The NFL Award that RUINS CAREERS…

The NFL Offensive Player of the Year is one of the most prestigious individual honors in football… but what if winning it is actually a curse? In this video, we dive into the strange trend of the OPOY “curse” where elite seasons are often followed by struggles, injuries, or disappointments.

📩 Let me know what YOU think! Is the OPOY award cursed? Or is this just a wild coincidence?

👇 Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
1:29 2014
5:06 2015
8:04 2016
11:47 2017
15:32 2018
16:12 2019
20:39 2020
21:39 2021
24:15 2022
25:19 2023
28:00 Outro

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Winning the NFL’s offensive player of the year award is one of the highest honors in football. It means you weren’t just good, you were dominant. It means you were the best offensive player in the league among your peers. It’s the kind of accolade that helps build a Hall of Fame resume, a benchmark of greatness. But what if I told you this NFL award might actually be cursed? Because in recent years, many offensive player of the year winners have seen their careers fall apart. From brutal injuries to steep drop offs in production and Hall of Fame careers falling off, many of these winners never return to form again. Before we dive into that though, if you enjoy NFL deep dives or the latest news, quick updates on what’s going on around the league, make sure to like the video and subscribe to my channel. We’re on the road to 15,000 subscribers by the end of the year. And right now, we’re sitting at 11.6 subscribers, and every little thing helps. And it’s not possible without your support. We cover everything from the latest NFL storylines to NFL stories about what happened to some NFL players years ago. And as in this one, the NFL’s most cursed award. That being said, enjoy the video. [Music] For this deep dive, we’re gonna be looking at the past 10 winners, not including Saquon Barkley’s 2024 season, because not much time has passed since he won it. So, that takes us back to 2014, and that’s where we’re going to begin our journey talking about the 2014 winner of the offensive player of the year, running back Demarco Murray. Murray’s 24 season was a standout year. He rushed for 1,800 yards on nearly 400 carries, scoring 13 touchdowns in the running game. In the receiving game, he had 416 receiving yards and 57 receptions, but didn’t score as a pass catcher. So, his 24 season ended up totaling 2,200 yards on 449 touches in the regular season. Murray’s 449 total touches in the regular season is one of the most in NFL history, the most being 492. On top of the high volume of touches in the regular season, DeMarco Murray also appeared in two postseason games for the Dallas Cowboys, totaling 44 carries with 198 yards to go along with it and two touchdowns. Murray deserved to win offensive player of the year in 2014. It was his best season of his career, even though he did have production within his first three years of his NFL career. Murray was due for a contract extension with the Cowboys and if they weren’t going to sign him, he would hit the free agent market, which is exactly what happened and he would end up signing with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles signed DeMarco Murray to a 5-year, $42 million contract with 21 million guaranteed. The Eagles were excited to have a new explosive player on their offense. And for Murray, it was a new environment to where he would hopefully take his talents, but he would not have the same success on his new team for a multitude of reasons. The first one being that he simply just did not fit the offensive system and scheme under head coach Chip Kelly. Murray not fitting in the offensive scheme led to a reduced role and not as many carries or as much playing time in 2015, and he lost snaps to running back Jordan Matthews. It was more of an offense that required more of a lateral elusive offense, while DeMarco Murray was a downhill runner. So, the two simply just didn’t fit well together or go well together at all. Demarco Murray in his first season with the Eagles would carry the ball 193 times for 700 yardds and six touchdowns. A significant dip from his 2014 season with the Dallas Cowboys. And it only took one season for Demarco Murray to realize his mistake and he would request a trade away from the Philadelphia Eagles despite the fact that Chip Kelly was fired and the Eagles hired a new head coach Doug Peterson. Murray was over and he wanted to go to a new team. Demarco Murray ended up getting what he wanted after agreeing to a reworked contract deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. He would be traded to the Tennessee Titans where he would have a little bit of a resurgence of his career in 2016, rushing for,200 yards, nine touchdowns on 293 carries while being a weapon in the passing game for the Titans offense, catching 53 passes for 380 yards with three touchdowns. And this season, DeMarco Murray earned his third Pro Bowl. Both the high volume of touches in 