After producing stat sheets overflowing with numbers, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees walked away with the Associated Press 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.Brees was only the second QB in the history of the NFL to pass over 5,000 yards in a season when he finished with 5,069 just 15 shy of Dan Marino’s record of 5,084, a record that is nearly a quarter of a century old.
Although the Saints finished 8-8 this season, Brees led the league in attempts (635) and completions (413) and connected for 34 TD passes while recording an impressive 96.2 rating.
Brees captured 22 of the 50 votes while the Colts’ QB Peyton Manning and Vikings’ RB Adrian Peterson tied for second with 9 votes each. Manning had already won the AP NFL MVP vote earlier in the week.
Brees joins Manning and other AP winners this year including NFL Coach of the Year Falcons’ Mike Smith, NFL Rookie of the Year Falcons’ Matt Ryan and the Steelers’ James Harrison NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
The closest and most anticipated race thus far has been the NFL Coach of the Year vote. In a neck-to-neck finish, Smith edged out another rookie head coach, Miami Dolphins’ Tony Sparano 23 ½ to 22 ½.