Sports |

Mile High MVPs: Looking back at Colorado’s most valuable player award winners prior to Nikola Jokic

With Nikola Jokic selected as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, the Denver Nuggets center became just the eighth athlete in the history of Colorado’s four major professional sports teams to be named league MVP. Here’s a look at the previous seven:

Avalanche MVPs

Since the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver and became the Avalanche in 1995, the Avs have had two Hart Trophy winners as NHL MVP. A look at their MVP seasons:

Joe Sakic

Year: 2001

Statistics: Sakic led the Avs with 54 goals, 64 assists, 118 points and a plus-45 rating. He played in all 82 regular-season games before leading Colorado to its second Stanley Cup.

About Sakic’s MVP season: Sakic had just two goals in the Avs’ first 13 games before going on a tear, finishing with two hat tricks and six other multiple-goal games. Sakic reached 50 goals in the third-to-last game of the season before adding two goals in each of his last two. He finished second in NHL goal-scoring to Florida’s Pavel Bure (59) and second in scoring to Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr (120) and edged Jagr and Penguins teammate Mario Lemieux in Hart Trophy voting. Sakic also won the 2001 Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award) as league MVP voted on by the players, and the Lady Byng Trophy which goes to the player with excellent play combined with gentlemanly conduct.

Big moment: Sakic had eight goals in his last four games, beginning with a hat trick on April 2, 2001, in a 5-3 win against Edmonton. He scored the only goal in a 1-1 tie with Anaheim on April 4 and added two goals in each of his last two games at Detroit (4-3 loss) and at Minnesota (4-2 win).

Quote: “When I look back when my career is over, this is a time I will cherish … I’ve always tried to be consistent. This year everything fell into place. The way the team played, it made all of us look good. You only get to these events if you’re on a solid, quality team. To go all the way and win the Stanley Cup, that’s all we wanted.” — Sakic at the NHL awards ceremony on June 14, 2001, in Toronto.

Peter Forsberg

Year: 2003

Statistics: Forsberg led the NHL with 77 assists and 106 points despite missing seven games to injury. He tied teammate Milan Hejduk, who led the league with 50 goals, with a plus-52 rating. Forsberg had a team-high eight points in seven playoff games.

About Forsberg’s MVP season: He had an incredible 29 multiple-point games, including 14 of three points or more. Forsberg had five assists in an 8-1 victory at Chicago on March 22, 2003, and six points (goal, five assists) in a 7-3 win on Jan. 1, 2003. In the regular-season finale on April 6, he had a goal and two assists in a 5-2 victory over St. Louis. Forsberg beat out Vancouver center Markus Naslund, a fellow 29-year-old Swede, and New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur in Hart Trophy voting. He also won the 2001 Art Ross Trophy (league scoring leader) and the Bud Light Plus-Minus Award (shared with Hejduk).

Big moment: He had two hat tricks, including Feb. 9, 2003, against Calgary at the Pepsi Center. Forsberg had just five shots but scored three of the Avs’ first four goals en route to a 4-2 victory. More of a play-maker than a scorer, Forsberg had three games in 2002-03 where he scored on his only shot.

Quote: “Skilled, talented, nasty, dirty. If (Forsberg) wanted to be mean, dirty, nasty, he could do that or if he wanted to kill you one-on-one, score a great goal — he could do that, too.” — fellow 2014 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Mike Modano

— Mike Chambers, The Denver Post

Broncos MVPs

Since the Associated Press introduced the NFL Most Valuable Player award in 1957, the Broncos have been represented three times: Quarterback John Elway in 1987, running back Terrell Davis in 1998 and quarterback Peyton Manning in 2013. A look at their MVP seasons:

John Elway

Statistics: Elway completed 224-of-410 passes (54.6%) for 3,198 yards, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 83.4 rating. He scored four rushing touchdowns.

About Elway’s MVP season: Elway was 8-3-1 in the regular season (four games were canceled because of a strike). His passer rating was a career high to that point and he had two fourth-quarter comebacks (wins over Chicago and New England). Including the playoffs, he had seven games with at least two touchdown passes. Elway got the MVP nod over San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice, who had 22 touchdown catches in 12 regular season games. The Broncos’ season ended with a 42-10 Super Bowl loss to Washington (14-of-38 for 257 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions).

Big moment: In the AFC championship game win over Cleveland, Elway was 14-of-26 passing for 281 yards, three touchdowns and one interception and rushed 11 times for 36 yards. Elway’s 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder with 10:59 remaining broke a 31-31 tie.

Quote: “I think he’s the best thing going. He’s the one guy who can beat you if nothing else is working for them. (Dan) Marino is great, but Marino can’t scramble around and beat you. Marino is not going to run 35 yards up the field to beat you.” — New England executive Dick Steinberg in January 1988.

Terrell Davis

Year: 1998

Statistics: Davis rushed 392 times for 2,008 yards and 21 touchdowns in the regular season and 78 times for 468 yards and three touchdowns in the playoffs.

About Davis’ MVP season: Davis posted the fourth-ever 2,000-yard season and his total currently ranks sixth all-time and remains one of only eight 2,000-yard seasons. In Week 2 against Dallas, he became the third player with two touchdown runs of at least 50 yards in the same quarter (63 and 59 yards in the first quarter). In Week 7 against Jacksonville, he became the third player to reach 1,000 yards in his first seven games. And he rushed for 178 yards in the season finale against Seattle after posting totals of 74, 88, 147 and 29 in the previous four games. In the playoffs, he had totals of 21 rushes-199 yards (Miami), 32-167 (New York Jets) and 25-102 (Atlanta).

