Matthew Stafford arrives at NFL Honors 2026 as MVP finalist, family in tow

Matthew Stafford walked into NFL Honors 2026 on Thursday night, February 5, in San Francisco as one of the five finalists for the Associated Press Most Valuable Player award — and he did it with a full family red-carpet moment that quickly became one of the night’s most talked-about arrivals. The ceremony, held at the Palace of Fine Arts, served as the league’s annual stage-setter ahead of Super Bowl weekend.

While the show handed out several major awards early in the evening, the MVP outcome was still not publicly confirmed in widely available coverage at the time of publication, leaving Stafford’s candidacy — and what it would mean for his legacy — as the biggest unresolved headline.

Why Stafford is in the MVP conversation

Stafford’s case is built on a throwback quarterback season: high volume, high efficiency, and a deep playoff run that ended one step short of the Super Bowl. In the regular season, he led the league in passing yards (4,707) and passing touchdowns (46) while throwing eight interceptions, placing him among the statistical leaders at the sport’s most scrutinized position.

That production helped push him into a tightly framed MVP race that has been widely viewed as a two-man debate at the top: Stafford vs. second-year quarterback Drake Maye, with other finalists still in the mix.

The red-carpet moment that stood out

NFL Honors often doubles as a style-and-storyline night, and Stafford leaned into the “whole life” version of the moment. He arrived with his wife and their children, turning what could have been a routine finalist appearance into a family spotlight.

That matters in the modern NFL awards ecosystem: the MVP conversation is about on-field performance, but the week around the Super Bowl is also about narrative, visibility, and how the league packages its stars. Stafford showing up as “the veteran who brought everyone along” fit neatly with the picture of a long-tenured quarterback chasing one of the few individual prizes missing from his résumé.

What Stafford has already won this postseason

Even with the AP MVP result unclear in public reporting at publication time, Stafford’s award season has already been busy. He has been recognized by the Pro Football Writers of America as its MVP for the 2025 season, and he was voted first-team All-Pro by the AP — notable markers that typically track closely with MVP-level quarterback play.

Those honors don’t guarantee the AP MVP, but they underline the seriousness of his candidacy and help explain why the race has been framed as exceptionally tight.

Key takeaways from NFL Honors 2026 so far

• Stafford entered the night as an AP MVP finalist after a league-leading passing season.

• His family arrival became one of the ceremony’s signature red-carpet moments.

• Several major awards were announced during the show, while the MVP result was not yet clearly confirmed in broadly accessible coverage at publication time.

• Regardless of the final vote, Stafford’s 2025 season has already been decorated with major postseason recognition.

What to watch next for Stafford and the Rams

If Stafford wins AP MVP, it would reshape the way this season is remembered: not only as a late-career peak, but as a year where he outlasted a strong field that included a Super Bowl-starting quarterback. If he doesn’t, the story still isn’t a setback so much as a snapshot of just how narrow the margin is between an elite season and the league’s top individual trophy.

The bigger picture is that Stafford’s 2025 run reinforced something teams rarely get: a veteran quarterback playing at a level that can carry an offense deep into January. That has real ripple effects on offseason planning, from contract and cap conversations to how aggressively a front office pursues roster upgrades around a win-now window.

Sources consulted: Associated Press; CBS Sports; ESPN; Los Angeles Rams (official team site)