It was brought to my attention today by a diligent fan – Andy never lets something Kurt Warner-related go unnoticed – that the Cardinals’ quarterback earned an MVP trophy from his 2008 season. The "main" MVP award is given by the Associated Press right after the regular season, and that went to Peyton Manning when, frankly, there was no obvious choice. This "other" MVP award is from the Jim Thorpe Association (once delivered by the Newspaper Enterprise Association since 1955 and is now apparently voted upon by the 32 NFL Players Association player reps. It was hard to find info on the award other than Wikipedia; it wasn't even on the Thorpe website. (And as a secondary aside, it's tough to have an MVP announcement in May when we are well into the 2009 season with free agency, the draft, minicamps and the OTAs already done or underway.)

That said, the vote (which I would assume takes place when the NFLPA has its annual meeting in the spring) seems to take into account the postseason. Warner and Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald actually tied, with Warner getting the nod because – ironically – he received more votes in the AP MVP vote. It's not surprising; it'd be hard to argue that, after fantastic regular seasons, no players had better postseasons than Warner and Fitz. In the end, it just underscores what was already obvious, that Warner enjoyed a dream 2008.