For most of the 2025 NFL season, the MVP conversation boiled down to two names: Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye. Stafford, the veteran leading the Rams, and Maye, the rookie sensation energizing the Patriots, were neck and neck in what turned into one of the tightest MVP races in recent memory. But when the ballots were counted, the spotlight shifted-not just because of who won, but because of a surprising outlier in the voting.
Stafford took home 24 first-place votes. Maye was right behind him with 23.
Josh Allen snagged two. And the final first-place vote?
That went to Justin Herbert.
Yes, that Justin Herbert-the quarterback of a Chargers team that didn’t make a deep playoff run and wasn’t a headline fixture late in the season. On paper, he wasn’t even in the top tier of MVP candidates. But one voter saw it differently, and he didn’t hide behind anonymity.
NFL analyst Sam Monson came forward and owned the vote.
“I was the Justin Herbert vote,” Monson posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The guy had the worst offensive line in the NFL all season and despite that he was working miracles in almost every single game.
Stafford's OL became 2/5ths as bad as Herbert's for 5 minutes and he became a turnover howitzer. He embodied ‘value.’”
That explanation lit a fire across social media. Some fans appreciated the transparency.
Others? Not so much.
“Respect to you for owning it and giving a detailed reason,” one fan commented.
“Kudos to you for admitting it, but, holy s***, that vote was a poor decision. Overthought the whole f***ing thing,” said another.
“I respect you for coming publicly with your vote. But this might be the worst take of all time,” read another reaction.
And then there was this: “You should be stripped of your vote.”
Still, not everyone was ready to throw Monson under the bus. One user chimed in with, “I don't know if I would have had the stones to do it, but you aren't wrong about Stafford and the OL.”
It’s worth noting: had Monson cast his vote for Maye instead of Herbert, the rookie would’ve edged out Stafford for the MVP-adding yet another accolade to a season that already included a playoff win over Herbert’s Chargers and an upcoming trip to Super Bowl LX.
But that’s the beauty-and the chaos-of MVP voting. There’s no rigid formula.
Every voter has their own definition of “value.” Some lean on stats.
Others weigh team success. And some, like Monson, look at context-what a player did in spite of the odds stacked against him.
Was Herbert’s season MVP-worthy? That’s up for debate. But in a year where the margins were razor-thin and the narratives ran deep, one rogue vote was enough to shift the outcome-and spark a conversation that’s still going strong.