Breaking the MVP curse: Patrick Mahomes' Super Bowl challenge
Mahomes' season is unblemished. He has led the NFL in passing yards (5,250) and touchdowns (41). With those numbers, he has led the Kansas City Chiefs to the postseason and earned the MVP, which is awarded on merit during the regular season.
Through to Super Bowl LVII, he has a 16-3 record, including two play-off victories. Now, the talented Texan will be looking to break a curse that has been around since the last century, with Kurt Warner standing as the last player to win the final as MVP with the St. Louis Rams in 1999.
Since then, men like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Mahomes himself have tried to win both awards in the same season and failed with their attempts - undisputed legends of American football who were damaged by a situation that has not been proven, but which has been repeated for almost five decades.
The elder Manning was the player who had the most opportunities to break the jinx. He was named the most valuable player of the championship on five occasions but never managed to win a ring. The most curious of all came in 2003 when he shared the award with the late Steve McNair.
Behind him was four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, all with the Green Bay Packers. The most recent came in 2022 when the quarterback fell in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers after leading the Wisconsin franchise to be the best team during the regular season.
Nor was the recently retired Brady spared the curse. He was voted MVP three times in his career and never managed to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the time - a strange statistic for someone who reached Super Bowl 10 times and triumphed on seven occasions.
Other historical figures, including Hall of Famers, became victims of winning the MVP, such as the aforementioned Warner, Adrian Peterson, Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson among others.
List of MVPs since 2000
If it is already a major challenge to win a Super Bowl, but to do it as MVP seems impossible so far in the 21st century. Patrick Mahomes will be looking to break the curse against the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on Sunday.
Peyton Manning - 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2013
Aaron Rodgers - 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021
Tom Brady - 2007, 2010 and 2017
Patrick Mahomes - 2018 and 2022
Marshall Faulk - 2000
Kurt Warner - 2001
Rich Gannon - 2002
Steve McNair - 2003
Shaun Alexander - 2005
LaDainian Tomlinson - 2006
Adrian Peterson - 2012
Cam Newton - 2015
Matt Ryan - 2016
Lamar Jackson - 2019