2016 on top of the 2014 season led to some wear and tear of Demarco Murray. His final season in the NFL was just one year later after it looked like he had revived his NFL career. In 2017, he had a career low in rushing yards. The dip in production, the wear and tear, his age with the emergence of running back Derk Henry on the Titans, all contributed to DeMarco Murray getting cut in March of 2018 by the Tennessee Titans. And then he would shortly announce his retirement just a few months later in June of 2018 at the age of 30 years old. Everything went downhill for Demarco Murray after winning offensive player of the year. This takes us to our next winner in 2015, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who put together a special season. He led his team to the Super Bowl off a 15-1 record, won the league MVP award, throwing for 3,800 yards, 35 passing touchdowns, while rushing for 600 yards and 19 touchdowns. Newton was simply one of the best players in football, which is why he won not only MVP, but offensive player of the year. But something that need to be pointed out is that Kim Newton received the offensive player of the year award on January 20th of 2016, two weeks before the Super Bowl in which he lost on the biggest stage of his career and it didn’t go well. There’s obviously the big moment where he could have jumped on the football but didn’t for whatever reason. That wasn’t a good game. The Broncos defense dominated their offense. Cam Newton did not look good and it didn’t end there for him. After winning offensive player of the year in 2015, Cam Newton never made another Pro Bowl in his career after that season. He would deal with a multitude of injuries from that point on and was never able to reach what he did in 2015. He did have a good season in 2017, led the Panthers back to the playoffs, but would lose to the Saints in the wild card round and never made it back to the playoffs in his career. After the 2015 season, Cam Newton only appeared in one game in the postseason and it was a loss to the Saints. Have to flex that a little bit. Then in 2019, Cam Newton would suffer a list Frank injury and his foot in a preseason game. Then in week two, he would reagravate the injury and ended up making him sit out for their whole 2019 season. The availability and the lack of production from Newton over the previous few seasons led to the Panthers cutting Cam Newton in the off season of 2020. And as a free agent, Cam Newton would end up signing with the New England Patriots to team up with Bill Bich, who had just moved on from Tom Brady. There are some good moments from Cam Newton with the Patriots, but overall, it didn’t go well. This new chapter of Cam Newton’s career simply just wasn’t what he likely imagined. He would be benched a few times for backup quarterback Jarrett Stum after poor performances like throwing three interceptions in a game versus the San Francisco 49ers. That season, Cam Moon only threw for 2600 yards, eight touchdowns, while throwing 10 interceptions. In the rushing game, though, he did have 12 touchdowns and 593 yards. Cam Newton was a free agent yet again in 2021. He would end up signing back with the Carolina Panthers after a one-year stint with the Patriots. In his first game back, he would score a touchdown and he would proclaim that he was back. back. He in fact though was not back as that was the final season he played in the NFL. All of these injuries, poor seasons, no Pro Bowls, not winning a playoff game, being cut and losing the Super Bowl all took place for Cam Newton after winning offensive player of the year. The 2016 winner of the offensive player of the year award, quarterback Matt Ryan, whose decline after winning the award wasn’t as steep as the Marco Murray or Cam Newton’s. It was more gradual, but a decline was happening nonetheless. Like Cam Newton, Matt Ryan won offensive player of the year the same season he won MVP and led his team to the Super Bowl with an 11 and5 record. Throwing 4,900 yards and 38 touchdowns led Matt Ryan to his success on 2016 in the best season of his career, achieving one of the NFL’s highest honors on February 4th, 2017. Then one day later, Matt Ryan would be a part of the biggest choke in NFL history, the 28-3 comeback. Tom Brady led vers the Falcons, and he would lose the Super Bowl. After it looked like the Falcons had the game in the bag. Unlike some of the previous offensive player of the year winners, though, Matt Ryan’s next season actually was productive despite losing offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who ended up becoming the 49ers head coach. In 2017, Matt Ryan led the Falcons back to the playoffs with a 10 and6 record, throwing for 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns. He led the Falcons not only to the postseason, but they actually won a playoff game in the wild card, beating the LA Rams and came very close to beating the soon-to-be Super Bowl champions in the division around the Philadelphia Eagles. It was 10 to 15, and you could