats, but mostly I was trying to get a feel for the impact the player had on that specific game. You know, the moments that swung everything.
It also got me into a few arguments, mostly online in forums and stuff. People get REALLY passionate about who deserved it in certain years. Like, should a running back who had a monster game get it over the QB who made the key throws? Does the guy who makes the game-winning play automatically deserve it, even if someone else played better overall? Lots of debate there.
What I Reckon Now
After spending all that time, it kinda changed how I see that trophy. It’s not just about stats, not really. It’s about who stepped up HUGE on the biggest stage possible. The pressure in that game must be insane, and whoever performs best under that spotlight, that’s usually your guy.
I also realized how much the story matters. Sometimes, a player has a great comeback story, or maybe they’re a veteran finally getting the win. That stuff seems to play into it too, not just the cold hard numbers. It’s about the narrative of the game sometimes.
So yeah, that was my little deep dive. Started as just wondering about an award, ended up spending a bunch of time watching old football and thinking about what it really means to be the ‘most valuable’ in a single, high-stakes game. It’s more complicated than it looks on the surface. Pretty interesting stuff when you actually dig into it.
