10 Forgotten Sports MVPs
Basketball's MVP race is heating up. As we count down the days until we find out the winner, we decided to go back in time and pay our respects to some of the forgotten Most Valuable Players in all of sports.
To keep the monsters of confusion that lurk under our beds away, we've narrowed this list down to four professional sports: football, hockey, baseball and basketball.
Why did we choose to go that route? Simply put, each one of those leagues gives out an MVP award at the end of the season.
The names you're going to see in this slideshow are ones who aren't household names. Unlike Mike Trout or Peyton Manning, these MVPs have been swept away by the tumultuous cultural winds we're exposed to on a yearly basis in sports.
Here now are the 10 most forgotten MVPs in sports.
Shaun Alexander: NFL, 2005
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Many will forget that Shaun Alexander is still the leading rusher in Alabama history. A powerhouse tailback for the Crimson Tide from 1996 to 1999, Alexander registered 727 rushing attempts during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.
When he got to the professional ranks at the turn of the millennium, he was drafted 19th overall by the Seattle Seahawks.
Starting in 2001, Alexander found a way to peel off five seasons in row with over 1,000 rushing yards. It turns out his style of running in college was a great fit for the NFL.
Alexander reached his peak in 2005. Winning the NFL's MVP award, he ran for 1,880 yards and scored 28 total touchdowns that season.
The Seahawks rode that valiant effort to the Super Bowl. Despite falling short, Alexander's performance, combined with strong offensive line play, was what helped ignite that roster in the first place.
Right after that extraordinary crusade, Alexander's production began to dwindle. History may look back with confused lenses, but when you factor in that No. 37 already had 2,444 carries under his belt—including the work he endured at Alabama—it's not hard to see why that dip in production began to take place.
It also should be noted that battling through a foot injury and losing a big part of the offensive line didn't exactly help Alexander flourish.
Unless you're a Seahawks fan, history tends to forget Alexander's MVP run because of that sudden drop-off. That's really unfortunate considering he was such an important asset to that franchise.
Terry Pendleton: MLB, 1991
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Before Chipper Jones became a household name in Atlanta, the Braves had Terry Pendleton manning third base.
Pendleton had spent seven years with the St. Louis Cardinals prior to making his way over to the Braves. His time with the Cardinals wasn't staggering numbers-wise. He batted over .300 once with St. Louis—during his rookie year, when he registered 262 at-bats.
Where Pendleton made his butter was in the hits department. Five of the seven seasons he played in St. Louis, he wound up with over 150 hits.
Knowing all of this, it would have been rather difficult to find someone who would have told you, "Terry Pendleton will win the National League's MVP award." But that's exactly what happened during his first season in Atlanta.
Batting .319 with 22 home runs, 86 RBI and 187 hits, Pendleton came out of what felt like nowhere and walked away with the NL MVP hardware in 1991.
He followed that season up with another big one in 1992 before his numbers began to trend back down to the level they were at with the Cardinals.
There's no doubt that Pendleton was an important part of the Braves roster during the early '90s. With one MVP trophy and three Gold Gloves, he also was an under-appreciated player during his heyday.
Jose Theodore: NHL, 2001-02
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Starting in 2003, every player who has walked away with the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy—the league's version of an MVP award—has been an offensive player.
In fact, since Bobby Orr won the award in 1972, only one defensive player—Chris Pronger—and two goalies have been credited with the award.
One of those goaltenders was Jose Theodore.
Going full-on beast mode in the midst of the 2001-02 NHL season, Theodore managed to capture the Hart Memorial Trophy. But how did he achieve such a monumental task?
In a comparison piece examining the similarities between current Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price and Theodore's MVP season, Matt Larkin of The Hockey News gabbed about a perfect trifecta of reasons for the victory.
It came down to the NHL not having a 100-point scorer that season, Theodore's ability to carry a "weak offensive team" to the playoffs and the immense worth he brought in terms of "point shares"—an advanced statistic provided by Hockey-Reference.com that evaluates one's value.
Before Theodore, Dominik Hasek was the last goalie to win the NHL's Hart Memorial Trophy. Since Theodore, no one at that position has enjoyed it. But who knows, maybe Price will change all of that in 2015.
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Ken Caminiti: MLB, 1996
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Major League Baseball in the '90s will go down as one of the most fascinating decades in all of sports. Dubbed the "Steroid Era," this was a time when balls were being crushed out of parks all across this great country and fans couldn't get enough of it.
One of those steroid users was the late ex-San Diego Padres slugger Ken Caminiti. In a spellbinding article, Caminiti admitted he was an abuser of the juice to Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci.
But unlike a lot of apologetic users, Caminiti didn't think it was even an issue. The former National League MVP said he had "made a ton of mistakes" over the years. He followed that up by adding, "I don't think using steroids is one of them."
In 1996, he went out and crushed 40 home runs to go along with 130 RBI and a .326 batting average. Those numbers propelled him to the MVP trophy.
Even after he told the world he juiced, Caminiti's MVP season still gets lost in all of the other MLB happenings of that time period.
Mark Moseley: NFL, 1982
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This isn't a case of us trying to pull the wool over your eyes. A place-kicker actually won the NFL's MVP award way back in 1982.
