NEW ORLEANS — Peyton or Peterson, Peterson or Peyton.
The NFL’s most valuable player award for the 2012 season has drawn one of the most fervent discussions and healthy debates in years.
There are only 50 people, though, whose opinions count. The results of those 50 votes will be known Saturday night during the NFL Honors Awards Show at the Mahalia Jackson Theater.
Peyton Manning, the quarterback? Or Adrian Peterson, the running back?
It will be close.
“Peyton Manning, there’s no question in my eyes,” said Boomer Esiason, a former NFL quarterback who has an MVP vote.
Most of the buzz at the Super Bowl seems to lean toward Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings star who had a near-historic season after an unprecedented comeback from knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
And if Peterson is the MVP, the voters who gave him the league’s most prestigious award were expected to give the Broncos’ Manning the comeback player of the year award after he returned from neck surgeries that forced him to miss the entire 2011 season and get released — released! — by the Indianapolis Colts.
The Denver Post canvassed a sampling of voters Friday and found five votes for Manning, four for Peterson and one who split his vote between Manning and Peterson.
Former Broncos safety John Lynch has an MVP vote because he covers the league as an NFL analyst for Fox. Lynch gave his MVP vote to Manning and offensive player of the year and comeback player of the year votes to Peterson.
“It wasn’t a no-brainer for me,” Lynch said of his MVP choice. “Adrian had a phenomenal year, but what I did is I looked more at what is the essence of this award. The most valuable. Yeah, you can say Minnesota went 3-13 (in 2011), but I felt the day Peyton walked in the building the secretaries were better because Peyton Manning was there.”
Peterson has been more vocal about the MVP award. He has even guaranteed he would win it. His case is substantial, starting with his 2,097 yards rushing, the second-best total in NFL history. He missed the league record by only 8 yards.
Second, he rushed for 199 yards in a victory over the Green Bay Packers that lifted the Vikings to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth one year after they finished 3-13.
Peterson had 499 yards rushing through six games and a preposterous 1,598 yards in his final 10 games.
“Fair or not, the last impression is usually the strongest impression,” said one voter.
And third?
“Christian Ponder,” said not one but two MVP voters in starting their explanation as to why they voted for Peterson.
The feeling among Peterson voters is that he had less talent around him than Manning had with the Broncos. Ponder was a pedestrian quarterback who didn’t stop Minnesota opponents from loading up the box to stop Peterson. Denver’s defense ranked No. 2 in the league.
To repeat for emphasis, the votes were in before the Denver defense was torched on three long pass plays in the Broncos’ double-overtime playoff loss to Baltimore.
The case for Manning pretty much starts with the fact that he plays quarterback. Said one writer: “If Adrian Peterson rushes for 150 yards, it’s a great day. If Manning throws for 150 yards, it’s a bad day.”
Manning also had the second-best statistical season of his 15-year career — no easy trick considering he’s a four-time MVP.
After he was released by Indianapolis, Manning signed with the Broncos. He threw 37 touchdown passes and only 11 interceptions while leading them to a 13-3 record, including 11 consecutive wins.
“Four neck surgeries and he wound up as the Peyton Manning that we saw four, five, six years ago, when last year at this time we all wondered if he would be able to play again,” Esiason said. “People questioned whether his career had already ended. But his performance was miraculous.”
The voter who split his vote, giving half to Peterson and half to Manning? Jim Miller would have voted that way too.
“I think they both have to get it,” said Miller, a former Chicago Bears quarterback and now an NFL analyst for Sirius Radio. Miller doesn’t have an official MVP vote. “To me, what Peterson has accomplished is remarkable. When you think about this, they monitored his carries in the beginning of the year.
“And I have great respect for Peyton with the way he’s come back. He knows he’s not the same player. But you learn a lot about yourself when you come back from injuries like that. He’s got to change styles with your game, which is tough to do. But he’s done it.
“To me, this is an unusual year where both are deserving. They’ve given it to two guys before, haven’t they?”
The MVP award was shared in 1997 by Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre and Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders and in 2003 by Manning and Tennessee Titans QB Steve McNair.
It’s not easy for a running back to win the award. A quarterback has been named the league MVP in each of the past five seasons and in 10 of the past 12. The last running back so honored was LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers in 2006, when he set the touchdown record.
Peterson didn’t get the rushing record, but many voters may have considered it a special enough season.
“A great case can be made for both,” Lynch said. “I’m not going to argue or be upset by whoever gets it.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055, [email protected] or twitter.com/mikeklis
Crowning the best of the best
The race for the NFL MVP appears to be a two-man race between Denver’s Peyton Manning and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson:
Peterson’s case: 348 rushes for 2,097 yards, 12 TDs; 40 rec. for 217 yards, 1 TD
• Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, the second-best total of all time. He missed the 28-year-old single-season record by 8 yards. Peterson led the Vikings to a 10-6 record and the playoffs a year after they finished 3-13.
Manning’s case: 583 passes, 400 comp., 4,659 yards, 37 TDs, 11 Int.
• Manning had the second-best statistical season of his 15-year career coming back after missing last season because of four neck surgeries. He led the Broncos to an AFC-best 13-3 record.
NFL Honors Awards Show
What: The NFL will present the league’s top individual awards of the 2012 regular season. The Associated Press gathered 50 votes from members of the media. Votes had to be submitted before the playoffs began.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday (CBS)
Where: Mahalia Jackson Theater, New Orleans
Award categories and top candidates
MVP — Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning
Offensive player of the year — Peterson, Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Calvin Johnson
Defensive player of the year — J.J. Watt, Aldon Smith, Von Miller, Charles Tillman
Coach of the year — Bruce Arians, Chuck Pagano, Leslie Frazier
Offensive rookie of the year — Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson
Defensive rookie of the year — Luke Kuechly, Janoris Jenkins, Bobby Wagner
Mike Klis, The Denver Post
