The NFL's First Defensive Player of the Year Awards: The NEA

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

The Associated Press began voting for a separate Defensive Player of the Year in 1972 and the winner was Joe Greene. In 1971 Alan Page was "designated the AP's Defensive Player of the Year by virtue of getting more votes than any other defender in the balloting for the NFL's Most Valuable Player.  Page was voted the AP MVP which was announced a couple of days later, but there was not a vote to determine Page as the DPOY.

Source: AP

However, a major media outlet, the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) had been awarding Defensive Player of the Year Awards since 1966. Larry Wilson was the winner in 1966, Deacon Jones won in 1967 and 1968, Dick Butkus won it in 1969 and 1970. Those, and subsequent winners were given the George S. Halas Trophy, sometimes called the Halas Cup and for a few years the winners were presented those awards on CBS-TV along with the trophy that went along with being voted NEA All-Pro. See below:

The Defensive Player of the Year, as a separate award was not invented by Murray Olderman, the NEA's top writer and illustrator, but he sure popularized it and made it a consistent, yearly award. 

Olderman. Photo Credit: John Truney

Olderman also made it a lot of fun. When the NEA Awards came out, they not only represented the voting of the NFL and AFL players, making the NEA awards unique, they also had extra panache as Olderman, a talented artist in both sketches and cartoon drawings, would illustrate the winners in as part of the story the NEA sent out over the wires.

Here are some examples:

George S. Halas Trophy Winners

1966— Larry Wilson, S, St. Louis Cardinals

1967— Deacon Jones, DE, Los Angeles Rams

1968— Deacon Jones, DE, Los Angeles Rams

1969— Dick Butkus, MLB, Chicago Bears

1970— Dick Butkus, MLB, Chicago Bears

1971— Carl Eller, DE, Minnesota Vikings

1972— Joe Greene, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers

1973— Alan Page, DT, Minnesota Vikings

1974— Joe Greene, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers

1975— Curley Culp, DT, Houston Oilers

1976— Jerry Sherk, DT, Cleveland Browns

1977— Harvey Martin, DE, Dallas Cowboys

1978— Randy Gradishar, ILB, Denver Broncos

1979— Lee Roy Selmon, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1980— Lester Hayes, CB, Oakland Raiders

1981— Joe Klecko, DE, New York Jets

1982— Mark Gastineau, DE, New York Jets

1983— Jack Lambert, MLB, Pittsburgh Steelers

1984— Mike Haynes, CB, Los Angeles Raiders

1985— Howie Long, DE, Los Angeles Raiders/ Andre Tippett, OLB, New England Patriots (tie)

1986— Lawrence Taylor, OLB, New York Giants

1987— Reggie White, DE, Philadelphia Eagles

1988— Mike Singletary, MLB, Chicago Bears

1989— Tim Harris, OLB, Green Bay Packers

1990— Bruce Smith, DE, Buffalo Bills

1991— Pat Swilling, OLB, New Orleans Saints

1992— Junior Seau, LB, San Diego Chargers

1993— Bruce Smith, DE, Buffalo Bills

1994— Deion Sanders, CB, San Francisco 49ers

1995— Bryce Paup, OLB, Buffalo Bills

1996— Kevin Greene, OLB, Carolina Panthers

Note: Wikipedia lists a 1997 winner, Dana Stubblefield. I do not believe that there was an NEA vote taken that season and the World Alamanc adopted the AP DPOY when it published the Almanac in 1999. 

The NEA Sports Bureau, due to a failing business model, is no more, though the NFL MVP Award was picked up by the Jim Thorpe Assocation and they released the "Players MVP"  though 2008 and then, it too, ceased. While it lasted, the NEA made the awards given out by major news organizations more fun.