NEW YORK, N. Nate Irving .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair. Mannings record-setting season earned him The Associated Press NFL MVP award Saturday night in a landslide. No other player has won more than three. Denvers record-setting quarterback, who threw for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards in leading the Broncos to the AFCs best record, earned 49 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. New England quarterback Tom Brady got the other vote. Manning won his other MVPs with Indianapolis in 2003, 04, 08 and 09. He also was the runner-up last season to Adrian Peterson. "I am humbled by this recognition and grateful to my family, (Broncos owner) Pat Bowlen, John Elway, John Fox and the entire Denver Broncos organization, and of course, my coaches and my teammates," Manning said in a prepared video acceptance speech. He was not on hand as he gets ready for Sundays Super Bowl against Seattle. "Now, I sent a couple of guys over there tonight to pick up the trophy on my behalf: my father Archie and my son Marshall. Thank you very much and God bless you." Archie Manning, holding his grandson Marshall in his arms, accepted the award from two more MVPs, Joe Montana and Aaron Rodgers. Manning still trails several Hall of Famers for total MVPs in their sport. Wayne Gretzky won nine NHL MVPs, Barry Bonds owns seven in baseball, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six in the NBA. Manning also took the APs Offensive Player of the Year award for the second time. Elway accepted the Offensive Player award on Mannings behalf. "I can say I have never seen a better year played by a quarterback than Peyton Manning," said Elway, a Broncos executive who won the MVP award in 1987. "To see what he did this year, it was truly amazing." Manning received 33 votes for the offensive player honour. He also was runner-up last year to Peterson for the award. This time, running back LeSean McCoy of Philadelphia was second with 10 votes, followed by Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles with four. Carolina grabbed two major awards, with Ron Rivera winning AP NFL Coach of the Year and linebacker Luke Kuechly voted top defensive player. Rivera engineered the Panthers turnaround from a 7-9 record to 12-4, the NFC South title and a first-round playoff bye. Kuechly keyed a defence that allowed 241 points, less than every team except NFC champion Seattle. "I had no idea," he said of adding the award to the top defensive rookie honours he got last season. "You look at the list of guys: Robert Mathis, a sack master, a guy that forced a lot of fumbles. And obviously, everybody knows about Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas. Those guys are both studs." Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy and Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson were the top rookies for 2013. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers took the Comeback Player of the Year award at the NFL Honors show. Riveras fine work in his third season in charge in Carolina brought him 21 1/2 votes. That outdistanced Kansas Citys Andy Reid, who got 13 1/2 votes. In his first year with the Chiefs, Reid took them from 2-14 to 11-5 and an AFC wild-card berth. "I do feel a lot of pride because it has been a long journey, but it also was a part of the process," Rivera said. "Just like us getting to where we are winning 12 games was part of the process. We started, the team was 2-14 before I got there and we went to 6-10 and then 7-9, and this year we broke through at 12-4. It was part of the process of growing and developing." Rivera is the second Panthers coach to win the award. Dom Capers was AP Coach of the Year in 1996, Carolinas second season in the NFL. All-Pro Kuechly received 19 votes, ahead of Indianapolis All-Pro linebacker Mathis, who earned 11 1/2. Kuechly was credited with 96 tackles, four interceptions, two sacks, eight passes defenced, and was a presence from sideline to sideline on the NFLs No. 2 unit. A second-round pick (61st overall) from Alabama, Lacy was a key performer in the Packers offence, particularly when star quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sidelined for seven games. He rushed for 1,178 yards on 284 carries (4.1 average), with 11 touchdowns. He also had 35 receptions. That was good enough for 35 votes. "Im comfortable where I am, and my teammates believe in me, and they make me feel comfortable, so Im able to play the way Im capable of playing," said Lacy, who beat out San Diego wide receiver Keenan Allen, who received 12 votes. Richardson, the 13th overall pick in Aprils draft on a selection acquired when New York traded star cornerback Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay, won a close race over Buffalo linebacker Kiko Alonso. Richardson received 23 votes; Alonso, a second-round choice (46th overall), got 19. Often double-teamed as the season wore on, Richardson made 42 tackles and had 3 1/2 sacks. He clogged the running lanes so effectively that the Jets ranked third against the run this season. "Im surprised," Richardson said of beating Alonso and Arizona safety Tyrann Mathieu, who got two votes. "Kiko and Tyrann most definitely had outstanding rookie years and it was a toss-up to me. Kiko made a lot of tackles and Tyrann made a lot of plays down the field. Unfortunately he got hurt, but it was a tight race." Richardson joked about the possibility of winning both awards — he scored two touchdowns as a fullback in goal-line situations. "Eddie Lacy beat me out there," Richardson said. "He had a few more touchdowns than I did." Rivers led the Chargers to a wild-card playoff spot with four straight victories to close out the schedule, giving them a 9-7 record. He led the league with a 69.5 completion rate and threw for 32 TDs against 11 interceptions. He received 13 votes in balloting so widespread that 12 players got votes. He was not at the awards show at Radio City Music Hall. Chicago cornerback Charles Tillman won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and accepted the honour with tears in his eyes. "As a Chicago Bear, this award has a special meaning to me," Tillman said. Montee Ball . -- Kevin Harvick had a nice send-off with Richard Childress Racing, winning his penultimate race with the team at Phoenix International Raceway. Mike Adams .500. It was an important win coming off a 2-5 road trip through American League East-rival cities Tampa Bay and Boston and because the Tigers are scheduled to pitch the nasty trifecta of Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander over the next three nights.PERTH, Australia -- Poland defeated Canada 2-1 at the Hopman Cup on Sunday, leaving Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard with a 1-1 group record at the eight-nation mixed team event. Grzegroz Panfil, a substitute for injured Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz, stunned the 11th-ranked Raonic 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the biggest upset of the day. Panfil holds the No. 288 position in the world rankings. In the womens match, fifth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska outlasted Bouchard 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2. The 19-year-old Canadian is ranked 32nd in the world. Raonic and Bouchard later teamed up for a 6-3, 5-7, 10-3 mixed doubles win over Radwanska and Panfil. The Czech Republic swept defending champion Spain 3-0 in the other tie Sunday. The Canadians opened the tournament with a win over Australia and will close out the round robin Thursday with a match against Italy. Panfil, 25, lost his only career match at the ATP level back in 2006. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., came out firing but was overwhelmed by the inspired underdog in 81 minutes. "I was sloppy at the start and then he closed out the match incredibly (well)," Raonic said. The 23-year-old Canadian won the Lionel Conacher Award earlier in the week as The Canadian Press male athlete of the year. Raonic is also gearing up for the Australian Open, which begins in two weeks time. "The time to be playing my best tennis is after January 13," he said. Louis Vasquez. "Of course I hate to lose, I want to win these kind of matches. But its not the end of the world. "This is also a training week for us and Im pleased to have three days now to work on things." Bouchard put in a solid effort against the more experienced Radwanska in a match that lasted two and a half hours. "I felt like I didnt play well in the first set, I lost a few games in a row," Bouchard said. "But I was happy to at least turn it around and make it a match. "I was a bit tired at end and she kept her level up all the way. It was encouraging that I was able to raise my game, but I need to keep that level more consistently." Bouchard saved three match points in the second-set tiebreaker before converting on her first set point to pull even. "I was trying to stay with her in the second set, but shes a tricky player and gets a lot of balls back," she said. "I missed a few of my finish shots. Its always disappointing to lose, I need to do some more work and get more consistency into my game. "But I did serve well and put pressure on her. I just hit a few too many mistakes." Bouchard won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award earlier this week as The Canadian Press female athlete of the year. ' ' '
