30 NFL players you won’t believe never won an award

The NFL is pretty black and white when it comes to awards. Up until 2022, the vote for MVP was one per voter, with no second-place, third-place, or so on votes. It was one vote, but in 2022, it went to a tiered 10-5-3-2-1 points basis. That gave voters more liberty to give love to players who might be just off the base, and if other voters felt that first place and second place were also close, it would change the thought process behind it.

Still, with 80 years of history behind the MVP award, we’d expect all of the greats to have one. Heck, a kicker won MVP once, so it had to be something that was given to multiple stars in every era. 

That’s not the case, and in fact, there are many stars who were left without. They didn’t have an MVP, Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year, or even a Rookie of the Year award to fall back on. Their trophy case is pretty empty, but that hasn’t stopped most of them from making the Hall of Fame. So we chronicle those superstar players who you may not believe left the gridiron without an extra trophy for their efforts.

Just for the record, we're counting all singular individual awards (NFL MVP, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Super Bowl MVP) but not counting Pro Bowls or All-Pros. They are all eligible.

30. Frank Gore
Pro Football Hall of Fame: eligible in 2026

Frank Gore was considered the NFL’s iron man for a very long time. He was holding onto his career at a position that other running backs failed to be relevant past the age of 28. Ezekiel Elliott seems like he’s years past his prime this season, and he hasn’t turned 30 years old yet. What Frank Gore did defied logic and Father Time.

However, Gore never had a superstar season under his belt. In 16 years, Gore had exactly 16,000 yards rushing, 81 rushing touchdowns, just under 4,000 yards receiver, and 18 receiving touchdowns. With all those fancy stats, especially with the yards, it’s surprising to know he only made the Pro Bowl four times in his career. He only was considered a top-eight running back in 25% of the seasons he’s played. 

When it’s broken down like that, it’s not terribly surprising he’s on this list. Yet, we bet you’d think he’d at least get Comeback Player of the Year recognition at some point.