Complete breakdown as the NFL hands out the hardware at Honors Award Show

The best of the NFL was on hand at the NFL Honors Awards show this evening at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in downtown San Francisco.

There weren’t a ton of surprises, especially when it came down to the Most Valuable Player award, with Cam Newton taking home the top prize just a day before he is set to play in Super Bowl 50.

Keep reading for all of the award winners and a complete breakdown from this year’s show.

Offensive Rookie of the Year, RB Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams

He might have had only 13 games this season, but St. Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley made the most of them.

Gurley started off the night by taking home the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Despite missing the first three games of the season recovering from a torn left ACL, Gurley led NFL rookies in rushing, finishing the year with 1,106 yards on 229 carries (4.8 yards per carry) and 10 total touchdowns.

He added 21 receptions for 188 yards.

“The award, definitely, it means a lot,” Gurley said. “Like I said earlier, coming off an ACL (injury) a year ago and being able to win this award, it definitely means a lot. It’s a gift from God. I can’t say (anything) else about it. And thank you to my teammates, coaches and everybody that believed in me and helped me get to this point.”

“I think, in this moment, all the emotions are just pushing out,” he added. “I think, besides this award, the Pro Bowl was another accolade that just (brought) all the emotions out of me. So, it’s definitely a proud a moment in my life. So, I’m going to have my friends pick on me about crying, but I’ll be fine.”

AP Offensive Player of the Year Award, QB Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

The night started fast for Carolina Panther’s quarterback Cam Newton.

In just the second award of the evening, Newton already took home a victory in the AP’s Offensive Player of the Year Award.

It was an easy choice for the AP to make, with Newton finishing the year with over 4473 total yards to go with 45 touchdowns.

More on the young superstar below.

Salute to Service Award: WR Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vincent Jackson was the next player to get rewarded, taking home the Salute to Service Award for his work supporting military families.

Jackson founded the Jackson in Action 83 Foundation to help provide support to military families, focusing on the educational, emotional and physical health and physical health of the children.

“This award is definitely an honor,” Jackson said. “Very humbling for the efforts and works that everybody in my camp and everybody that’s helped with the foundation has been a part of the last four years. We’re a fairly young foundation, but we definitely, I think, put some great roots in our community, as well as some other various places around this country.”

“If you don’t know my background, my father served about 22 years in the Army,” Jackson added. “My mom was in briefly as an enlisted soldier. When she got out, she served another 25 years as a civilian working for the government. Obviously, you understand that my entire upbringing has been a military household and military style as far as traveling, going overseas, dealing with a parent deployed, very near and dear to my heart,”

“I understand what these military families go through, and the biggest thing that we try to do, which is a little bit unique from other military foundations. We all know about Wounded Warriors and other foundations working with PTSD and things like that, is how can we bridge that gap and focus about what’s going on back at home? How are spouses affected? How are the kids affected in those families as they’re traveling around as they have a parent deployed? So, we really try to bridge that gap.”

Jackson will have $25,000 donated in his name from the United Services Automobile Association to the official aid societies representing all five military branches.

AP Comeback Player of the Year, S Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs

There wasn’t a better story in the NFL this year than the one of Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry.

Berry missed 10 games just a year ago after he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

After undergoing a successful chemo treatment, Berry found himself back on the field just eight months later for the Chiefs’ season opener.

And he wasn’t there to just be on the roster.

Berry returned to his All-Pro form, becoming a force once again on the defensive side of the ball and earning a Pro Bowl honor in the process.

“This journey has meant a lot, and obviously, I didn’t get here by myself,” Berry said after accepting the award. “I had great family support, great fan support, friends, my coaching staff, the whole Hunt family – they were all great. It’s truly an honor to be here to stand before you all.”

“I kind of pushed that to the back of my brain,” Berry said when asked about how soon he thought about playing again. “I wasn’t really pressing to get back on the field. I was just trying to get myself in a mental state to where I could actually function on a day-to-day basis and just pretty much get out of that slump, because I did kind of start off in a slump. I guess you could say the way our season went, how we started 1-5, that’s pretty much how my whole process went throughout the treatments and stuff like that. Once I just started focusing on what I could control, which was my attitude and my effort, then I started seeing everything change around.”

“I guess it kind of is almost like closure,” Berry added. “I could finally sit back and say, ‘Man, I can put that year behind me,’ not to say it was a bad thing, it was just a lot of things that happened. I kind of just pushed it to the side throughout the whole season. I never really dealt with it until now, and just seeing everything that I went through. The video before the presentation really got me, because it kind of put everything in perspective and showed me the timeline and reminded me of all those things I went through to get back to this point. Just thinking about (it) brought all those emotions out.”

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, CB Marcus Peters, Kansas City Chiefs

Who says that NFL rookie cornerbacks can’t play in their first year in the league?

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award over another young corner in the Buffalo Bills Ronald Darby.

Darby might have had the edge at first, but Peters’s play reached another level as the season went on.

Peters ended up leading the entire league in interceptions, finishing the year with eight to go with 60 tackles and an absurd 26 passes defended (which also was a league-high).

Defensive Player of the Year, DE J.J. Watt, Houston Texans

Another non-shocker came in the form of defensive end J.J. Watt winning his third NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The Houston Texan became just the second player in NFL history to win the award three times, joining just Hall of Famer and all-time great Lawrence Taylor to do so.