Big moment: In the AFC title game win over the Jets, the Broncos trailed 10-0 early in the third quarter, but scored on five of their next seven possessions to win 23-10. Davis’ 31-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left in the third staked the Broncos to a 20-10 lead. His 32 rushing attempts were his most ever in a playoff game.

Quote: “(Davis) is not merely talented, he is unique. The man possesses size, power, vision, speed, acceleration, judgment, burst, toughness, composure, balance, poise and a sense of teamwork. In my estimation, he is in a class with Jim Brown and Walter Payton.” — Former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy in January 1999.

Peyton Manning

Year: 2013

Statistics: In a 13-3 regular season, Manning led the NFL in completions (450), attempts (659), passing yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55, still a single-season record). He had five touchdowns and three interceptions in three playoff games.

About Manning’s MVP season: In his second year with the Broncos, Manning started fast and never let up. He threw for 462 yards and seven touchdowns (no interceptions) in the opening-night win over Baltimore, had 16 touchdowns and no interceptions in Weeks 1-4, nine games of at least four touchdowns, eight games of at least 350 yards passing and completed at least 70% of his attempts in four games. The Super Bowl was a nightmare — two interceptions in a 43-8 loss to Seattle. Manning received 49 of the 50 MVP votes to win the award for the fifth time (still a record).

Big moment: In a 37-13 Week 16 win at Houston, Manning entered with 47 touchdown passes, three shy of tying New England’s Tom Brady (50 in 2007). He threw 36 yards to Demaryius Thomas, 10 and 20 yards to Eric Decker, and finally, 25 yards to Julius Thomas for the record-breaker.

Quote: “I’d say (it’s) a no-brainer right there. I’m just happy I never had to go against him this year. I’ve been beat by him several times. It was good to get a break.” — Former New York Jets coach Rex Ryan in February 2014.

— Ryan O’Halloran, The Denver Post

Nuggets MVPs

While Nikola Jokic is the first Denver Nuggets player to be named NBA MVP, he’s not the first player in the history of the franchise to win such an award. That honor belongs to former Denver Rockets forward Spencer Haywood, who was selected as the ABA MVP for the 1969-70 season. A look at his MVP season:

Spencer Haywood

Year: 1970

Statistics: Much like Jokic, the 6-foot-8 power forward was an ironman for Denver, leading the ABA in scoring (30.0 ppg), rebounding (19.5 rpg) and games played (84) as the Rockets claimed the league’s Western Division title (51-33) despite starting the season 2-11. The precocious 20-year-old rookie wasn’t just productive, he was efficient with a league-best 17.1 win shares and 28.0 PER in his lone ABA season.

About Haywood’s MVP season: Prohibited from entering the NBA draft after his sophomore season at Detroit Mercy (by way of Trinidad State College) due to his age, Haywood was granted entry into the ABA as a “hardship case.” He showed he belonged almost immediately. A year removed from leading the United States to a gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, Haywood took the ABA by storm playing alongside veteran point guard Larry Jones, authoring one of the greatest individual seasons in professional basketball history. It wasn’t just the ferocity with which the future Hall of Famer played in the paint, but his stamina. Haywood appeared in all 84 regular-season games — yes, 84 — and averaged an astounding 45.3 minutes per game while doing it. That number hasn’t been approached before or since in franchise history — partly because Haywood left for the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics the very next season.

Big moment: On the final day of the regular season, Haywood put the finishing touches on his MVP campaign with 59 points in a 152-116 victory over the Los Angeles Stars, including 13-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Quote: “He would play in any league and be a superstar.” — Knicks center Willis Reed, who was the NBA MVP that season.

— Matt Schubert, The Denver Post

Rockies MVPs

Since the Rockies’ inception in 1993, only one player in franchise history has been named the National League’s Most Valuable Player – Larry Walker in 1997. A look at his MVP season:

Larry Walker

Year: 1997

Statistics: Walker led the NL with 49 homers and a .452 on-base percentage, while leading the majors with a .720 slugging, 1.172 OPS and 409 total bases. He also won his third Gold Glove and second Silver Slugger, and finished with a .366 average.

About Walker’s MVP season: Walker was a force while playing a career-high 152 games. He began the year on a tear, hitting .398 in the first half before tailing off slightly in the second half. He performed just as well away from LoDo as he did at Coors Field, with a .733 road slugging that was slightly better than his home mark. He also stole a career-high 33 bases. That, combined with Gold Glove defense in 150 games in right-field, made him a dynamic five-tool threat at the prime of his career. He accumulated 9.8 in WAR, tops for any positional player in the majors, and won the NL MVP race by a wide margin over Mets catcher Mike Piazza and Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell. Walker received 92% of the first-place votes, but his individual performance alone wasn’t enough to propel the Rockies to relevance, as they finished third in the division and missed the playoffs.

Big moment: With the nation’s eyes upon Walker at the all-star game at Jacobs Field, the Rockies slugger put on a show at the Home Run Derby. Walker blasted 19 homers, more than any other player in the derby, and was runner-up after falling to the Yankees’ Tino Martinez in the final round. Then in the game itself, Walker showed his lighter side, turning his batting helmet around and stepping in the right-handed box against southpaw Randy Johnson. Walker eventually turned his helmet the proper way, went to his usual lefty side and drew a walk, after plenty of laughs from both dugouts.

Quote: “(Walker) is being mentioned in the same breath with Hank Aaron like Ellis Burks was last year (in 1996, finishing 3rd in NL MVP voting),” Rockies manager Don Baylor said in Sept. 1997.

— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post