Maxwell Football Club President, Mark Dianno, announced that Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has been selected as the winner of the 60th Bert Bell Professional Plater of the Year Award, and that Chief's Andy Reid has been chosen as the winner of the 30th Greasy Neale Professional Coach of the Year Award.
In only his second NFL season, Mahomes evolved into one of the league's most dynamic quarterbacks as he finished the regular season with 5,097 passing yards, 50 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to join Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history to throw for at least 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a single season. In addition to his Bert Bell honor, Mahomes has also been named the 2018 Pro Football Writers of America NFL MVP and a First-Team All-Pro. He led the Chiefs to an AFC West title and a berth in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 1993.
Mahomes joins Hall of Fame RB Earl Campbell (1979) and Philadelphia Eagle's QB Carson Wentz (2018) as the only players to have won the Bert Bell Award in their second NFL season.
Reid has been named the Greasy Neal Professional Coach of the Year for a record setting fourth time, having previously won the award in 2000, 2002 and 2010 as the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Reid completed his sixth year as the Chiefs head coach with a 12-4 record, a third straight AFC West crown and a fourth consecutive playoff appearance, ultimately falling to the New England Patriots in overtime in the AFC Championship Game. Reid worked closely with Mahomes, helping hi master an extremely complicated offense and allowing him to transition from a rookie to a franchise quarter back in only two seasons.
Mahoems and Reid will be honored Friday March 8, 2019 at the 82nd Maxwell Football Club National Awards Gala, which will be held at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. Also receiving awards at the event will be Tua Tagovailoa- Alabama (Maxwell Award), Josh Allen- Kentucky (Chuck Bednarik Award), Bob Surace - Princeton University (Andy Talley Tri-State Coach of the Year Award), John Lovett- Princeton University (Brian Westbrook Tri-State Player of the Year Award), Ron Jaworski- Philadelphia Eagles & ESPN ( Francis Reds Bagnell Award), Jeff Monken- Army-West Point (George Munger College Coach of the Year Award) and MFC/adidas National High School Players of the Year Bru McCoy (Mater Dei HS - Texas) and Nolan Smith (IMG Academy - Georgia). The Club will be announcing additional winners of special awards later this week.
Tickets for the Maxwell Football Club National Awards Gala are available for purchase on the Club's website https://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/product/national-awards-individual-ticket or by calling 215-643-3833.
Questions concerning any of the Maxwell Football Club's awards or programs can be directed to MFC Executive Director Mark Wolpert at info@maxwellfootballclub.org.