One of the NFL’s biggest events is back. Before Super Bowl LVI kicks off at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, the NFL will get together on Thursday to celebrate the league’s best players at the NFL Honors award show at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. The show will air live Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and simulcast on ESPN+ and NFL Network. Keegan-Michael Key will host the show for the second time in its history. He first hosted the show in 2017 before Super Bowl LI.
“Every year, NFL Honors celebrates the NFL’s brightest stars and greatest moments, bringing the sports and entertainment worlds together for a special night,” Mark Quenzel, senior vice president, head of Content for NFL Media said in a statement. “We are thrilled to work with a new partner in ABC, ESPN and the Walt Disney Company to bring this annual event and the star power associated with it to even greater and higher levels than ever before.”
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NFL Honors feature the announcement of various awards such as Most Valuable Player, Comeback Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, which is considered the most prestigious award of the night. For MVP, Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is favored to win, which would make it the fourth time he has won the award. The Green Bay Packers quarterback finished the 2021 season with 4,115 yards, 37 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. However, Tom Brady, who just retired from the NFL, has a case to win his fourth MVP award as well. The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback led the NFL in passing with 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns.
NFL Honors will also announce the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022. In December, the finalists were announced, and some of the players who have a chance to make the class are Jared Allen, LeRoy Butler, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Patrick Willis, Bryant Young, Sam Mills and DeMarcus Ware. Back in October, PopCulture.com spoke to Ware about his chances of being in the Hall of Fame.
“You know, dreams do come true,” Ware told PopCulture. “When you think about etching your name in history, in not just professional football, but in a state to where you didn’t grow up there, but you had such a big impact in the state of Texas, which was awesome. And then also to sort of rewind the tape, the Alabama Hall of Fame, that was big — I’m from Auburn, Alabama, and being nominated for the Alabama Hall of Fame. I started thinking to myself that, you know what, you did something right, all that hard work that you put in, you can start seeing yourself benefit from all of those things. And it was just cool. I mean, it’s still surreal to think about, you are part of history now. So when somebody starts looking at Texas history, Alabama history, you’re part of that.”
