Thursday’s NFL opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs will feature two of the top faces of the league, as Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes share the field.
Both Jackson and Mahomes have in common of winning two MVP honors. Ahead of tonight’s game, Jackson will walk into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium as the reigning Most Valuable Player.
One of these star quarterbacks will get a chance to win a third trophy. But by taking home the league’s top individual honor twice, they’re already a part of an elite fraternity.
Players Who’ve Won Multiple NFL MVP Awards
Jackson and Mahomes aren’t the league’s first two-time MVP winners. In fact, 11 different players have won the nod multiple times. In chronological order, here’s the list of the other nine players who have won more than one MVP nomination.
- Jim Brown: The Cleveland Browns running back was the NFL’s first MVP winner of 1957, then repeated in 1958. He later won one more time in 1965.
- Johnny Unitas: “Johnny U” holds the honor of becoming the first quarterback to win MVP twice — claiming the award in 1959 and 1964. He won a third one in 1967 with the Baltimore Colts.
- Joe Montana: The San Francisco 49ers standout became the first player since Brown to claim back-to-back MVP honors — winning the 1989 and 1990 nods.
- Steve Young: After succeeding Montana as QB1 in the Bay Area, the 49ers Hall of Famer went on to win the 1992 and 1994 awards.
- Brett Favre: The Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer made history as the league’s first three-peat MVP winner. Favre snatched the award after the 1995, 1996, and 1997 seasons.
- Kurt Warner: The St. Louis Rams QB helped change the fortunes of the franchise with two Super Bowl appearances in three seasons — winning the 1999 and 2001 MVP awards during that span.
- Peyton Manning: Manning holds the record for most MVP victories with five. His first award arrived in 2003 while with the Indianapolis Colts, when he shared the honor with Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans. Manning claimed the award for himself, though, in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2013 with the Denver Broncos.
- Tom Brady: The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owns three MVP trophies. His first arrived in 2007, then he snatched the award in 2010 and 2017 while with the Pats.
- Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers trails Manning in total MVPs with four. His quartet of nods all came with the Green Bay Packers in 2011, 2014, 2020, and 2021. The now New York Jets quarterback is currently the last consecutive MVP winner.
What Years Did Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson Win MVP?
Not only is Jackson entering the season as the defending MVP, but he’s also the Ravens’ only MVP winner in franchise history.
He first won the award in 2019 after leading the NFL with 36 touchdowns and guiding the Ravens to a league-best 14-2 mark. Jackson took last year’s nod after delivering a new career-high 3,678 passing yards and improved his completion percentage to 67.2.
Baltimore claimed the AFC’s top seed as Jackson put together his stellar campaign. It was his second Most Valuable Player award in a four-year span.
Mahomes, meanwhile, first claimed the honor in 2018 — the season he tossed an astonishing 50 touchdowns and took K.C. to the AFC Championship Game. Four years later, he won MVP again in 2022 by leading the league with 41 TD passes and in average passing yards per game (308.8).
Mahomes ended the season as Super Bowl MVP after leading his Chiefs past the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57.
As for which one has the highest odds of claiming this year’s award, Mahomes has been given the highest probability, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, at +450.