Considered the fastest man in pro football, Tennessee Titan Chris Johnson ran off with running off with The Associated Press 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.
Johnson was uncatchable in setting a league mark for yards from scrimmage (2,509) and becoming the sixth player with a 2,000-yard rushing season.
He is the first NFL player to finish with at least 2,000 yards rushing and 500 receiving (503).
That earned the second-year pro 38½ votes Wednesday from a nationwide panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Johnson easily beat New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who received nine votes.
“I kind of realize what I did and I feel like I had a dream season,” said Johnson, who scored 16 touchdowns (14 rushing), second to Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, and tied the NFL mark with six consecutive games rushing for at least 125 yards.
Johnson, who has run a 4.2 in the 40 and believes he’ll remain the NFL’s fastest player unless a team signs Usain Bolt, has bigger dreams, too: breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, and winning the league MVP award.
Johnson became the first player to run for three TDs of 85 yards or longer in a season; no NFL player had even done that in a career. He’ll start next season with a streak of 11 100-yard rushing games; Barry Sanders holds the record with 14 in 1997.
In November, Johnson rushed for 800 yards, the best month of any running back in NFL history.
League MVP Peyton Manning of Indianapolis drew 1½ votes, and San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers got one.
Johnson is the first Titan to win the honor, but the third player in franchise history. Quarterback Warren Moon won in 1990 as a Houston Oiler, and Earl Campbell took the award from 1978 to 1980 with the Oilers.
Information from Espn.com and the Associated Press contributed to this report.