NFL Countdown: The 1982 Mark Moseley NFL MVP award might forever remain an anomaly

Mark Moseley is likely not a name familiar to many NFL fans outside of the Washington fanbase and the hardcore fans among us, but it should be. That's because what Moseley achieved was not only unprecedented, but it would be a fair assumption to conclude that it will never happen again in your lifetime.

Every year in the NFL is a rollercoaster ride, full of twists, turns and surprises. But a kicker winning the regular-season MVP, well that is nothing but pure fiction. A storyline concocted in the minds of Hollywood writers with their license for creative freedom.

Except in the 1982 NFL season, that is exactly what occurred. Moseley was the first and still the only special teams player to be named MVP. 1982 was an anomaly for several reasons, none moreso than the 57 day player strike, which saw the season reduced from sixteen games to nine.

Gone were the normal playoff routes, as the league scrambled to ensure that the Super Bowl, emanating from the Rose Bowl in California, had some air of legitimacy. Their solution was a sixteen-team playoff tournament, with the top eight teams from each conference forming either side of the bracket, and the usual divisions disbanded for the abbreviated season.

A closer analysis of Mark Moseley's 1982 season

Mark Moseley was the last of a dying breed. He was a straight-ahead kicker, using the toe, rather than the instep of the foot to propel the ball. By 1982 he was the only NFL placekicker still employing that technique.

Entering the delayed 82 season, Moseley was very much in the well-travelled veteran stage of his career after 12 years in the league. In fact, he was no longer the recognised number one in Washington, and was advised to stay away from training camp by Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs. Gibbs even informed him he had no chance of regaining the starting role.

But thankfully, he disregarded Gibbs’ words and overcame the odds to return to his starting role, going onto help the Redskins put together a 8-1 regular-season record.

But what did he do during that nine-game stretch that stood him apart from his peers? In its totality, his stat line is impressive, but certainly does not scream MVP. Moseley was successful with 95.2% of his field goal attempts, connecting on 20 out of 21, and making 16 extra points.

At the time, that was a league record in terms of percentage, but obviously the sample size for that season was a lot smaller. Over the course of the last 40 years, 25 NFL kickers have since surpassed the MVP's record, all of whom played in a greater number of games during their respective seasons.

To gain a better understanding of Moseley's achievements, you need to dig deeper into the circumstances surrounding each Washington Redskins game from 1982.

The Philadelphia Eagles were their first opponents following the end of the eight-week strike. The game went back and forth, with Washington trailing late in the 4th quarter, before a 48 yard field goal from Moseley took the game to overtime, where he would subsequently kick a further field goal to complete a 37-34 win for Washington.

A further three field goals followed against Tampa Bay in week 2, as Washington ran out 21-13 winners in a game where they turned the ball over 4 times, and recorded only 248 total yards.

The trip to the New York Giants saw them go three for three on their roadtrip, triumphing 27 -17 with Moseley responsible for two field goals and three extra points.

The first home game of the season at JFK Memorial Stadium saw Washington complete a sweep over their division rivals, the Eagles. Two Moseley field goals and an extra point was enough to sneak a 13-9 victory in a low scoring affair.

In week five, the Dallas Cowboys inflicted what would be the Redskins’ only defeat of the season. The Cowboys recorded a 24-10 victory after jumping out to a 17-0 lead, with all of Washington's points coming in the 4th quarter, Moseley would add four of them, but by that time the game was already over.

They got back to winning ways against the St. Louis Cardinals (now Arizona). It was far from pretty, and they would have the future MVP to thank as he scored all their points in a 12-7 win.

The Giants would be their week seven opponents, and late in the fourth Washington were losing in another low scoring encounter. That was before two Moseley field goals got Washington over the line by the slightest of margins at 15-14. The final two weeks of the regular season brought a couple of blow-out wins against the Cardinals and the Saints, in which he missed his only field goal attempt of the year.

In total, the MVP kicker would score 76 regular-season points. After a rough start to the postseason, where he missed four field goal attempts in the first two games, he would rediscover his MVP form just in time for Super Bowl XVII. There he scored two field goals and three extra points as the Redskins overcame the Miami Dolphins.

So was Moseley a deserving MVP? It would be fair to say that he had a direct impact on the outcome of five games, as he was clutch when the game was on the line. Moseley has his own opinion on the matter:

"I think once I got nominated it was such an unusual thing that everybody voted for me. When they called me to tell me I had won it, I was shocked beyond words."

He would go onto have a career year the very next season, and to this day is still Washington's leading point scorer. Was it a novelty victory in a season like no other, or was it his nerveless performance when the game was on the line?