NFL
Super Bowl MVP Voting Explained: Who Votes For SB MVP & How Does It Work?

The Super Bowl MVP is known as the Pete Rozelle Trophy, but who votes for the award and how does the voting process work? The Pete Rozelle Trophy wasn’t awarded until Super Bowl XXV, but the NFL always recognized a Super Bowl MVP — even if the award was presented by SPORT magazine through 1989.
Super Bowl MVP Trophy Was Named After Former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle
At Super Bowl XXV, the league first awarded the Pete Rozelle Trophy, named after former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, to the Super Bowl MVP. Ottis Anderson was the first to win the trophy. Tom Brady retired with the most Super Bowl wins (seven), MVPs (five), and appearances (10) in NFL history.
The Super Bowl MVP has been awarded annually since the game’s inception in 1967. Until Super Bowl L, the winner of the award was given a new car from General Motors. The most recent Super Bowl MVP, from Super Bowl LVIII, is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Who Votes For The Super Bowl MVP?
The NFL selects a panel of 16 writers and broadcasters who are covering the game to vote on Super Bowl MVP. Since Super Bowl XXXV in 2001, the league has allowed fans to also vote for the game’s MVP, but the fan vote only counts for 20%, while the media panel represents 80%.
Each media member votes for their top five players for Super Bowl MVP. A first-place vote holds 10 points, while a second-place vote accounts for five points. A third-place vote is worth three points, a fourth-place vote holds two points, and a fifth-place vote gives the player one point.
Vote | Points |
First Place | 10 |
Second Place | 5 |
Third Place | 3 |
Fourth Place | 2 |
Fifth Place | 1 |
The final points total is tallied, and the player who receives the most points is named Super Bowl MVP. This points system for the MVP voting was introduced in 2022, and the league has followed the same point structure since then.
Additionally, the game’s viewing audience can vote online or via cell phones. Media voters are asked to vote with about five minutes remaining in the game. They can nominate one player from each team, with instructions to count their vote for the player on the winning team. Voters cannot select an entire unit.
How Does The Voting System Work For Super Bowl MVP?
Furthermore, the members of the 16-person panel are asked to submit their ballots around the two-minute warning. Members can write down one name for each team. However, members are also allowed to change their selection in the final seconds if a miraculous play takes place.
Voters cannot select multiple players from the same team and are instructed to make their selection from the winning team’s roster. The MVP has come from the winning team every year except 1971, when Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley won the award despite the Cowboys’ loss in Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts.
Criteria For Selection
Approximately 56% of the time the quarterback is selected Super Bowl MVP. Most of the time, the quarterback deserves to win the award over any other player since the position is the most important on a football team. Quarterbacks have earned the honor 33 times in 58 games (and 59 awards).
This means 58 Super Bowls have been played, but 59 players have won the award. Two players were named MVP of Super Bowl XII: defensive tackle Randy White and defensive end Harvey Martin. Both led an elite Dallas Cowboys defense in 1978. To this day, that was the only time in NFL history that two players were named co-MVP.
In fact, not all quarterbacks have been worthy candidates. The real disparity comes between offensive and defensive players. In addition to the 33 quarterbacks to win Super Bowl MVP, eight wide receivers and seven running backs have won the award. Defensively, only 10 players have won the award, and one special teams star has won it.
Super Bowl LIX is this year’s matchup between the Chiefs and Eagles at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Of course, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (+100) is the odds-on favorite to win Super Bowl MVP.