To help us paint a better picture of the situation, Ethan Trex—who was writing for Grantland at the time—wrote about Mark Moseley's rise to glory.
In the middle of a season that was abbreviated thanks to the perils of a labor strike, Moseley somehow won the NFL's biggest prize. "The abbreviated season lent extra gravity to each game, and Moseley kept getting chances to bail out the Skins’ scuffling offense," Trex explained.
Moseley connected on 20 of 21 field-goal attempts. His 95.2 percent average was the best in the league. And as Trex went on to say, "He had been an ace in the clutch, he had a record-breaking streak, and his team had been successful."
This man is a dream when it comes to NFL trivia. Do you know how many people you could stump by asking if a kicker had ever been named the NFL's MVP?
When all of that place-kicker pizazz finally dissipated, the world was left with hope. Too bad no kicker has won the award since.
Barry Larkin: MLB, 1995
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Barry Larkin was a fabulous baseball player. His Hall of Fame induction in 2012 is indicative of that.
However, from a media perspective, Larkin never received the same coverage or praise that some of the other shortstops got years later. As a matter of fact, people outside of Cincinnati may not even know Larkin won the NL MVP award in 1995.
That was a pivotal year for Larkin's already prominent career.
The season he became MVP, Larkin hit 15 home runs, knocked in 66 RBI, stole 51 bases and batted .319. Thanks to that well-rounded season, the Reds were able to get back into the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Just think, the year after he won that award, Ken Caminiti took home the exact same trophy.
Brian Sipe: NFL, 1980
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Can you name the one Cleveland Browns quarterback who won an MVP award? Here's a hint: It's not Otto Graham or Bernie Kosar.
The answer is Brian Sipe.
Yes, Brian Sipe. He was the quarterback of the Browns from 1974 to 1983. And to this day, Sipe still leads the Browns in career passing yards and interceptions.
His career wasn't remarkable, but somehow Sipe enjoyed MVP honors in 1980. Passing for a career-high 30 touchdowns and 4,132 yards, Sipe helped the Browns win 11 games that year.
Sipe was the on-field leader of the famous "Kardiac Kids" team that constantly gave fans anxiety in the city of Cleveland. That squad was revered for the insanely close finishes it encountered at the end of games.
It sure was an exciting year to be a Browns fan in 1980. I mean, come on, the franchise had an MVP quarterback under center.
That little shaving of hope is a far cry from all of the pain Browns fans have endured in recent times. Maybe that dismay is why Sipe has become another forgotten MVP.
Dave Cowens: NBA, 1972-73
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It's rare that a guy who's in the Hall of Fame gets forgotten about in terms of MVP winners. Dave Cowens, who made a living in the paint with the Boston Celtics, is an exception.
Historically, the NBA has been a superstar league driven by superb players. Not to say Cowens wasn't great—he was—but in terms of cultural appeal, he never was on the level of Larry Bird, Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson.
Cowens became the recipient of the NBA's MVP award at the conclusion of the 1972-73 season. Averaging 20.5 points and 16.2 rebounds per game, the Celtics center was a pivotal reason why the club finished 68-12.
When he retired from the Celtics in 1980, the always-intense Cowens had an MVP decoration hanging over his shoulder and two NBA titles to go along with it. He won't be remembered like Bill Russell and Bird—two Celtics legends—but what he achieved during that era was huge nonetheless.
Bert Jones: NFL, 1976
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Bert Jones is sort of like Andrew Luck in a way. Both men were tasked with replacing a legend.
When longtime Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas was shipped off to the San Diego Chargers in 1973, the front office replaced him in the draft with Jones.
Jones never put up crazy numbers like Luck has—times were different—but he did manage to snag an MVP award for his efforts during the 1976 season. That was the year the 6'3" QB threw for a league-best 3,104 yards and 24 touchdowns.
The Colts finished 11-3 behind Jones' performance before getting creamed 40-14 in the divisional round of the playoffs at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Because of guys like Unitas, Peyton Manning, Jim Harbaugh and now Andrew Luck, Jones' name has been pushed into obscurity by casual NFL fans. That's terrible when you sit back and analyze it.
Not only did he have a solid run at quarterback for the Colts, but he was also one of the top players in franchise history.
Kevin Mitchell: MLB, 1989
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With 14 plate appearances to his credit, Kevin Mitchell started his MLB career off with the New York Mets in 1984. But it wasn't until two years later that he really got to swing a bat.
After a few years with the Mets and a brief stop with the San Diego Padres, Mitchell found a home with the San Francisco Giants.
The Bay Area is the one place where he took his skills and let them rip.
In 1989 he went bonkers, cracking 47 home runs and 125 RBI, finishing with a .291 average. Those achievements helped Mitchell nab the NL MVP.
That '89 season was like nothing we'd seen before. Prior to that year, when he slugged an outstanding .635, Mitchell had never hit more than 19 home runs.
Behind the powers of his commanding bat, the Giants made a World Series push. Though they fell short in the earthquake-laden '89 World Series to their Bay Area rivals, the Oakland Athletics, Mitchell's efforts were vital to that team's success.
Unless noted otherwise, all game scores, stats and information courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.
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