Although he missed quite a bit of the season in 1993, Emmitt Smith did end up winning the MVP after a close fight with Steve Young. The Cowboys star received just 5 more first place votes than the 49ers' QB.
In 1978, Bradshaw won a tight race over rookie running back Earl Campbell. In the end, the Steelers' signal-caller gained just three more votes than Campbell and won the race after a hard-fought battle.
1982 was a troubled year for NFL. After facing a 57-day players strike, the regular season was shortened to 9 games. Mark Moseley became the first and only kicker to win MVP after edging out Fouts by a margin of 2 votes.
In 2003, Peyton Manning and Steve McNair became the second pair of players to share the honor of Co-MVPs. Both Manning and McNair received 16 first place votes that year.
In 1997, Packers QB Brett Favre and Lions running back Barry Sanders locked horns in the first NFL MVP race to end in a tie. The QB had already won it in each of the prior two seasons and entered the 1997 season after helping the Packers win the Super Bowl after nearly 30 years. However, even amidst Detroit's lackluster season, Sanders received 18 first-place votes. Favre, of course, also received 18 first-place votes and they became the NFL's first set of co-MVPs.
