The annual NFL Honors allows the league to celebrate the game’s best in an Academy Awards-style gala event. The top names from around the league gather to recognize its brightest stars, but who votes on the actual awards?
Who Chooses the Winners of NFL Awards?
The NFL Honors’ annual awards are voted on by a panel of 50 sports journalists from across the country. The process is run by the Associated Press (AP), hence the name, “AP NFL Awards.”
MORE: Who Has Been to the Most Pro Bowls in NFL History?
According to the AP, the voters are chosen based on their expertise and are independent of the NFL. For example, Peter King, who currently writes for NBC Sports, is one of the 50 voters. Other voters have included Troy Aikman (FOX Sports), Cris Collinsworth (NBC Sports), and Tony Dungy (NBC Sports).
How Does NFL Awards Voting Work For Honors Ceremony?
In past years, voters would select one candidate for each award. The votes would be tallied up, and the player with the most votes would win.
Simple.
Except, such a system didn’t as easily allow voters to give their full range of opinions, made it more likely for ties to occur, and didn’t allow the AP to recognize as many players.
For the 2023 NFL Honors, the AP changed how voters will select their winners. Voters will submit five players for the MVP ballot, with each player receiving an increasing number of points per ballot on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale based on how highly they’re placed.
For all other awards, voters will submit three players, who will be scored on a 5-3-1 scale. These awards include Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
Do Any Coaches or Players Have a Say in NFL Award Voting?
No. The NFL Honors awards are voted on by the 50-member panel of journalists. However, for the 2022 season, the NFLPA released the first-ever All-Pro team voted on entirely by players.
Dubbed “The Players’ All-Pro,” the team was voted on by active NFL players who were only allowed to vote for players in their position group and in the position groups they line up against. To encourage more honesty in voting, players were not allowed to vote for anyone on their team.