argue that they were a dropped pass away from making it to the championship. After the 2017 season, we saw Matt Ryan continue to have some success as an individual, but not so much on the team. In 2018, Matt Ryan threw for 4,900 yards yet again and 35 touchdowns, putting up nearly identical stats to his MVP season in 2016. But the team around him simply wasn’t good and the Falcons would end up going 7-9, erasing a really good season from the quarterback. And that was a very similar case over the next few years for Matt Ryan. 2019 and 2020 were similar. Matt Ryan threw for 4,500 yards and 26 touchdowns while still having a losing record and not making the playoffs. In his final season with the Falcons in 2021, it was the first time Matt Ryan threw for under 4,000 yards since 2010. He only threw 20 touchdowns and the Falcons would end up trading Matt Ryan because they were kind of heading into a rebuild. Now, the direction of the team did not align with where Matt Ryan was at in his career. A team going into a rebuild and an aging old veteran quarterback who costed a lot of money. Those two things do not add up together. Not only that, but Matt Ryan was not playing up and worth his contract. He had a $ 48.7 million cap hit and it made sense for the Falcons to trade Matt Ryan. And Matt Ryan was seeking another opportunity as well away from Atlanta after the team had gone after Deshun Watson expressing their willingness to move on from Matt Ryan and replace him. So Matt Ryan would end up being traded to the Indianapolis Colts. But despite it being a new environment and possibly a new opportunity for him to find success, this would end up being a rough season. He played only 12 games. Ryan would be benched twice after throwing 13 interceptions during the 2022 season and only 14 touchdowns, leading the Colts to a record of 47-1 as the team starter. With a clear decline in his play and not worth the investment of money, cap space, or draft capital given up in a trade to get him, Matt Ryan was cut by the Colts in 2023 and he hasn’t played since. So after winning offensive player of the year, Matt Ryan never went back to the Pro Bowl. Had one winning season and his dip as a player wasn’t as instant as others, but it was still evident. The next winner is one of the biggest victims to the offensive player of the year curse, and that was running back Todd Gurley, who won in 2017. Todd Gurley was the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft and was the first running back off the board despite coming off a torn ACL in college. Todd Gurley missed all of the preseason in the first few weeks of the regular season, but he found success his rookie year despite missing some games rushing for 1100 yards and 10 touchdowns, winning offensive rookie of the year, and earning his first Pro Bowl in 2015. Skipping ahead to year three, 2017. It was his breakout season. Todd Gurley established himself as one of the best and elite players in the NFL, rushing for,300 yards and 13 touchdowns. But not only that, as a receiver, Todd Gurley had 64 catches for 788 yards and six touchdowns, bringing his season total to nearly 2100 yards and 19 touchdowns. This season, Gerick would get his second Pro Bowl, his first AllPro selection, and was so dominant, he was second in voting for MVP behind Tom Brady. And of course, in addition to all of this, Todd Gurley would win offensive player of the year. This insane season for Todd Gurley led to a big contract extension with the Rams in July of 2018. He signed a four-year contract for $60 million with 45 million guaranteed, making him the highest paid running back in the NFL at the time. The success carried over into 2018. Gurley earned his third Pro Bowl, earned yet another first team allpro, and was third in voting for offensive player of the year behind Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes, who were both MVP candidates, and one of them was an MVP winner. Todd Gurley in 2018 had a careerhigh 21 touchdowns that season, 17 of which were rushing with,200 rushing yards to go with it and 580 receiving yards. Not only did he have success as an individual, but the team he was on had some success making it to the Super Bowl. Quick little intermission here. Their team did make it to the Super Bowl, but it was off of some BS. Obviously, you all know about the no call. Just had to mention that real quick. Despite making the big game, though, there are some issues with Turley. There were some knee problems starting to pop up for him after having only four carries for 10 yards in the NFC Championship game versus the Saints and then didn’t play a whole lot or that productive in the Super Bowl. That March, just a few months later, he would discover that Todd Gurley had arthritis in his left knee. Then the decline really started to ramp up and it happened quickly. Despite being 25 years old and only one year removed from his allp pro season, Gurley had a steep drop off in 2019. Gurley played in 15 games, but he was held under 1,000 yards for just the