NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award

The AP 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-award winners include Lawrence Taylor, who won it three times, and Joe Greene, Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Ray Lewis, who each won it twice. Lawrence Taylor is the only player to win the award as a rookie (1981), and James Harrison is the only one to win it as an undrafted free agent (2008).

During the respective seasons, a Defensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Month are also announced.

1 NFL Defensive Players of the Year
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

NFL Defensive Players of the Year

Year	Player Name	NFL Team	Position	Team Defense Rank	Team Performance
1971	Page, AlanAlan Page	Minnesota Vikings	Defensive tackle	2	NFC Division champ
1972	Greene, JoeJoe Greene	Pittsburgh Steelers	Defensive tackle	8	AFC Championship
1973	Anderson, DickDick Anderson	Miami Dolphins	Safety	3	Won Super Bowl VIII
1974	Greene, JoeJoe Greene (2)	Pittsburgh Steelers (2)	Defensive tackle	4	Won Super Bowl IX
1975	Blount, MelMel Blount	Pittsburgh Steelers (3)	Cornerback	4	Won Super Bowl X
1976	Lambert, JackJack Lambert	Pittsburgh Steelers (4)	Linebacker	1	AFC Championship
1977	Martin, HarveyHarvey Martin	Dallas Cowboys	Defensive end	1	Won Super Bowl XII
1978	Gradishar, RandyRandy Gradishar	Denver Broncos	Linebacker	6	AFC Divisional
1979	Selmon, Lee RoyLee Roy Selmon	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Defensive end	1	NFC Championship
1980	Hayes, LesterLester Hayes	Oakland Raiders	Cornerback	11	Won Super Bowl XV
1981	Taylor, LawrenceLawrence Taylor-R	New York Giants	Linebacker	3	NFC Divisional
1982	Taylor, LawrenceLawrence Taylor (2)	New York Giants (2)	Linebacker	7	4–5 no playoffs (strike season)
1983	Betters, DougDoug Betters	Miami Dolphins (2)	Defensive end	7	AFC Divisional
1984	Easley, KennyKenny Easley	Seattle Seahawks	Safety	6	AFC Divisional
1985	Singletary, MikeMike Singletary	Chicago Bears	Linebacker	1	Won Super Bowl XX
1986	Taylor, LawrenceLawrence Taylor (3)	New York Giants (3)	Linebacker	2	Won Super Bowl XXI
1987	White, ReggieReggie White	Philadelphia Eagles	Defensive end	23	7–8 no playoffs (strike season)
1988	Singletary, MikeMike Singletary (2)	Chicago Bears (2)	Linebacker	2	NFC Championship
1989	Millard, KeithKeith Millard	Minnesota Vikings (2)	Defensive tackle	1	NFC Divisional
1990	Smith, BruceBruce Smith	Buffalo Bills	Defensive end	8	Lost Super Bowl XXV
1991	Swilling, PatPat Swilling	New Orleans Saints	Linebacker	2	NFC Wildcard
1992	Kennedy, CortezCortez Kennedy	Seattle Seahawks (2)	Defensive tackle	10	2–14 no playoffs
1993	Woodson, RodRod Woodson	Pittsburgh Steelers (5)	Cornerback	3	AFC Wildcard
1994	Sanders, DeionDeion Sanders	San Francisco 49ers	Cornerback	8	Won Super Bowl XXIX
1995	Paup, BryceBryce Paup	Buffalo Bills (2)	Linebacker	13	AFC Divisional
1996	Smith, BruceBruce Smith (2)	Buffalo Bills (3)	Defensive end	9	AFC Wildcard
1997	Stubblefield, DanaDana Stubblefield	San Francisco 49ers (2)	Defensive tackle	1	NFC Championship
1998	White, ReggieReggie White (2)	Green Bay Packers	Defensive end	4	NFC Wildcard
1999	Sapp, WarrenWarren Sapp	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2)	Defensive tackle	3	NFC Championship
2000	Lewis, RayRay Lewis	Baltimore Ravens	Linebacker	2	Won Super Bowl XXXV
2001	Strahan, MichaelMichael Strahan	New York Giants (4)	Defensive end	14	7–9 no playoffs
2002	Brooks, DerrickDerrick Brooks	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3)	Linebacker	1	Won Super Bowl XXXVII
2003	Lewis, RayRay Lewis^[1] (2)	Baltimore Ravens (2)	Linebacker	3	AFC Wildcard
2004	Reed, EdEd Reed^[2]	Baltimore Ravens (3)	Safety	6	9–7 no playoffs
2005	Urlacher, BrianBrian Urlacher^[3]	Chicago Bears (3)	Linebacker	2	NFC Divisional
2006	Taylor, JasonJason Taylor^[4]	Miami Dolphins (3)	Defensive end	4	6–10, no playoffs
2007	Sanders, BobBob Sanders^[5]	Indianapolis Colts	Safety	3	AFC Divisional
2008	Harrison, JamesJames Harrison^[6]	Pittsburgh Steelers (6)	Linebacker	1	Won Super Bowl XLIII
2009	Woodson, CharlesCharles Woodson^[7]	Green Bay Packers(2)	Cornerback	2	NFC Wildcard
2010	Polamalu, TroyTroy Polamalu	Pittsburgh Steelers (7)	Safety	2	Lost Super Bowl XLV
2011	Suggs, TerrellTerrell Suggs	Baltimore Ravens (4)	Linebacker	3	AFC Championship
2012	Watt, J. J.J. J. Watt	Houston Texans	Defensive end	10	AFC Divisional

References

External links

NFL Defensive Player of the Year at CBSSportsline.com
NFL Defensive Player of the Year at The Times Leader website
[1] at NFL.com News

NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award from the Associated Press

1971: Page
1972: Greene
1973: Anderson
1974: Greene
1975: Blount
1976: Lambert
1977: Martin
1978: Gradishar
1979: Selmon
1980: Hayes
1981: Taylor
1982: Taylor
1983: Betters
1984: Easley
1985: Singletary
1986: Taylor
1987: White
1988: Singletary
1989: Millard
1990: Smith
1991: Swilling
1992: Kennedy
1993: Woodson
1994: D. Sanders
1995: Paup
1996: Smith
1997: Stubblefield
1998: White
1999: Sapp
2000: Lewis
2001: Strahan
2002: Brooks
2003: Lewis
2004: Reed
2005: Urlacher
2006: Taylor
2007: B. Sanders
2008: Harrison
2009: Woodson
2010: Polamalu
2011: Suggs
2012: Watt

v t e National Football League awards and trophies

Team	Vince Lombardi Trophy Lamar Hunt Trophy (AFC) George Halas Trophy (NFC)

Individual	AP Most Valuable Player AP Coach of the Year AP Offensive Player of the Year AP Defensive Player of the Year Pepsi Rookie of the Year AP Offensive Rookie of the Year AP Defensive Rookie of the Year AP Comeback Player of the Year Walter Payton Man of the Year "Whizzer" White Man of the Year Super Bowl MVP Pro Bowl MVP

One-time only	75th Anniversary All-Time Team (1994) All-Decade Teams

Annual presentation	NFL Honors (2012) NFL Top 100

Defunct	Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup NEA NFL Defensive MVP UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year UPI NFC Player of the Year UPI AFL-AFC Rookie of the Year UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year NEA NFL Rookie of the Year Award AFL All-Star Game MVP

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NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award