Encyclopedia > NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award
The NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award is given by the Associated Press to the league's most outstanding defensive player at the end of every NFL season since 1971. Multiple Winners include Lawrence Taylor who won it 3 times, and Joe Greene, Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Ray Lewis who all won it twice. Lawrence Taylor is the only player to win it as a rookie (1981). The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... NFL logo For other uses of the abbreviation NFL, see NFL (disambiguation). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959, in Williamsburg, Virginia) is a retired Hall of Fame American football player who played his entire career as a linebacker for the NFLs New York Giants. ... The name Joe Greene may refer to the following people: John James Greene, a Canadian politician. ... Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958 in Houston, Texas) is a former linebacker in American football who played his entire career for the Chicago Bears in the NFL, after starring in college at Baylor University. ... Bruce Smith (b. ... Reginald Howard Reggie White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004), nicknamed the Minister of Defense — a dual reference to his football prowess and to his Evangelical Christian ordination — was one of footballs most prolific sackers in college, the USFL and the NFL. // [edit] Career Reggie White was born in... Ray Anthony Lewis (born May 15, 1975 in Bartow, Florida) is an American football linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. In January 2000, Lewis led Baltimore to a Super Bowl XXXV victory and was named Most Valuable Player for that game. ... Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959, in Williamsburg, Virginia) is a retired Hall of Fame American football player who played his entire career as a linebacker for the NFLs New York Giants. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Bruce was named the AFC defensiveplayer of the year, Bruce finished second to Eagles' defensive end, Reggie White, for NFLdefensiveplayer of the year.
Bruce declared himself, "pro football's most dominating defensive force, better than Lawrence Taylor." Surprisingly, just before the Bills met the Giants in Super Bowl XXV that season (the first of four Super Bowls in a row for Bruce and the Bills), Taylor agreed that Bruce was the best defensiveplayer in the NFL.
Paup and the rest of the NFL world credited Bruce Smith in allowing to win the award, citing the fact that if were not for the double teaming that Bruce got from opposing teams offensive lines, Paup never would have had the year he had.
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