second time in his career, and he was just noticeably less explosive. He didn’t have the pep in his step that he once had, and he reached career lows in rushing yards and attempts while scoring 12 touchdowns. And for any other stat, if it wasn’t his career low, it was the second lowest of his NFL career. And there was just an obvious decline happening, which led the Rams to cutting Todd Gurley after the 2019 season. In Gurley’s final season in the NFL as a free agent, he would end up signing with the Atlanta Falcons for the 2020 season. But things would not go as he would have hoped. His time with the Falcons was the worst season of his NFL career, reaching new lows in yards, receiving yards attempts, and the bottom of his career in yards per attempt, and he simply just did not look like Todd Gurley anymore. And after that, Todd Gurley was a free agent and he remained one. And now he’s out of the NFL. So things really went downhill for Todd Gurley after winning offensive player of the year. Skipping ahead to 2018, this is one of the few outliers on this list, and that’s Patrick Mahomes. 2018 was his first season starting as an NFL quarterback where he won both MVP and offensive player of the year. But after winning offensive player of the year in 2018, Patrick Mahomes went on to go and appear and play in five Super Bowls, winning three of them and establishing himself as one of the best quarterbacks of all time. So, I’m not going to say that Petrick Mahomes was cursed by the offensive player of the year award, but I would like to leave an honorable mention that in 2019, he did dislocate his kneecap and miss some time, but then they ended up winning the Super Bowl that year. So, Patrick Mahomes is an outlier on this list. Now, moving on to the 2019 season, it’s a very similar situation to Todd Gurley. We have wide receiver Michael Thomas, the 2019 winner of the offensive player of the year award. As a rookie in 2016, Michael Thomas led all rookies in yards, receptions, and touchdowns. He became one of six wide receivers over the last 20 years to reach over 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie who wasn’t drafted in the first round. And it didn’t stop there. Michael Thomas just continued to dominate year after year. In 2017, Thomas had over 100 catches for the first time in his career, earning his first Pro Bowl and was the first wide receiver Drew Brees ever had to make a Pro Bowl. One year later in 2018, Thomas established himself as one of the league’s best receivers, catching 125 passes for 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns, earning his second Pro Bowl, and was a first team allpro selection for the first time in his career, only in his third season. The stellar play from Michael Thomas going into 2019 led the Saints to signing him and extending him to a massive contract extension worth $100 million for five seasons, making him the highest paid wide receiver in NFL history at the time. And then after signing that contract, Thomas established himself as the best receiver in football and as one of the best players in the NFL in general. Michael Thomas broke the record for most catches in a single season with a game to spare catching passes from Drew Brees, Taesm Hill, and Teddy Bridgewwater that season to end up with 149 receptions, an NFL record for 1,700 yards and nine touchdowns. This ridiculous season from Michael Thomas is one of the best seasons by a wide receiver in NFL history and got him his third Pro Bowl, another first team allpro and also resulted in him winning offensive player of the year, becoming the first receiver to win the awards since Jerry Rice, who won it in 1993 and 1987. Thomas was on pace to making the Hall of Fame and being one of the greats in NFL history. But after winning offensive player of the year, things just went downhill. The next season in 2020, week one, Michael Thomas would have his ankle rolled up on him, which was just the beginning of the end. That season was a continuous back and forth of Michael Thomas playing through an ankle injury and going on in reserve, then coming back, then going back on injured reserve and missing games. The injury was severe. He had torn deltoids in his ankle, which required surgery. But he played through the pain knowing it was Drew Brees’s last season and his last chance at a Super Bowl ring. But things did not work out well. They lost to the Buccaneers in the divisional round and then Thomas would have to recover. Going into 2021, Thomas had surgery on his ankle, but it took place in June rather than January or February, meaning he would miss the start in the first half of the season. But then Michael Thomas would announce that he had a setback in his recovery and would miss the whole 2021 season due to a setback in his rehab. It was later on revealed that Thomas’ body rejected the hardware put in his body after surgery, which is why the receivers’s process was set back so many times and why it takes longer for him to recover than other people. Then in 2022, Thomas