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It’s an honor to be considered not only one of the best players during a game but one of the best during a Super Bowl. In football, it’s crucial to have one or more standout players on your team that can do the unthinkable. There have only been 58 Super Bowl MVP awards handed out in the history of the NFL, and we’ll be outlining five of the greatest of all time, highlighting how they created their legacy.
Beginning our list of Super Bowl MVPs is Terry Bradshaw, who was quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the late 1970s. He is the only quarterback and NFL player besides Bart Starr and Patrick Mahomes to earn back-to-back MVPs in NFL history, and in particular, Bradshaw was spectacular in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. During Super Bowl XIII, he completed 17 of 30 passes for 318 yards and a whopping four touchdowns, before completing 14 of 21 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns in Super Bowl XIV.
Up next is Eli Manning, quarterback of the New York Giants, who edges out his brother Peyton Manning (one MVP in 2007) with two Super Bowl MVPs to his name. Manning surely deserved this in 2008, where he’d toss 19 of 34 completed passes for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns, earning MVP the year after his brother did. That victory for the Giants also thwarted the Patriots’ attempt at an undefeated season. The 2012 Super Bowl, also against the Patriots, would prove a challenge for Manning, who completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards with one touchdown.
Joe Montana began his championship legacy with his first Super Bowl victory and MVP in 1982, where he completed 14 of 22 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns, one rushing and one passing, against the Cincinnati Bengals. Other than Partick Mahomes, Montana is the only other NFL player to win exactly three MVPs in their incredible Super Bowl performances. He showed his true MVP nature in 1985 once again when he completed 24 of 35 passes for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns, achieving a record for most passing yards in a single Super Bowl for his time. The 1990 Super Bowl saw Montana take the MVP title once again with 22 of 29 passes completed for 297 yards and an incredible five touchdowns.
In the most recent years of football, Patrick Mahomes deserves a mention as one of the top Super Bowl MVPs of all time, especially considering he has another shot at winning the award in Super Bowl 59. Mahomes would only start his MVP collection during the 2020 Super Bowl, where he’d complete 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards with two touchdowns against the 49ers. He’d replicate this top-tier performance again in 2023 with 21 of 27 passes completed for 182 yards and three touchdowns, before winning another Super Bowl and MVP in the most recent matchup against the 49ers. His 2024 performance arguably puts him down as one of the greatest Super Bowl MVPs of all time, having thrown 46 passes with 34 completed for 333 yards and two touchdowns.
Of course, Tom Brady is our uncontested top Super Bowl MVP of all time, with multiple game-changing Super Bowl performances, the first occurring in 2002 against the St. Louis Rams, where Brady saw MVP at the end of the game with 16 of 27 completed passes and one touchdown. Just 2 years later, Brady would ramp up his performance with 32 passes completed out of 48 attempts for 354 yards and three touchdowns.
That’s not all, because 11 years later, Brady would complete 37 out of 50 passes against the Seattle Seahawks for 328 yards and four touchdowns, showing how even after a decade of not winning MVP, he still had it. That’s especially true for the 2017 Super Bowl, where he’d complete a whopping 43 of 62 attempted passes for 466 yards and two touchdowns, helping New England pull off one of the greatest comebacks of all time as they fought back from 28-3 down to beat the Falcons in overtime. Brady would then move to Tampa Bay to join the Buccaneers and win a Super Bowl there, with 21 completed passes out of 29 for 201 yards and three touchdowns, making him truly the greatest MVP of all time.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.