Sunday evening will see the crowning of the ultimate postseason achievement in Super Bowl XLVII. But Saturday night of Super Bowl weekend was for recognizing those players and coaches who ascended to greatness during the regular season, as the NFL announced its major awards for 2012 at the "NFL Honors" program on CBS.
Hosted by Alec Baldwin, the "NFL Honors" ceremony was introduced last year to rousing success. While awards were once announced via press releases, the "NFL Honors" program works to honor achievements throughout the league in a traditional awards show ceremony format.
Plenty of current and former players were in attendance for the ceremony at the Mahalia Jackson Theater, including awards favorites like Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson, as well as legends like Deion Sanders.
Some awards (like Most Valuable Player) have been hotly contested throughout the season. Peterson and Manning put together two historically brilliant seasons, with just about everyone agreeing one of the two men deserved the honor.
Others, like the Walter Payton Man of the Year, are given out to recognize the values you don't necessarily see on Sundays.
Who won these prestigious awards on Saturday? Here is a complete breakdown of Saturday's award winners along with reaction and analysis from across the Twittersphere.
In just his second season in the NFL, the former Central Michigan star led the NFL with 20.5 sacks and forced four fumbles in the process.
When teams actually stopped him from mauling their quarterback, he got his big paws up and deflected an amazing 16 passes.
There were three quarterbacks who easily could have taken home this award, but according to CBS Sports' Will Brinson, RGIII came out on top:
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft completed 65.6 percent of his throws for 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions en route to a QB rating of 102.4.
He also established himself as one of the most dangerous offensive players in the league, as he rushed for another 815 yards and seven scores.
The former Boston College stud started every game for the Carolina Panthers this season and, according to NFL.com, racked up an amazing 164 combined tackles to go with one sack, eight pass deflections and two interceptions.
When Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with Leukemia, Arians, who was serving as the offensive coordinator, came on as interim head coach and led this team to an amazing turnaround.
Nominees: Aaron Rodgers (QB, Green Bay Packers), Adrian Peterson (RB, Minnesota Vikings), Tom Brady (QB, New England Patriots), Arian Foster (RB, Houston Texans), Calvin Johnson (WR, Detroit Lions), Tony Gonzalez (TE, Atlanta Falcons), Stephen Gostkowski (K, New England Patriots), Chicago Bears' Team Defense
Nominees: Russell Wilson (QB, Seattle Seahawks), Robert Griffin III (QB, Washington Redskins), Andrew Luck (QB, Indianapolis Colts), Doug Martin (RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Alfred Morris (RB, Washington Redskins)
Nominees: Ray Rice 4th-and-29 conversion, Adrian Peterson 82-yard TD run, Robert Griffin III 76-yard TD run, Jacoby Jones 108-yard kickoff return TD, Cam Newton 72-yard TD run, Green Bay Packers fake field goal TD, Vick Ballard diving TD in overtime, Reggie Wayne one-handed reception, Mike Wallace TD catch between his knees, Jason Avant one-handed grab
Not only did Witten pull in a ridiculous 110 catches for 1,039 yards and three touchdowns as a focal point of Dallas' high-powered offensive attack, but he was incredibly active off the field as a philanthropist.
Nominees: Torrey Smith (Week 3 vs. Patriots), Drew Brees (Consecutive Passing TD Games Record), Peyton Manning (Week 6 vs. Chargers), Victor Cruz (Week 7 vs. Redskins), Kirk Cousins (Week 14 vs. Ravens)
Ground Nominees: Marshawn Lynch (Seattle Seahawks), Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings), Alfred Morris (Washington Redskins)
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