Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs lifted the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl 57. Nobody was surprised who won MVP. Patrick Mahomes was the catalyst for the Chiefs comeback, leading to a 17-point fourth quarter that pushed his team past the Philadelphia Eagles. It follows a trend of the winning quarterback winning the Super Bowl MVP. However, it doesn't always work out that way. Some years, a very strange player wins the MVP.
Looking back at the collective 57 years of Super Bowl MVPs, there are definitely years that stand out. Sometimes, players find lightning in a bottle and legit become the best player on the field. Other times, decent players have the game of their life on the absolute biggest stage. It's not always stars who walk away with this trophy.
Let's take a look at some of the players who won the Super Bowl MVP but didn't exactly have a stellar career.
Honorable Mention: Chuck Howley — Super Bowl V
Chuck Howley is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, enshrined this season 50 years after his career ended. He wasn't a bad player by any stretch, but we have to put him on the list because it's pretty inexplicable that he won the MVP at all. He won the Super Bowl MVP for Super Bowl V, but that was all he won that day. His Dallas Cowboys lost the game to the Indianapolis Colts. It felt like the only losing MVP needed to be mentioned on the list.
5. Dexter Jackson, Super Bowl 37
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense dominated Super Bowl XXXVII. Someone on the defensive side of the ball definitely should have won the MVP. Dexter Jackson wasn't a terrible choice. Some would argue there are better choices, but Jackson did intercept Rich Gannon twice. He was the leader of the best offense in the league, and the Bucs made him look silly.
Whether Jackson was the right choice is not the point here. Jackson's career took a turn after the Super Bowl. He immediately became a free agent after winning the Super Bowl. He agreed to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he rescinded that agreement and signed with the Arizona Cardinals. Because of that decision, the Steelers drafted Troy Polamalu. It worked out pretty well for them.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals stint only lasted a short time despite signing a five year, $14 million deal in 2002. A bulging disc really derailed his career. After it happened in the 2004 offseason, he never returned to the Cardinals. He was cut in October, and he eventually returned to the Bucs.
Jackson would play for the Bengals before ending his career in the UFL. He had a ton of promise, and he was legitimately good in his Super Bowl performance, but the rest of his career left a ton to be desired.
4. Ottis Anderson, Super Bowl 25
Ottis Anderson will absolutely stand out when it comes to the running backs who won Super Bowl MVP. This was the infamous "wide right" Super Bowl that is engrained in the minds of any Buffalo Bills fan over the age of 40. What falls under the radar is Thurman Thomas, a superstar at the time, would have won the MVP if Scott Norwood didn't miss that field goal.
Anderson was a good enough running back himself. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and even a first-team All-Pro running back in 1979. However, he seemed to fall off pretty quickly after his 100-yard performance in the biggest game of his career.
Anderson was really good for years with the St. Louis Rams. He broke 1,000 yards five times before joining the New York Giants. His career didn't really hit the heights in the Big Apple (which was actually New Jersey). His stats are kind of head scratching. He had more seasons under 100 yards than he did over 1,000 with Big Blue.
Anderson is a good player. He had his moments in St. Louis. He's on this list because of how strange his time with the Giants was. After the Super Bowl, he had two more seasons before he called it quits. In those seasons, he had 141 yards rushing and 31 yards rushing. He was replaced by Rodney Hampton, and his career was basically over. He had this one final game at the end that reminded us of times before. As they say, he was able to turn back the clock.
3. Deion Branch, Super Bowl 39
Tom Brady won the Super Bowl six times with the New England Patriots. Twice, he wasn't named MVP. Julian Edelman won one, and Deion Branch won the other. Despite the Patriots being led by defensive-minded Bill Belichick, offensive players won all the MVPs. By far the least famous is Deion Branch.
Don't get us wrong, Brand was a good player in his time. However, you might be surprised to know that he never had a 1,000-yard season in his career. Never! He played in the league for 11 years. He obviously had that contract dispute after coming close to 1,000 yards (998 yards in 2005) that led to his trade to the Seattle Seahawks.
He didn't work out in Seattle, and he was back in New England by 2010. Brady always raved about the chemistry he had with Branch, and he might be one of the best receivers the Belichick-era Patriots ever drafted.
He still stands out as a Super Bowl MVP who isn't exactly Hall-of-Fame worthy. Branch will be a legend for the Patriots, but that's where it ends. He's now just the answer to the trivia question "who were the Super Bowl MVPs not named Tom Brady for the Patriots?".
2. Nick Foles, Super Bowl 52
Nick Foles is a great story; one of the best in the NFL. He goes down as one of the most unexpected Super Bowl MVPs in the league. There are plenty of backup quarterbacks who won the Super Bowl. Jeff Hostetler beat the Bills when Phil Simms missed the season with a foot injury. Earl Morrall was the real reason the Dolphins stayed undefeated in 1972. Doug Williams became the first black QB to win a Super Bowl after replacing Jay Schroeder. However, Nick Foles put up the best performance by any of the previous backups, one of which was his opponent in Super Bowl 52, Tom Brady.
Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown during the Philly Special, which will go down as one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. That day was magic, as it delivered the first Super Bowl in Philadelphia Eagles history. The city was alive, and it was all thanks to a QB who wasn't even supposed to take a snap in the game come early December. Carson Wentz went down, and Foles was more than ready for the job.
Foles entire career went everywhere. He actually started in Philadelphia and looked good at times, but he also looked really bad at other times. He was eventually traded to the Rams in the deal that sent Sam Bradford to Philly. He spent time in Kansas City before returning to Philly. Then, after his heroics, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He immediately got hurt, and he was never the same. He was traded to the Bears, where he competed with Mitch Trubisky (and lost, by the way).
Foles' career was average at best, but his peak was great. This game was manic. One of the best, winning quarterback performances we've ever seen. Yet, he never touched that performance again.
1. Malcolm Smith, Super Bowl 48
If you asked a fan who won the Super Bowl MVP for the Seattle Seahawks, many would know it was someone strange, but many couldn't name them. This, of course, was the time of the Legion of Boom. Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Bobby Wagner led this defense to victory on most nights. Yet, linebacker Malcolm Smith won the MVP for the Super Bowl.
Smith did have one of the biggest plays of the game. He took an interception 69 yards to the house. However, it was a completely dominating performance. Peyton Manning looked lost, and the Seahawks won the game 43-8. It's hard to pick an MVP for a blowout, but it is surprising the voters didn't go with one of the Seahawks many stars.
His career didn't exactly transcend into stardom after his MVP performance. Of course, he had a bigger profile. More people knew his name, and that probably got him his two-year $7 million deal when he signed with the Raiders.
After his two years with the Raiders, he was never a regular starter again. He bounced between the 49ers, Cowboys, Jaguars, and Browns before retiring after the 2021 season. Listen, say what you want about Smith, but worst Super Bowl MVP is still a Super Bowl MVP, and that can't be taken away.
