All-Time Greatest Super Bowl MVPs
Don Banks, SI.com
Thirty-five players have won or shared the MVP award in the first 39 Super Bowls, and there's not a one of them whose shining moment on the game's grandest stage wasn't memorable in any number of ways. But here are the individual performances that we'll still be recalling and measuring by in the next 40 chapters of the NFL's annual extravaganza.
Here are the 10 most memorable, most fame-inspiring Super Bowl MVP performances in history, from "Joe Willie" Namath, to "Joe Cool'' Montana, to Tom Brady's modern-day heroics:
10. Larry Csonka, Dolphins, RB, SB VIII
Csonka was the battering ram of a dominating Dolphins running game, producing a then-record 145 yards rushing on 33 bruising carries in Miami's 24-7 win over Minnesota. The Dolphins ran so effectively that quarterback Bob Griese attempted just seven passes all day. Csonka scored on short runs of 2 and 5 yards, and consistently carried Vikings defenders on his back.
9. Tom Brady, Patriots, QB, SB XXXVI
Brady's rags-to-riches story was still fresh when he stepped to the fore and led New England to its dramatic 20-17 upset of heavily favored St. Louis. Brady won the MVP despite just 145 yards passing and one touchdown, largely because of his other-worldly cool 5-of-6 performance on the Patriots' game-winning field goal drive in the final 90 seconds.
8. Marcus Allen, Raiders, RB, SB XVIII
Allen's running always looked as smooth and effortless as a cheetah's, and against the Redskins he was in the rarest of forms, sliding and gliding his way to a then-record 191 yards rushing in the Raiders' 38-9 blowout of Washington. His two third-quarter touchdowns sealed the deal, with his 74-yard reverse-field run easily becoming the signature moment of his career.
7. Steve Young, 49ers, QB, SB XXIX
Forty-nine points by the 49ers. Perfect, right? And so too was Young's record six touchdown passes against San Diego, breaking by one the Super Bowl record held by the legend he struggled to replace in San Francisco, Joe Montana. Young shredded the Chargers for 325 yards passing and led the 49ers with 49 yards rushing, earning his one and only Super Bowl ring.
6. Joe Montana, 49ers, QB, SB XXIV
Montana became the Super Bowl's greatest single performer ever, claiming his unprecedented third MVP honor in a 55-10 rout of Denver. He threw for what was then a game-record five touchdown passes, as he led San Francisco to its fourth title in a nine-year span. The 49ers were machine-like, scoring two touchdowns in each of the four quarters.
5. Desmond Howard, Packers, SB XXXI
Without his one-of-a-kind performance against New England in the Superdome, Howard would have been remembered as the failed 1992 first-round pick of the Washington Redskins. But the former Heisman winner instead became the only special teams MVP in Super Bowl history, totaling more than 250 yards in returns, including a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown in the second half.
4. John Elway, Broncos, QB, SB XXXIII
Isn't it every player's dream to win the Super Bowl and its MVP award and then ride off into retirement on the game's ultimate high note? Elway did it, leading the Broncos to a second consecutive championship in his 16th and final NFL season. His 336 yards passing was instrumental in putting down the high-flying Falcons, 34-19.
3. Lynn Swann, Steelers, WR, SB X
In our mind's eye, we will always see Swann's graceful and acrobatic catches against Dallas in slow motion, as he looked the ball all the way into his hands even while draped by a defender. Swann's four-catch, 161-yard performance, which included the game-winning 64-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, went a long way toward defining his Hall of Fame career.
2. Doug Williams, Redskins, QB, SB XXII
Williams' watershed showing buried the shell-shocked Broncos beneath an avalanche of points and passing yards in the second quarter, as he threw for a record four touchdowns to turn a 10-0 first-quarter deficit into a 35-10 lead in the span of just 18 offensive snaps. He finished with 340 yards passing, and remains the only black quarterback to win the Super Bowl.
1. Joe Namath, Jets, QB, Super Bowl III
Never in the history of sports has one athlete gotten more mileage out of one legendary performance than Namath did with his MVP turn against the Colts in January 1969. With his pre-game "guarantee'' of victory, and then his delivery of the biggest upset in pro football annals, Namath established the AFL's validity and became a pop culture icon in a day.
