NFL Awards 2015-2016: Announcement Date For MVP, Coach Of The Year, Rookies Of The Year And More

The top NFL MVP candidates are still alive in the playoffs, and the eventual winner could still be vying for a title when the award is finally handed out. The announcement for MVP, as well as the other major awards for the 2015 season, will be made at the 5th Annual NFL Honors on Feb. 6, which is the night before Super Bowl 50.

Leading the No.1 seed Carolina Panthers into the divisional playoffs, Cam Newton is the frontrunner to win the MVP award. He’s followed by Carson Palmer and Tom Brady, who also have their teams still alive in the postseason. There’s a good chance that one or both quarterbacks will be playing in the 2016 Super Bowl.

Recent history hasn’t been kind to MVP winners in the Super Bowl. Two years ago, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos faced the Seattle Seahawks after he won the award for the fifth time in his career. The veteran quarterback was intercepted twice against Seattle as Denver lost 43-8 in one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history.

Manning also won the MVP award for the 2009 season when he and the Indianapolis Colts lost to the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl. Two years earlier, MVP Tom Brady and the New England Patriots had their undefeated season ended by the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

Kurt Warner was the last NFL MVP to win the Super Bowl in the same season. In his second season with the St. Louis Rams, the quarterback threw 41 touchdown passes in the regular season before helping the team defeat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.

Other major awards include Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year. Announcing the major awards all at once on the night before the championship game makes the NFL different than any of the other major sports.

Neither the NBA nor MLB hand out their major awards at once, announcing them on separate days. The NBA makes their announcements during the postseason, but about a month before the NBA Finals. MLB makes their announcements in November well after the World Series has been decided.

The NFL Honors awards show will air on Feb. 6 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the score for Super Bowl XLVIII was 38-8. The correct score was 43-8.