Jan. 09 2010
New York- Peyton Manning continued his assault on the National Football League record book, winning an unprecidented fourth MVP award. Manning had been tied with Brett Farve for the old record of three MVPs.
Manning dominated the voting the way he has dominated defenses throughout his career. He received 39 1/2 votes with Drew Brees coming in a distant second with 7 1/2 votes. The other two were Philip Rivers of San Diego (2) and Brett Favre of Minnesota (1).
"I'm very humbled and grateful to be honored with this award and I really feel like it is a reflection of our team," Manning said.
The Colts were 14-0 when the decision was made to bench Manning (and preserve his health) in the second half of the game against the Jets. The Colts finished 14-2 to hold onto homefirled advantage in the playoffs.
"I have to believe that starting 14-0 and having seven comeback wins has a lot to do with this award coming our way, and I'm very grateful to all the players and the coaches and our fans, who were a big part of it. There were a number of other extremely deserving candidates."
Manning numbers were impresive, throwing for 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns.
"Just when you think you've seen his best, he improves upon it," said Colts coach Jim Caldwell. "This year is one of those in terms of when you look at his numbers and how he's been able to play consistently well over a long period of time. It's been remarkable.
"I think a lot of it has to do with his drive. He just has an innate sort of will to excel. He never gets bored with it. That, I think, is highly unusual."
Other all-time MVP leaders include: Wayne Gretzky (9), Barry Bonds (7) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6).
