Athletes Who Won The Most MVP Awards In Their Sports
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Peyton Manning called it a career Monday after 18 years, five of which were MVP seasons.
Here is a look at the athetes who won the most MVPs -- or the equivalent -- in their respective sports.
NFL: PEYTON MANNING, 5
Manning won the MVP with the Indianapolis Colts in 2003, '04, '08 and '09 and then again in 2013 with the Denver Broncos. A little trivia: He shared his first MVP honor, in 2003, with Tennessee Titans QB Steve McNair, one of only two times there was a tie in the voting since the NFL-AFL merger.
MLB: BARRY BONDS, 7
Bonds won National League MVP in 1990 and '92 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1993, 2001, '02, '03 and '04 with the San Francisco Giants. Sure, everyone wants to put asterisks next to all of Bonds' achievements, but three of those awards happened before he was widely believed to have begun juicing -- and no other player in baseball history has won the MVP more than three times.
NBA: KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR, 6
A popular debate these days is Jordan vs. LeBron. But neither has as many MVPs as Abdul-Jabbar, who won the honor in 1971, '72 and '74 as a Milwaukee Buck and in 1976, '77 and '80 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
NHL: WAYNE GETZKY, 9
They don't call him the "Great One" for nothing. Gretzky won the Hart Trophy eight consecutive years from 1980-87 with the Edmonton Oilers and another one two years later with the Los Angeles Kings.
MLS: PREKI, 2
Major League Soccer renamed its MVP award in honor of Landon Donovan last year, but he actually only won the award once. Former Kansas City Wizards star Preki is the only two-time winner in the award's 20-year history.
PGA: TIGER WOODS, 11
The PGA essentially has two Player of the Year awards. PGA of America has given out the honor since 1948, and the PGA Tour started doing the same in 1990. Despite the 42-year difference, Woods is the all-time leader for both, having won 11 times from 1997-2013. That's as many as Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus combined to win from PGA of America.
MEN'S TENNIS: PETE SAMPRAS, 6
Not only did Sampras win the ATP Player of the Year award a record six times, he won it six consecutive years from 1993-98. But Roger Federer (five wins) and Novak Djokovic (four) are within reach of Sampras.
WOMEN'S TENNIS: STEFFI GRAF, 8
Graf won the WTA Player of the Year award eight out of 10 years from 1987-96. Serena Williams could catch her this year, though.
AUTO RACING: JIMMIE JOHNSON, 6
There are a couple of Driver of the Year awards that date back to the 1960s (National Motor Sports Press Association and Martini & Rossi). Johnson is king of both.
