Who was the last losing team player to win Super Bowl MVP?
There has been exactly one time when the coveted Super Bowl MVP was awarded to a player from the losing team.
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Chuck Howley (Image via Blogging the Boys)
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have done it again!
Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LVII in what can only be described as a thriller game that had everyone making deals with God to make their team victorious. Philadelphia Eagles put up a great fight and were in the lead until the fourth quarter when the Chiefs made their comeback and won 38-35 by kicking the field goal with less than a minute left on the game clock.
Mahomes won his second league MVP a few days back and now he led his team to lift the Lombardi Trophy for a second time in the last five years. His exceptional performance in the second half of the game earned him his second Super Bowl MVP. He ended the night with 21 completions for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns and also rushed for 44 yards on six carries.
However, statistically speaking, Jalen Hurts had a far better performance but unfortunately was on the losing side. Hurts completed 27 of his 38 passes, threw for 304 yards, and one passing touchdown. The Eagles quarterback was also lightning quick on his legs, rushing for 70 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. This really was a Super Bowl MVP-worthy performance, but fans and the media representatives felt otherwise as they cast their votes in favor of Mahomes, who won the game for his team, so can’t really argue with that logic.
It has become a kind of customary that the Pete Rozelle Trophy or Super Bowl MVP is awarded to a player from the winning team because, well; they have won the Super Bowl. Still, in the 57 years of history of the Super Bowl, there has been exactly one time when the coveted Super Bowl MVP was awarded to a player from the losing team. That’s right! It happened way back in 1971.
Chuck Howley, the man who won the Super Bowl MVP even after his team lost
The only time that the Super Bowl MVP was given to a player from the losing team happened in Super Bowl V. It was played between AFC Champions Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts) and NFC Champions Dallas Cowboys. This game is often regarded as one of the worst Super Bowls ever played due to the poor play from both teams, missed PAT, missed opportunities, and the officials making blunders (This apparently has been going on from the start of the NFL-AFL merger).
The Colts and the Cowboys had a combined 11 turnovers in the entire game. However, the “Blunder Bowl” did come to an end when the Colts kicked a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left in regulation to win the Super Bowl 16-13. Both teams played horribly on the biggest stage of football. And amidst this disastrous game, the Super Bowl MVP was awarded to Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley.
Howley, who was the first non-QB to win the award, made two interceptions in the game. Sack and tackles were not yet recorded so he was given the Super Bowl MVP on the two interceptions he made. Chuck Howley who was selected seventh overall in the 1958 draft said that he did not care about the award since his team had lost the Super Bowl. Howley only accepted the award because it came with a brand-new station wagon which he gifted to his wife.
Chuck Howley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023 on February 9.
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)