“It’s almost difficult to comprehend, because I’ve only been in the league for five years,” Watt said. “To think about where I’ve come from and where I am now and what lies ahead, those types of things, it almost doesn’t register with me because of the greatness of the guys that have come before me. To even be considered amongst those guys is truly incredible, but that’s what the goal is. It’s always to come out and try to be one of the best ever.”

Watt finished the year with 76 tackles, 17.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and eight passes defended.

Despite the fact that defenses have changed their entire game plans in weeks against Houston to try to shut the fifth-year pro, nothing works, as Watt is still able to single-handily take over games.

When accepting the award on-stage, Watt made sure to note the fact that he was a 2-star recruit coming out of high school, yet now has three NFL DPOY Awards for his mantle.

“So…screw all you guys that doubted me,” Watt said with a smile as he exited the stage.

Art Rooney Award, DB Charles Woodson, Oakland Raiders

While the season might not have ended how he wanted it to, Charles Woodson at least got to end his career with a little bit of hardware.

After being named to the Pro Bowl, Woodson was honored this evening with the Art Rooney Award, given to the player who demonstrates outstanding sportsmanship on the playing field.

“This is a great honor,” Woodson said. “It’s always a great honor anytime you get voted for anything where your peers vote for it. I’m very honored to have received the award. I think what it speaks to is, the way that I played the game each time that I went out there on the field. I just tried to give it everything I had every time I stepped on the field. I know that other players respect that, and they know that. It didn’t matter if it was my first year or my 18th year, that’s the way I tried to play the game. I did that my whole life, so I think that’s what this award is about.”

The 18-year veteran and nine-time Pro Bowler didn’t have any plans for his life after football just yet.

“I don’t know, maybe if they come calling,” Woodson said. “We’ll see. But I don’t know. The future really is kind of unknown at this point. I know I have my family, I have kids, and I worry about that in the short term. Right now, I’m just enjoying myself. My career as an NFL player is over. It’s almost like a weight off of your shoulders. Now I can just kind of relax and see what’s next on my journey.”

AP Coach of the Year, Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers

From just sneaking into the playoffs at 7-8-1 to going 15-1 just a year later, there wasn’t a more deserving coach in the league than Ron Rivera of the Carolina Panthers.

Rivera led his squad to the best mark in franchise history and his team is sitting just one game away from taking home the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl champions.

It is the second time in three years that Rivera has won the award.

No team had ever won the NFC South in back-to-back years before Rivera’s squad has taken the title home in each of the last three seasons.

AP NFL Most Valuable Player: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

It might have taken most of the evening to get to, but the NFL’s worst kept secret is finally out of the bag.

Cam Newton is your 2016 NFL MVP.

No one can argue it after the incredible year that Newton had in leading his Panthers to a 15-1 record and a shot at Super Bowl 50.

“I’m very proud,” Newton said. “We didn’t get in this position by happenstance. It took years of hard work and dedication.”

While he wasn’t in attendance due to playing in the big game tomorrow afternoon, you know for a fact that he hopes to add one more trophy to his case before the weekend is done and over with.

Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award: WR Anquan Boldin, San Francisco 49ers

The Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award went to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin, based on his performance on and off the field and for his commitment to the community.

The Anquan Boldin Foundation was formed in 2004 by Boldin himself, with a mission to expand the educational and life opportunities of underprivileged youth.

In early 2015, Boldin and his wife Dionne announced a $1 million pledge out of their own pockets to help increase the impact that the foundation could have.

The Foundation offers programs throughout the year, including a summer enrichment program, Thanksgiving food drives offering 300 meals annually and holiday shopping sprees. In the fall of 2015, the Foundation awarded $10,000 academic scholarships to five students entering college and since its inception has awarded 13 four-year scholarships.

“The word humbled does not even come close to describing what it feels like to be selected Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year,” said Boldin. “Walter Payton was a player I idolized as a kid for what he could do on the football field, but he became even more of an inspiration to me as I learned about his legacy as a humanitarian.”

“I commend the other finalists throughout the National Football League who continue to use the tremendous platform we as professional athletes have to positively influence the lives of others,” Boldin added. “May we all continue to open our hearts and make an impact in our own communities throughout this world.”

Boldin will receive a $55,000 donation to give to a charity of his choice.

The runner-ups quarterback Eli Manning and tight end Benjamin Watson will receive $11,000 donations for their charities of their own choosing.

“This award means a lot,” Boldin said. “It’s definitely an honor for me to be honored in this way. I think it’s an award that all of the guys in the NFL relate to, but I think I speak for myself when I speak for the guys that were nominated with me, we don’t do it for awards or the accolades. We really do it because we truly believe in what we’re doing and it’s in our hearts.”

NFL Rookie of the Year: QB Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Rookie of the Year award was won by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston.

Winston set the franchise rookie-record for passing yards (4,042) and touchdowns (22) in a single-season.

The young quarterback helped the Buccaneers improve by four games this year, leading the team to a 6-10 overall record.

Complete list of the other awards handed out tonight:

• Class of 2016 Hall of Fame Inductees: Eddie DeBartolo Jr., Tony Dungy, Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Ken Stabler and Dick Stanfel
• FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year: QB Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals/RB Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
• Fantasy Player of the Year: WRAntonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Deacon Jones Award: DE J.J. Watt, Houston Texans
• Greatness on the Road Award: WR Antonio Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Play of the Year: Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary pass to Richard Rodgers to beat the Detroit Lions
• Clutch Performer of the Year Award, QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
• AP Assistant of the Year: Wade Phillips, Denver Broncos
• Don Shula High School Coach of the Year: Michael Burnett, Tuscarora (Virginia) High School