Aaron Rodgers Nominated for Two Major ESPY Awards
Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been nominated for two major awards for the 2022 ESPYS.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback, who won the NFL MVP award for the second straight year in 2021, was nominated for “Best Athlete, Men’s Sports” and “Best NFL Player.”
The three other nominees for “Best Athlete, Male Sports” were Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
His competition in the best “Best NFL Player” category includes wide receiver Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, outside linebacker T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers and running back Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts.
---See nominees for all categories below---
Rodgers has won an ESPYS for “Best NFL Player” four times, which is a record. He won in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017. Rodgers has never been named “Best Athlete, Men’s Sports.”
Interestingly Rodgers did not win “Best NFL Player” either of the past two seasons, despite being named league MVP both times. Tom Brady won the ESPY for “Best NFL Player” and “Best Athlete, Male Sports” last year, and there was no award presented in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic.
This is the third time Rodgers has been dominated for “Best Athlete, Male Sports,” previously being nominated in 2012 (LeBron James won) and 2015 (Steph Curry won).
Rodgers threw 37 touchdown passes and only four interceptions for the 13-4 Packers during the 2021 season. Rodgers received 39 of a possible 50 votes for NFL MVP, his fourth overall and second in as many seasons. However, the Packers lost to the 49ers in their opening playoff game.
The winners will be announced on July 20. The 2022 ESPYs will be televised on ABC from the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. The telecast is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Eastern time, which would be 5 p.m. Pacific time. However, past ESPY telecasts have been shown on a delayed basis on the West Coast, starting at 8 p.m. Pacific time. We assume the same will be the case this year.
Winners are based on online voting. Here’s where fans can vote:
Here are all the nominations
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Oksana Masters, Cross Country Skiing, Road Cycling, Biathlon
Sunisa Lee, Gymnastics
Katie Ledecky, Swimming
Candace Parker, Chicago Sky
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Trinity Rodman, Washington Spirit
Eileen Gu, Skier
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
Stephen Curry passes Ray Allen for most 3-pointers made in NBA history
Jocelyn Alo breaks Lauren Chamberlain’s home run record for most in Division I history (96)
Allyson Felix, Track & Field won her 11th career medal surpassing Carl Lewis for the United States track and field record
Tom Brady becomes the NFL all-time passing yards leader overtaking Drew Brees
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams – Super Bowl LVI
Julianna Peña, UFC 269
Max Verstappen, F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche – Stanley Cup Finals
BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles
Diamond DeShields, Phoenix Mercury
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
BEST PLAY
Unbelievable Corner Kick Goal by Megan Rapinoe
Justin Tucker 66-yard NFL record field goal
Ja Morant’s POSTER
Hansel Enmanuel with the play of the year
BEST TEAM
Golden State Warriors, NBA
Chicago Sky, WNBA
Atlanta Braves, MLB
Los Angeles Rams, NFL
Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball
Georgia Bulldogs, NCAA Football
Colorado Avalanche, NHL
BEST OLYMPIAN, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Sunisa Lee, Gymnastics
Oksana Masters, Cross Country Skiing, Road Cycling, Biathlon
Katie Ledecky, Swimming
Allyson Felix, Track & Field
BEST OLYMPIAN, MEN’S SPORTS
Nathan Chen, Figure Skating
Declan Farmer, Sled Hockey
Nick Mayhugh, Track & Field
Caeleb Dressel, Swimming
BEST GAME
Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Buffalo Bills in an OT thriller (AFC Divisional Game)
UConn defeats NC State in double OT (Elite 8 NCAA Women’s Basketball)
Kansas’ 16-point rally, which was the biggest comeback in championship game history (NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship)
