The Game Before the Money Podcast spoke with Mark Moseley about his experience becoming the only full-time placekicker to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award in Episode 59 of the football history podcast.
1982 NFL MVP
Did you know that a kicker was named the NFL’s MVP? It happened in 1982 when Washington’s Mark Moseley had the season of all seasons for kickers. He broke the NFL record for most consecutive field goals without a miss. He hit a game-winning field goal through gusty snowfall to clinch the NFC East. Moseley, known for his clutch field goals, also helped the Washington Redskins (now known as the Washington Commanders) win Super Bowl 17 over the Miami Dolphins.
Embed from Getty ImagesMark Moseley Wins NFL MVP
Moseley said that Washington’s PR department told him he was a finalist for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. “I didn’t even think anything about it. I said there’s no way. There’s never been a special teams player or kicker ever even nominated, much less win. That’d be impossible.”
Embed from Getty ImagesA full-time placekicker winning the MVP award seemed impossible at the time. Especially considering the other finalists included Dan Fouts and Marcus Allen. Moseley beat Fouts by two votes out of the 79 votes cast to win the 1982 NFL MVP award. Mark tells us how he found out that he was the NFL Most Valuable Player.
“On Friday, Coach Gibbs came up to our team meeting. He came in and said, guys, I want to make an announcement. He says they just named Mark as the NFL MVP this year, and the team went ballistic. You know, they went crazy.”
Just imagine how much fun that must have been to be in that team meeting and join in on that celebration.
Only Kicker to Win NFL MVP
Moseley remains the only full-time kicker to win The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award. Paul Hornung also won the award and kicked, but he was also a Hall of Fame-caliber running back for the Packers. Lou Groza kicked and won the Sporting News MVP in the 1950s, but he was also an outstanding offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns and made nine Pro Bowls. Mark Moseley talked about his unique achievement as the only full-time placekicker to be named MVP on our football history podcast.
“It’s never happened since and probably won’t ever happen again, more than likely. It’s just that the year, the way it went with the strike and our team was young. We were just getting going. Our offense hadn’t kicked into gear yet, and they just needed what I could do, which was make field goals under pressure. That year against the Cardinals, I kept my streak going, we beat them 12-7, and I scored all the points in that game.”
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