The Associated Press and the NFL have reached a deal to announce all of the annual AP awards on NFL Network, culminating in the Most Valuable Player being announced on Super Bowl Sunday.
Although we had heard talk in the industry of trying to set up an awards show similar to those in other sports, NFL Network will instead have award announcements every day from Monday, January 31 through Super Bowl Sunday. Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year will all be announced on NFL Network during Super Bowl week.
The idea of giving more attention to the annual awards is a good one, although it may have made more sense to center the awards announcements around the Pro Bowl, rather than the Super Bowl. The MVP award, which will surely go to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, may get lost in the shuffle of Super Bowl Sunday. Other than the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, how many newspapers will find space in their sports sections for any more than a passing mention of Brady’s MVP on the Monday after the Super Bowl?
The order of awards announcements features the Comeback Player of the Year named on the Monday of Super Bowl week, Offensive Player of the Year Tuesday, Coach of the Year Wednesday, Pepsi Rookie of the Year (which isn’t actually an AP award) Thursday, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Friday, and Defensive Player of the Year Saturday.