Bryce Young rallies Alabama to beat Auburn in four OTs (NCAA Football Iron Bowl)
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Bryce Young, Alabama Football
Dante Polvara, Georgetown Men’s Soccer
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga Men’s Basketball
Logan Wisnauskas, Maryland Lacrosse
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina Women’s Basketball
Jaelin Howell, Florida State Soccer
Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma Softball
Charlotte North, Boston College Lacrosse
BEST INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE, MEN’S SOCCER
Karim Benzema, Real Madrid
Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
Sadio Mané, Liverpool
Kylian Mbappé, PSG
BEST INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SOCCER
Alexia Putellas, Barcelona
Sam Kerr, Chelsea
Vivianne Miedema, Arsenal
Caroline Graham Hansen, Barcelona
BEST NFL PLAYER
Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
BEST MLB PLAYER
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Jorge Soler, Atlanta Braves
BEST NHL PLAYER
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers
BEST DRIVER
Kyle Larson, NASCAR
Max Verstappen, F1
Steve Torrence, NHRA
Álex Palou, IndyCar
BEST NBA PLAYER
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
BEST WNBA PLAYER
Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun
Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury
Candace Parker, Chicago Sky
BEST BOXER
Tyson Fury
Shakur Stevenson
Katie Taylor
Mikaela Mayer
BEST MMA FIGHTER
Alexander Volkanovski
Charles Oliveira
Kamaru Usman
Kayla Harrison
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S GOLF
Scottie Scheffler
Cameron Smith
Justin Thomas
Jon Rahm
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S GOLF
Nelly Korda
Ko Jin-young
Lydia Ko
Minjee Lee
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S TENNIS
Rafael Nadal
Dylan Alcott
Carlos Alcaraz
Felix Auger-Aliassime
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S TENNIS
Emma Raducanu
Ashleigh Barty
Iga Świątek
Leylah Fernandez
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S ACTION SPORTS
Eli Tomac, Supercross
Alex Hall, Ski
Yuto Horigome, Skateboard
Ayumu Hirano, Snowboard
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S ACTION SPORTS
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Snowboard
Eileen Gu, Ski
Rayssa Leal, Skateboard
Chloe Kim, Snowboard
BEST JOCKEY
Flavien Prat
Irad Ortiz
Jose Ortiz
Joel Rosario
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY, MEN’S SPORTS
Declan Farmer, Sled Hockey
Nick Mayhugh, Track & Field
Brad Snyder, Paratriathlon & Swimming
Ian Seidenfeld, Table Tennis
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Oksana Masters, Cycling & Nordic/Biathlon
Jessica Long, Swimming
Brenna Huckaby, Snowboarding
Kate Ward, Soccer
BEST BOWLER
Jason Belmonte
Anthony Simonsen
Kyle Troup
Dom Barrett
BEST MLS PLAYER
Valentin Castellanos, NYCFC
Jesús Ferreira, FC Dallas
Carles Gil, New England Revolution
Carlos Vela, LAFC
BEST NWSL PLAYER
Ashley Hatch, Washington Spirit
Aubrey Bledsoe, Washington Spirit
Jess Fishlock, OL Reign
Caprice Dydasco, NJ/NY Gotham FC
BEST WWE MOMENT
MATCH 1
Brock Lesnar wins Royal Rumble
Bianca Belair wins RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania
MATCH 2
John Cena returns at Money In The Bank
Ronda Rousey returns 4 months after giving birth to win Royal Rumble
MATCH 3
WWE welcomes back fans with full live crowd (Smackdown 7/16)
Stone Cold stuns Vince McMahon, Austin Theory, and Pat McAfee on WrestleMania Night 2
MATCH 4
Roman Reigns defeats Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania to win both the Universal & WWE Championship
Cody Rhodes returns to WWE at WrestleMania
MATCH 5
Big E cashes in Money In The Bank briefcase and wins WWE Championship (RAW 9/13)
The Miz turns on Logan Paul at WrestleMania
MATCH 6
Becky Lynch returns at SummerSlam
Undertaker inducted into WWE Hall Of Fame
MATCH 7
Edge defeats Seth Rollins in a Hell In A Cell match at Crown Jewel
Wee man body slams Sami Zayn at WrestleMania MATCH 8
Brock Lesnar returns at SummerSlam to confront Roman Reigns
Stone Cold returns to the ring to defeat Kevin Owens at WrestleMania
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Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports
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