Brett Favre, 1997 MVP
Favre and Barry Sanders shared the award, but it should have gone exclusively to the Lions running back, who rushed for 2,053 yards, then the second-highest single-season total of all time. Sanders’ 2,358 yards from scrimmage broke Marcus Allen’s 12-year-old record. Favre went 13-3 with the league’s fifth-best scoring defense, but Sanders dragged a less talented Lions team to a 9-7 record and the playoffs.