A Kicker Won the MVP Award in 1982

Published on October 22nd, 2024 10:07 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


In 1982, a player's strike resulted in the traditional 16-game schedule being whittled down to just 9 games.

As a result, we ended up with an abbreviated season that resulted in some pretty wacky awards being given out.

Were awards voters protesting the player's strike? That might be the only explanation for a kicker winning the MVP award that season.

There have been some controversial MVP choices over the years (players like Emmitt Smith have been robbed) but the 1982 choice for MVP takes the cake.

The 1982 MVP Award voting ended up looking like this:

1. Mark Moseley, 35 votes
2. Dan Fouts, 33 votes
3. Marcus Allen, 6 votes
4. Joe Theismann, 3 votes
5. Danny White, 2 votes

Mark Moseley certainly had a great season for a kicker in 1982, as he hit 20 of 21 fields in 9 games, with his longest field goal coming from 48 yards.

A great year to be sure, but worthy of winning the MVP and finishing third in Offensive Player of the Year voting?

Dan Fouts, on the other hand, threw for 2,883 yards and 17 touchdowns in just nine games. That works out to 320.3 yards per game for Fouts, which was the highest number of his career. The Chargers, who finished the season with a record of 6-3-0, had the league's best offence and finished second in the AFC West.

Mark Moseley played for the Washington Redskins, who finished the season as the league's best team with a record of 8-1-0. This surely put Moseley over the top in the eyes of voters.

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Mark Moseley certainly had a great season in 1982 but was it worthy of winning the MVP Award? Probably not, as Dan Fouts had the greatest season of his career in 1982.