Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning was one of five players nominated for the 2009 “Best NFL Player” ESPY award. Manning is no stranger to winning awards as last year he won his third NFL Most Valuable Player Award. He was also the starter in the Pro Bowl last season. ESPN’s 17th annual ESPY awards have 37 categories for fans to vote on through July 11th with the winners being announced on the ESPY awards show hosted by Samuel Jackson on Sunday, July 19th and broadcast on ESPN television. Manning is coming off his NFL-record ninth season with more than 4,000 passing yards.
He also was the first player with 11 straight seasons of 25 or more touchdown passes. Manning started slowly in 2008 but in the last nine games of the regular season, Manning threw 17 touchdowns and had only three interceptions and the Colts won all nine games as NFL betting results show. It was the seventh straight year the Colts made the playoffs. Indianapolis is 12-1 in NFL odds at the sports book to win Super Bowl XLIV.
Other players nominated for the “Best NFL Player” ESPY include Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He had a total of 96 catches for 1,431 yards and 12 touchdowns last year as NFL betting statistics tell us. In the postseason he was fantastic as he broke Jerry Rice’s record for receptions (30) and receiving yards (546). His teammate, Kurt Warner was also nominated for the award.
Warner threw for 4,583 yards during the regular season as NFL betting stats show, in addition to having the most passing yards in the postseason (1,147). Arizona is a 25-1 longshot in NFL odds to win the Super Bowl. Also nominated was NFL Defensive Player of the Year, James Harrison of the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Harrison had 16 sacks during the regular season. Pittsburgh is 6-1 in NFL odds to repeat as Super Bowl champs.
Those are the second-lowest odds at the sportsbook to win Super Bowl XLIV behind only the New England Patriots who are 4-1. Another nominee is Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson who led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,760. He became the fifth player in NFL history to go over 3,000 rushing yards in his first two seasons. The Vikings are 16-1 in NFL betting odds at the sportsbook to win the Super Bowl.