was set to return under head coach Dennis Allen and he looked to be back. In his first game playing in over a year and a half, he caught two touchdowns and helped the Saints come back in the week one game versus the Falcons. He looked to still be the same guy he always once was. Can’t guard Mike. But just a few weeks later in week three vers the Panthers, Thomas would suffer a dislocated turf toe injury which the Saints tried to rehab without surgery. But after further evaluations, it was determined that Thomas would need surgery on the toe. Coming back in 2023, Thomas played in 10 games, which is the most he had played since 2019. But he simply just wasn’t the same. Whether that was due to bad quarterback play, bad offensive coordinator, bad offensive scheme, the wear and tear of injuries and surgeries, whatever it may be, Thomas wasn’t the same player. And then he would suffer an ACL sprain in his knee on a hit versus the Minnesota Vikings, which he regarded as a bad hospital ball from quarterback Derek Carr. After some additional social media posts from Michael Thomas and the lack of availability over the past few seasons, the Saints would end up releasing Michael Thomas, who remains a free agent and is likely never going to play in the NFL again. All of this going downhill after winning offensive player of the year. The winner of the 2020 offense player of the year award was running back Derk Henry, who like Mahomes is more so of an outlier and exception on this list than the norm. Henry in 2020 ran for 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns, earning his second Pro Bowl, his first first team allpro selection, and of course the NFL’s offensive player of the year. Now, the next season though, Derrick Henry would only appear in eight games after breaking his foot in the 2021 season. So, there was some immediate bad luck for Derrick Henry after winning offensive player of the year, breaking his foot. But outside of that, Derrick Henry has remained one of the best in the NFL, making three straight Pro Bowls and a second team allpro since returning from that injury. The only thing worth mentioning was that he was cut by the Titans, but that worked out in his favor because he’s now a Baltimore Raven competing for Super Bowls and he just rushed for, 1900 yards in 2024. So Derk Henry, like Mahomes, is an exception rather than the norm. Moving on to 2021, wide receiver Cooper Cup won the offensive player of the year award, becoming the third receiver in NFL history to win it, joining Jerry Rice and Michael Thomas. Cooper Cup had a special season. He was the triple crown winner at the wide receiver position, meaning he led the league in receiving yards, receptions, and receiving touchdowns. And he did this with his new quarterback, Matthew Stafford, throwing him the football. On top of that, Cooper Cup won a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP, scoring in the big game, which reflected his outstanding season in which he had 145 catches, 1,900 yards, and 16 touchdowns, earning him his first Pro Bowl, first time as a first team allpro, and even got MVP voting, coming in third behind Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. It was by far Cooper Cup’s best season. It was his second 1,000yard season as a wide receiver in the NFL. and every other year he had played before that season, he had been around an 800 yardish wide receiver. But this was the season that he made a name for himself and finally broke out. Cup would not reach these heights again though to this point and I would assume he won’t ever reach these heights after his stellar 2021 season. In 2022, Cooper Cup only appeared in eight games due to a high ankle sprain which he suffered in a week 10 game versus the Cardinals and a required surgery. Had he not gotten hurt though, it looked like he was going to have a really good season. He had 812 yards on 75 receptions in only 9 10 games and six touchdowns. But the injury bug kept Cooper Cup off the field that season. And from there, we haven’t really seen Cooper Cup show signs of that 2021 season. Both 2023 and 2024, the past two seasons, Cooper Cup has had 700 receiving yards with only playing 12 games, missing time due to injuries, which has been the theme for him since winning offensive player of the year. This offseason, Cooper Cup was told by the Rams organization that they’re looking to trade him and find a trade partner. They wouldn’t be able to find one. Then Cooper Cup would end up being cut. As a free agent, he had interest from multiple teams, but he would end up signing with the Seattle Seahawks, going back home to Washington on a three-year deal worth $45 million. So, since winning offensive play of the year, Cooper Cup has dealt with injuries, hasn’t had a 1,000 yard season, hasn’t made a Pro Bowl or an AllPro, and was cut by the Rams. But, I will say this, he did get a nice little back from the Seattle Seahawks. He’s back home where he wants to be. That’s a nice little W for him. But I think it’s fair to say that