DeMeco Ryans and Dan Campbell were named Coaches of the Year, while T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Lamar Jackson, and Christian McCaffrey were named Players of the Year in national voting.
ESPN’s Chris Berman is named the 16th recipient of the Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football.
The Committee of 101, which has been celebrating the greatest achievements of each NFL season for 54 years, named today the 2023 honorees of the annual 101 Awards, which recognize the top players and coaches in the American Football Conference and National Football Conference.
The award winners include Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as AFC Offensive Player of the Year, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey as NFC Offensive Player of the Year, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt as AFC Defensive Player of the Year, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons as NFC Defensive Player of the Year, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans as AFC Coach of the Year, and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell as NFC
Since the AFL-NFL merger, the 101 has recognized exceptional performers every full season, making it the nation’s longest-running awards ceremony dedicated solely to the National Football League. Award recipients are chosen through a countrywide balloting of 101 sportswriters and broadcasters that cover the NFL during the season.
The 54th Annual 101 honors Gala, held on Friday, March 22, 2024 at the Loews Kansas City Hotel, will present the awardees with their honors for the 2023 season.
Jackson had a standout 2023 regular season, passing for a career-high 3,678 yards and guiding the Ravens to a league-best 13-4 record. He threw 24 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions, earning a QB rating of 102.7, the second-highest of his career. His dual-threat mobility resulted in 821 running yards and five touchdowns. In the AFC Divisional Playoff Game versus Houston, Jackson became the NFL’s first quarterback to achieve four total touchdowns, 100+ rushing yards, and no interceptions. He led Baltimore to the AFC Championship Game, where they will face the Kansas City Chiefs.
McCaffrey led the NFL with 1,459 running yards and broke the 100-yard rushing barrier in seven games during the 2023 regular season. He also led the NFL with 2,023 all-purpose yards, averaging 126.4 per game. The versatile running back scored 21 touchdowns, including a career-best seven receiving touchdowns to go with his 14 rushing scores. He accounted for an incredible 83 rushing first downs, surpassing his previous season-high total of 59. In his first full season in San Francisco, McCaffrey helped the 49ers win the NFC West Division with a 12-5 record and go to the NFC Championship Game.
Watt, who won the Steelers MVP award for the fourth time, topped the NFL with 19.0 sacks and 39 quarterback hits this season. He is the only player since 1982 to lead the league in sacks three times (2020, 2021, and 2023). Watt’s outstanding ’23 season rated in the top five in the NFL in sacks, quarterback hits, tackles for loss (19, 5th), forced fumbles (four, t-5th), and fumble recoveries (three, t-third). He has received the 101’s NFC Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in the last four seasons. With his brother, J.J., the Watt family has won seven of the last twelve such prizes.
Parsons, the Cowboys’ first-round draft pick in 2021, has firmly established himself as one of the NFL’s most dominant defensive players following a third consecutive strong season. He achieved a career high in 2023 with 14 QB sacks and helped Dallas win the NFC East Division title with a 12-5 record. Parsons is a paragon of consistency, having recorded 13.0, 13.5, and 14.0 sacks in his three NFL seasons. He and the legendary Reggie White are the only players in NFL history to have 12 or more sacks in each of their first three seasons since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Parsons won the 101 NFC Defensive Player of the Year Award as a rookie in 2021.
Ryans accomplished a spectacular turnaround with the Texans as a first-year NFL head coach, taking over a last-place 3-13-1 team in 2022 and immediately generating an AFC South championship with a 10-7 record in 2023. He subsequently led Houston to a 45-14 Wild Card victory over Cleveland, before falling to Baltimore in the Divisional round. Ryans, a former linebacker who spent six of his ten NFL seasons with the Texans and is second on the franchise’s all-time tackles list, returned to Houston as head coach after six years as an assistant coach with the 49ers. His Texans became the fourth team in NFL history to reach the playoffs with a rookie head coach and starting quarterback (C.J. Stroud).
Campbell has produced the most successful Detroit Lions club in decades. In 2023, his Lions tied a franchise record with 12 regular-season wins, won their first division title since 1993, and advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991. Detroit’s 8-2 start this season was its best since 1962. Campbell has achieved significant year-over-year progress since taking over, beginning with three wins in 2021, nine in 2022, and 12 in 2023. Campbell became only the second Lions head coach in 54 years to win NFC Coach of the Year, following Wayne Fontes in 1991.
In addition to the yearly player and coach honors, the 101 Awards event will feature the coveted Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football, established in 2008 to honor the Chiefs founder’s life and legacy. This award honors an individual or group that has made substantial contributions to the NFL’s reputation as America’s premier professional sports league. Chris Berman, a long-time ESPN announcer, is the 16th laureate. Berman has played a key role in ESPN’s ascent and impact in sports media over the last four decades. Berman’s name is synonymous with the NFL thanks to his many years of educated and entertaining coverage, particularly his unique delivery of game highlights.
The University of Kansas Health System, a not-for-profit entity that relies on philanthropy and strong fiscal management rather than state or municipal financing, will benefit from the 101 Awards.
