SAN FRANCISCO — Matthew Stafford didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, but he did get a nice consolation prize on Thursday night when he was named MVP of the 2025 NFL season in an announcement that was made at the 15th annual NFL Honors ceremony.

In one of the tightest races in NFL history, Stafford edged Drake Maye to earn the first MVP award of his career. Stafford beat out the Patriots quarterback by just five points, making it the closest MVP voted since 2003 when Steve McNair and Peyton Manning tied for the award. 

There are a total of 50 voters and 47 of them put either Stafford or Maye on top of their ballot. Here was the final tally for the MVP vote: 

1. Matthew Stafford: 366 points (24 first-place votes)
2. Drake Maye: 361 (23)
3. Josh Allen 91 (2)
4. Christian McCaffrey 71 (0)
5. Trevor Lawrence 49 (0)

Justin Herbert actually received a first-place vote and the vote was so close if that person had put Maye in first place and Herbert in second on his ballot, then Maye would have won MVP over Stafford. In the end, not only did Stafford win, but he capped off his acceptance speech by announcing that he would definitely be returning for the 2026 season. 

Stafford brought his four daughters on stage and that’s when he revealed that he was coming back for at least one more year. 

“I can’t wait to have you cheer me on next year when we’re out there kicking ass, so I’ll see you guys next year and hopefully I’m not at this event and we’re getting ready for another game at SoFi,” the Rams QB said. 

Stafford led the NFL with a career-high 46 touchdown passes that also set the Rams’ franchise record. 

Patriots’ night gets better

Drake Maye didn’t get voted MVP, but the Patriots did have a big night. In another tight race, Mike Vrabel was able to walk away with the Coach of the Year award. Going into the night, this was one of the few awards that felt wide open and Vrabel ended up taking home the award. The Patriots coach earned just three more first-place votes than Jacksonville’s Liam Coen, who finished second in the voting. 

Vrabel also won the Coach of the Year in 2021 while in Tennessee making him just the seventh coach ever to win the award with multiple teams. With the Patriots getting set to play in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Vrabel wasn’t on hand to accept the award, but he did make an appearance in a video. The Patriots also made a tribute video for their first-year head coach. 

During his first year in New England, Vrabel became the first coach in NFL history to inherit 13-loss team and win at least 13 games in his first year. He’s also won 17 games with the Patriots this season, including the playoffs, which is tied with George Siefert for the most in NFL history for a coach in his first year with the team. 

Vrabel will now try to cap off his Coach of the Year season with a Super Bowl win on Sunday against the Seahawks. 

Patriots do end up getting a Hall of Fame call

Going into Thursday night, the biggest story revolving around the Hall of Fame was the fact that both Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft got snubbed. Although they didn’t get in, the Patriots did have one Hall of Famer and that’s Adam Vinatieri. The NFL’s all-time leading scorer became just the third kicker in NFL history to be voted into the Hall of Fame, joining Morten Andersen and Jan Stenerud. 

Vinatieri was one of five players voted into the Hall of Fame this year and here’s the full class: 

Larry FitzgeraldLuke KuechlyAdam VinatieriDrew BreesRoger Craig

Craig spent eight of his 11 career seasons with the 49ers and he got one of the biggest cheers of the night when his name was announced at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (For more on this year’s Hall of Fame class, we have a full story here)

Christian McCaffrey came close to winning two awards

With NFL Honors being held in San Francisco, It ended up being a solid night for 49ers fans. Not only did Craig get into the Hall of Fame, but McCaffrey ended up being voted Comeback Player of the Year. McCaffrey was a finalist for three different awards and although he only came away with the CPOY, he came close to winning the Offensive Player of the Year award. McCaffrey was beat out by Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks receiver earned 14 first-place votes, putting him just ahead of McCaffrey, who got 12. 

Although it was a solid night for the 49ers, they did catch a stray from host Jon Hamm. During his opening monologue, Hamm made a joke about the fact that the 49ers’ practice facility is located next to an electrical substation. 

Like any host, Hamm had a few jokes that were funny (and a few that bombed), but he also did a good job of keeping the show moving along, which is always a good thing in a show like this. 

With that in mind, here’s a rundown of every award that was handed out. 

AP Most Valuable Player: Rams QB Matthew Stafford (Full story)
AP Offensive Player of the Year: Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Full story)
AP Defensive Player of the Year: Browns DE Myles Garrett (Full story)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Browns LB Carson Schwesinger (Full story)
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan (Full story)
Protector of the Year: Bears G Joe Thuney (Full story)
AP Comeback Player of the Year: 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (Full story)
NFL AP Coach of the Year: Patriots coach Mike Vrabel (Full story)
Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026: Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri, Drew Brees and Roger Craig (Full story)
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Bobby Wagner (Full story) 
Next Gen Stats: Caleb Williams 46-yard overtime pass to D.J. Moore (You can see the play here)

John Breech and Tyler Sullivan spent Thursday camped out at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and you can check out all their updates from the night below.Â