more bad has happened to him than good since winning the award. On to the 2022 winner, wide receiver Justin Jefferson. And this guy might be yet another exception in Outlier. But we also need to see how the rest of his career goes, but he’s on his way to being one of the greats. In 2022, Justin Jefferson joined Cooper Cup and Michael Thomas and Jerry Rice as the only receivers to win the award with the spectacular 1,800 yard season on 128 catches and eight touchdowns. Now, I will say this though, this season after winning offense player of the year, Justin Jefferson did miss quite a bit of games in 2023 with some injuries. He missed seven games, took a lot of big hits. His quarterback got hurt, but he was just so good. He still ended up getting a thousand yards. And despite the offensive player of the year, curse looking like it strike again, this time on Jefferson, he would have 1,500 yards with 103 catches with Sam Darnold at quarterback this past season. So, I think it’s fair to say that Justin Jefferson may be the outlier here. He made a Pro Bowl, made a first team all pro, and is still the best or one of the best receivers in football. And the final name on the list to talk about is running back Christian McAffrey. The 2024 winner of the award and most recent victim to the offensive player of the year curse and the Madden curse. He got double teamed right there. Christian McAffrey in 2024 was the best running back and one of the best players in the league, helping lead the 49ers back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2019. He was the focal point of the offense, having 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns with an additional seven as a wide receiver and 560 receiving yards, putting him at 21 touchdowns and 2,000 yards from scrimmage. An absolute ridiculous season. To go along with that, he had some stellar games in the postseason, scoring four times on his way to the Super Bowl. He earned his third Pro Bowl, his third AllPro season. He was third in voting for MVP and won offensive player of the year February 8th. It was a sensational season for Christian McAffrey and to this point everything went downhill after winning the award. Christian McCaffrey would have a costly fumble in the Super Bowl just 3 days after winning offensive player of the year. It was his first fumble since week seven of that season in October. It had been nearly 4 months since Christian McCaffrey had fumbled the football and he just so happened to do so in the biggest game of his life after winning the award. Not only was it a fumble, but they were going downfield and driving pretty well, looking to be in scoring range versus the Kansas City Chiefs, which ended up going into overtime. And who knows what happens if he doesn’t fumble. But it didn’t end there. McAffrey would then start dealing with an Achilles injury going into the 2024 season. It was originally thought to be a precautionary and minor injury for the team. They would shut him down during training camp in the preseason so he could recover, but it ended up being more of a serious injury than they thought. He started the season on injured reserve, missing the first eight games of the season, first nine weeks due to a by-week and would make his 2024 debut in week 10 versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During his time off though, Christian McCaffrey saw specialists and doctors in Germany to try and get this thing resolved. But it was only four games before Christian McAffrey would reinjure himself and be out for the rest of the season. In a snowy week 13 game on prime time football versus the Buffalo Bills, Christian McAffrey suffered a knee injury. You can see his leg pop on camera and this would end his 2024 campaign where he had only 350 yards, one fumble, and zero touchdowns in four games. Now, going into 2025, Christian McCaffrey is now 29 years old and looking to bounce back after a rough season, but who knows if he will due to the offensive player of the year curse. And that brings us to now where Saquon Barkley just won offensive player of the year for the 2024 season. was a huge part to getting them to that Super Bowl victory. But when it comes to Barkley, we don’t know if he’s going to be affected by the offensive player of the year curse because we don’t have enough information to really make that conclusion. Only time will tell. But based on the last 10 winners outside of Saquon Barkley, more so than not, the careers of these winners tend to start going downhill aside from Mahomes, Henry, and Jefferson after winning offensive player of the year. Thanks for watching to the end of the video. If you enjoyed it, make sure to like and subscribe to help support the channel. We’re trying to hit 15K this year and we’re at 11.6 right now. So, help us grow so we can continue to make good quality NFL content for you guys on the daily. My name’s Cash. Let me know down in the comments if you think the award is cursed. And I’ll catch you next time. Have a good one. [Music] Hey, hey, hey.