NFL

Aaron Rodgers wins NFL MVP for fourth time

By Sports Desk February 10, 2022

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been named as the NFL MVP for the fourth time in his glittering career.

Rodgers was confirmed as the MVP for the second successive season at the NFL Honours ceremony in Los Angeles on Thursday. He was not in attendance, choosing instead to spend his week playing golf at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. 

He becomes the first player to win back-to-back MVPs since Peyton Manning achieved the feat in 2009.

It follows another hugely impressive season for Rodgers, one which saw him lead the Packers to an NFL-best 13-4 record and the top seed in the NFC.

However, the season ended in more playoff disappointment for Rodgers as the Packers were upset by the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the postseason.

That prompted more speculation about his future, Rodgers having entered 2021 after a tumultuous offseason in which made clear a desire to part with the Packers and skipped their pre-training camp preparations.

Despite his play on the field, Rodgers' 2021 campaign was partly defined by controversy after a positive coronavirus test revealed misleading statements about his vaccination status, while his continued spread of misinformation regarding vaccines has unquestionably damaged his reputation.

His on-field play still draws admiration, however. Rodgers finished the regular season with 37 passing touchdowns to just four interceptions, giving him the best touchdown to interception ratio in the NFL. Among quarterbacks with 200 passing attempts, only Justin Herbert (2.30) threw a lower percentage of interceptable passes than Rodgers (2.36).

No quarterback delivered more throws that resulted in a first down than Rodgers, who did so on 40.1 per cent of his attempts, while he was second in passer rating on third down (112.2) behind Kyler Murray (118.5) among quarterbacks with at least 50 attempts in that situation.

The combination of his continued brilliance and apparently more amiable relations with the franchise hierarchy may lead to Rodgers staying in Green Bay for at least one more year despite the disappointing finish, the Packers still likely his best hope of adding a second Lombardi Trophy to his growing collection of MVPs.

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