“This Is Like Karl Malone Over Michael Jordan”: Nick Wright Once Accused the NFL Community of Robbing Patrick Mahomes of an MVP Title

The 2020 NFL season served well for the former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as he ended up winning his third league MVP award. Many people actually saw it coming as Aaron truly was sensational throughout the season. As a result, he was able to garner 44 votes out of 50, winning the award with utter ease. Bills Josh Allen secured a distant second place with four votes, and Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes received only two votes.

Nick Wright, host of Fox Sports 1’s First Things First, was not happy about Rodgers winning the MVP award. Wright passionately voiced his views on ‘First Things First‘, and while doing so, he related the incident to the one when Karl Malone won the NBA MVP award in 1997 over second-place Michael Jordan.

Wright related Rodgers’ 2020 NFL MVP win over Patrick Mahomes to the Malone-Jordan situation in 1997

In Wright’s eyes, the clear winner of the 2020 MVP honors should have been Patrick Mahomes, and the final outcome angered him greatly. The Kansas City Chiefs were 15-1 in 2020 at one point and Nick used this stat to prove his point that nobody apart from Patrick deserved the MVP award more.

The star K.C. QB also churned out incredible numbers during the season. Despite that, Mahomes could not win the MVP honors. According to Wright, the situation was similar to when Hall of Fame Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone was named the 1996–97 NBA MVP over Michael Jordan. “This is Karl Malone [over Michael Jordan] in 1997. They’re stealing the MVP from my guy,” Nick had claimed.

While Jordan had guided his team to more wins and had averaged more points, Malone had averaged more rebounds. Eventually, Jordan received 957 votes, while Malone won award after getting as many as 986 votes. Even though Jordan thought Malone definitely deserved his award, this ignited the fire in him to work even harder. Michael then went on to win five MVP awards in his career, and it would be fair to say Mahomes also derived inspiration from a similar situation, eventually winning MVP honors last season.

2022-23, the season of Patrick Mahomes

The 2022 season was an outstanding one for the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, who finally won the second NFL MVP award of his career. He received 49 out of 50 votes and 490 points. Jalen Hurts, the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, secured the second spot with a total of 193 points. Josh Allen, the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, claimed third place, while Joe Burrow, the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, and Justin Jefferson, the wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings, followed closely behind.

In the 2022 NFL regular season, Mahomes guided the Chiefs to an impressive 14-3 record, securing the top seed in the AFC. Additionally, he was also able to clinch his second Super Bowl championship. Mahomes topped the league in both passing yards and touchdowns, earning him a well-deserved spot on the NFL’s First Team All-Pro.