(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
T.J. Watt was named Steelers' MVP on Thursday, which was voted on by his teammates. It was a no-brainer, as Watt should be a lock for Defensive Player of the Year with his league-high 21.5 sacks, which is just 1.5 sacks behind Michael Strahan's single-season NFL record.
Watt is the only player in franchise history to win team MVP three consecutive years, and is the fifth player in team history to win it three or more times. Surprisingly, Ben Roethlisberger has won Steelers' MVP just once in his 18-year career.
Team MVP doesn't mean everything, but it's just surprising that Roethlisberger won the award once, and it was in 2009. There were probably at least two other years that Roethlisberger should have won the award. However, it's not usual for Steelers greats to not win the award more than once, as the greatest Steeler of all time, Joe Greene, won the award once as well, which was in 1970. I guess that's a testament to all the great Steelers that played for the organization in the 1970s and mid-2000s to the present. Terry Bradshaw also was named Steelers' MVP just twice (1978, 1979).
Antonio Brown has the franchise record for the most team MVPs (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017). Watt joins Hines Ward (2002, 2003, 2005), Jerome Bettis (1996, 1997, 2000), and Rod Woodson (1988, 1990, 1993) to win the award three times. Ward was co-MVP with Casey Hampton in 2005 and Woodson was co-MVP with David Little in 1988.