Lamar Jackson unanimously voted NFL MVP while Troy Polamalu headlines Hall of Fame class of 2020

Lamar Jackson has another major award to add to his collection.At age 23, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback was unanimously named the NFL MVP, becoming the second-youngest person to receive the award.Jackson is just the second unanimous MVP ever. Tom Brady was the other, in 2010.This and other awards — including the announcement of Troy Polamalu, Edgerrin James, Isaac Bruce, Steve Atwater, and Steve Hutchinson being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame — were announced Saturday during the taping of NFL Honors, a two-hour prime-time awards special held at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami.

Jackson is in rare company, joining Patrick Mahomes (2018), Dan Marino (1984) and Walter Payton (1977) as the only MVP winners who were just 23.

Only Jim Brown, who won the MVP award at age 21 and 22, was younger than Jackson.Jackson told reporters that winning the MVP award means a lot, even though he admits he wasn’t really outwardly showing it.”I’m still young,” Jackson said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m not really trying to dwell on what I just did. If I win a Super Bowl, you’ll probably see more emotion (from me).”

Jackson, in his second NFL season, won the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at the University of Louisville. He hails from Pompano Beach, Florida — about 25 miles away from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the site of Super Bowl LIV.Baltimore’s first game of the 2019 NFL season was there, against the Miami Dolphins. And after Jackson torched Miami in a 59-10 win — throwing for five touchdowns and no interceptions and had a perfect passer rating (158.3) — he had this to say to his doubters who didn’t think he’d make it as an NFL quarterback.”Not bad for a running back,” he quipped.

“It feels good when you can make those people eat their words,” Jackson said Saturday.He later went on to say, “Don’t worry about what they say. Do you. Stay focused because you want to be great.”