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

4. Calvin Johnson
Pro Football Hall of Fame: 2021

There’s no way that Calvin Johnson, possibly the greatest wide receiver not named Jerry Rice to ever touch a football, won bupkis during his NFL career, right? He has what many consider an untouchable receiving yards record. Even with new rules that encourage big passing numbers and adding an extra game, no other wide receiver has been able to match 1,964 yards from 2012. He was doing all this with the Detroit Lions. 

How could Johnson possibly be beaten out for Offensive Player of the Year? He probably should have been MVP for the performance he displayed that season, but he didn’t even receive one vote (we imagine he would have at least charted in the new system, but still). He finished third for OPOY, falling behind both Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning, who were also 1-2 for MVP.

Somehow, those two were the headline grabbers for the MVP award, and it trickled down to the Offensive Player of the Year. There is nothing either of them could do that was as impressive as Johnson’s feat. 

If one wants to argue his five touchdowns hurt his case, the year before, he had 16 touchdowns, a league-leading 1,681 yards, and 96 catches. Johnson’s three-year stretch from 2011 to 2013 deserved more hardware than it was given. He did win plenty of trophies in college, so we suppose he can spend his retirement shining those trophies.