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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of only nine players to ever win the NFL Most Valuable Player award twice.
Winning a third MVP and joining an even more exclusive club is still a goal for 37-year-old Rodgers as he is one of the favorites to win the award leading up to the final three weeks of the season.
“Not many guys have won three, so that would certainly mean a lot,” Rodgers said on Wednesday through PackersWire.com’s Zach Kruse.
In fact, there have only been five players who have won the MVP award three times. Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown have each won the award exactly three times, while Peyton Manning took home five MVPs during his 18-year NFL career. Joe Montana, Steve Young and Kurt Wagner are the other two-time winners, along with Rodgers.
The 2020 MVP award appears likely to end as Rodgers’ third or second time Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes takes home the honor. With the three remaining games, the two quarterbacks are the favorites to win the prize at the end of the season.
Rodgers is having one of the best seasons of his career. He leads the league in passing touchdowns with 39 and could break his single-season record of 45 by the end of the year. He accomplished that by throwing just four interceptions and scoring 3,685 yards in 13 games. He also leads the league with a passer rating of 119.7.
Mahomes is also experiencing a fantastic year. He leads the league in passing yards with 4,208 and has thrown 33 touchdowns with just five interceptions, three of which were against Miami last weekend.
Rodgers endorses the textual meaning of the prize. It must go to the player who is most valuable to his team in any given season. Rodgers said he is happy to be back in the conversation after a relatively poor past two seasons statistically. But he feels his place in running this year reflects the way he played and lifted the Packers to the top of the NFC race.
“I think it should live up to what it stands for as an acronym,” said Rodgers. “It is that person who is most valuable to their team. I feel like that is why I should be in the competition most years, and especially this year. “