For 23 straight seasons after Kurt Warner’s 1999 campaign, no NFL MVP finished the year by also hoisting a Lombardi Trophy and a Super Bowl MVP plaque! MVPs posted historic regular seasons, grabbed headlines and trophies, then watched February glory slip away. The “MVP curse” became so real that people genuinely wondered if being crowned the league’s best player somehow jinxed your Super Bowl chances. Patrick Mahomes shattered that narrative in 2022, becoming the first player of the 21st century to pair an AP NFL MVP with a Super Bowl MVP, ending the longest drought this rare double has ever seen.
Inside the NFL’s Rarest Active Club
Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kurt Warner on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Only seven players in NFL history have ever completed the double of winning league MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season: Bart Starr (1966), Terry Bradshaw (1978), Joe Montana (1989), Emmitt Smith (1993), Steve Young (1994), Kurt Warner (1999), and Patrick Mahomes (2022). That list spans six decades of Super Bowl football and averages roughly one player per decade. With more than 50 Super Bowls and dozens of MVP campaigns in the books, the fact that only seven seasons end with the same man ruling both the regular season and the NFL’s biggest stage makes this club feel almost mythical.
Why are MVP Seasons So Rarely Ended in a Super Bowl MVP?
Feb 9, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; The MVP and Vince Lombardi trophies at the Super Bowl LX winning head coach and most valuable player press conference at Moscone Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The numbers point to a brutal truth: most MVPs hit a wall before they can rule the Super Bowl. In a league with around 60 Super Bowls and only seven dual winners, roughly 88% of MVPs fail to finish the job with a Super Bowl MVP in their award year. Single-elimination playoffs are designed to create chaos—one bad game ends everything. Defensive coordinators have all season to study your tendencies. And the weight of expectations turns MVPs into the biggest targets on the field. Teams game-plan specifically to stop you, so that means they’re bringing their absolute best when it matters most.
Bart Starr – The Template for Total Control
FILE – Retired Packer great Bart Starr smiles at the crowd during Dick Cheney’s visit to Johnsonville Sausage Friday, September 10, 2004, in Sheboygan Falls, Wis.
Bart Starr set the blueprint for this feat before the Super Bowl era even had a name, claiming league MVP in 1966 and then grabbing Super Bowl I MVP as he led Vince Lombardi’s Packers over the Chiefs. He followed that by winning Super Bowl MVP again in the 1967 season and remains the only quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to three consecutive league championships from 1965 to 1967. Starr’s calm precision in big games created the template: win the league, win the title, and be the best player when everyone is watching.
Bradshaw and Montana – Dynasties at Full Power
NFL legendary quarterback and Fox NFL analyst and co-host Terry Bradshaw sipped some bourbon, cracked many jokes and greeted fans during Family Cookin’ with Chef Noah Hester at the Fork & Flask stage on the first day of Bourbon & Beyond Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.
Terry Bradshaw joined the club back in 1978, when he captured both the league MVP and Super Bowl XIII MVP honors, throwing for 318 yards and four touchdowns in a shootout against the Cowboys that rewrote Super Bowl passing records at the time. Joe Montana added another chapter for dynasties in 1989, pairing his league MVP with a Super Bowl XXIV MVP performance while steering the 49ers to a 55-10 demolition of the Broncos. For both men, the dual honors marked the peak of multi-title runs, where offensive systems, coaching, and star power all aligned perfectly.
Emmitt Smith – The Lone Running Back Invited In
Aug 2, 2025; Canton, OH, USA; Hall of Fame member Emmitt Smith enters the ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame-Class of 2025 enshrinement ceremonies at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Emmitt Smith’s 1993 season stands alone for non-quarterbacks: he is the only running back ever to win both league MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same year. During that season, he rushed for 1,486 yards and nine touchdowns, helping the Cowboys recover from an 0-2 start to eventually claim the Super Bowl. Emmitt Smith’s relentless performance against the Bills earned him the game’s top individual honor. In a club dominated by quarterbacks, Smith’s presence underscores just how hard it is for any non-QB to control a season from September to February in a way voters simply can’t ignore.
Steve Young and Kurt Warner – The 1990s Explosion
Feb 2, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; AFC coach Steve Young during practice at the NFL Flag Fieldhouse at Moscone Center South Building. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The mid-1990s produced back-to-back offensive showcases that both ended in dual MVP glory. Steve Young’s 1994 season culminated in Super Bowl XXIX, where he threw a record six touchdown passes for the 49ers and took home Super Bowl MVP honors, pairing it with his league MVP. Five years later, Kurt Warner’s 1999 “Greatest Show on Turf” campaign saw him win league MVP and then set a Super Bowl record with 414 passing yards in Super Bowl XXXIV, including a 73-yard game-winning strike to Isaac Bruce that sealed his Super Bowl MVP.
Patrick Mahomes – The Curse Breaker of 2022
Dec 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) passes against the Los Angeles Chargers during the fourth quarter at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
In 2022, Mahomes posted 5,250 passing yards and 41 touchdown passes, both league-leading marks that earned him his second AP NFL MVP. Playing through a high ankle sprain in Super Bowl LVII, he led Kansas City back from a 10-point halftime deficit against the Philadelphia Eagles! Mahomes engineered critical scoring drives in the fourth quarter and set up the game-winning field goal in a 38-35 victory that secured his second Super Bowl MVP. He became the first player since Warner in 1999—and the first in the 21st century—to pair an MVP season with a Super Bowl MVP.
The One Thing Brady Never Did
Feb 8, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Tom Brady waves before Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Tom Brady holds the all-time record with five Super Bowl MVP awards and seven Super Bowl victories, achievements that have fueled his status as the sport’s ultimate winner. Yet none of those five Super Bowl MVPs came in a season when he was also the AP NFL MVP. Brady won league MVP three times—in 2007, 2010, and 2017—but those seasons didn’t end with Super Bowl victories. The irony is quite striking: the quarterback who defined postseason excellence for two decades couldn’t thread the needle that Starr, Bradshaw, Montana, Smith, Young, Warner, and Mahomes managed in their singular best years.
What Mahomes’ Membership Really Means
Feb 9, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; The MVP trophy at the Super Bowl LX winning head coach and most valuable player press conference at Moscone Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Mahomes’ 2022 double didn’t just end a statistical drought; it reset the standard for what a truly dominant modern season looks like. In a league built for parity, where single-elimination playoffs chew up even legendary MVPs, joining this seven-man club signals that a player wasn’t just the best over 17 games, but also at the precise moment when the entire sport connected on one field. For future MVPs, Mahomes’ breakthrough offers both inspiration and a warning: the award may paint a target on your back, but history now shows the “curse” can be broken.
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Sources:
ESPN, Players to win league MVP, Super Bowl MVP in the same season, 27 January 2026
Wikipedia, AP NFL Most Valuable Player, 10 July 2016
Wikipedia, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, 6 August 2003
Wikipedia, Emmitt Smith, 4 December 2002
Wikipedia, Tom Brady, 12 October 2003
NPR, Patrick Mahomes is named the NFL’s 2022 Most Valuable Player, 9 February 2023
