The Joe F. Carr Trophy was the first award given in the
National Football League (NFL) to recognize a
most valuable player for each season. It was first awarded in 1938, known then as the Gruen Trophy,[1] and renamed in 1939 in honor of NFL commissioner
Joseph Carr.[2][3] The Gruen Trophy, sponsored by
Gruen Watch Co., was first awarded in 1937 to
Dutch Clark of the
Detroit Lions. However, both contemporary[4][5] and modern[6] sources consider the 1938 award the first retroactive Joe F. Carr Trophy, and thus the first
NFL MVP award. Players were chosen by a panel of sportswriters who distributed first and second place votes. It was awarded until the 1946 season, and it remains the only MVP award the NFL has officially sanctioned.[7]