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In what probably has to be considered a pretty significant upset, Minnesota Vikings' quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is the winner of the 2014 Pepsi Rookie of the Year Award, per the folks at NFL.com.
Bridgewater was the only quarterback nominated for the honor, which is given based entirely on fan voting. In order for him to win the award, he had to beat out one running back (Jeremy Hill of the Cincinnati Bengals) and three wide receivers (Odell Beckham, Jr. of the New York Giants, Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Sammy Watkins of the Buffalo Bills).
Given that this award is based on fan voting, it's a bit surprising that Bridgewater was able to beat Beckham out for the award. Shoot, if you click on the link above and go to the awards page, you'll see that Beckham had a pretty elaborate video for his nomination, complete with music and everything. Bridgewater, on the other hand, had. . .some highlight clips from a couple of different games.
Bridgewater is the fifth sixth quarterback to win the award, which was established in 2002. The other quarterbacks to bring home the trophy were Ben Roethlisberger (2004), Vince Young (2006), Joe Flacco (2008), Cam Newton (2011), and Russell Wilson (2012). He's also the third member of the Minnesota Vikings to win the award, joining Adrian Peterson (2007) and Percy Harvin (2009).
Now, this is not the "official" Rookie of the Year Award. . .that's determined by the Associated Press and will be announced at the NFL Honors show on Saturday night. Could this be a precursor to Bridgewater winning that award as well? The answer is a solid. . .maybe.
Here is a breakdown of the awards that have been given out since 2002:
| Year | Pepsi Rookie of the Year | AP Rookie of the Year |
| 2002 | Jeremy Shockey, TE, New York Giants | Clinton Portis, RB, Denver Broncos |
| 2003 | Domanick Davis, RB, Houston Texans | Anquan Boldin, WR, Arizona Cardinals |
| 2004 | Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers | Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 2005 | Cadillac Williams, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Cadillac Wiliams, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 2006 | Vince Young, QB, Tennessee Titans | Vince Young, QB, Tennessee Titans |
| 2007 | Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings | Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings |
| 2008 | Joe Flacco. QB, Baltimore Ravens | Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons |
| 2009 | Percy Harvin, WR, Minnesota Vikings | Percy Harvin, WR, Minnesota Vikings |
| 2010 | Ndamukong Suh, DT, Detroit Lions | Ndamukong Suh, DT, Detroit Lions |
| 2011 | Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers | Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers |
| 2012 | Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks | Robert Griffin III, QB, Washington Redskins |
| 2013 | Keenan Allen, WR, San Diego Chargers | Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers |
| 2014 | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Minnesota Vikings | ??? |
The AP Rookies of the year were all the Offensive Rookie of the Year, execpt for Suh (obviously). I'm not sure if Bridgewater can pull off the double this season, but it sure would be nice if he did, wouldn't it?
Congratulations to Teddy Bridgewater on being named the 2014 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year!
EDIT: So, apparently this may not be officially official yet, but our friends over at Vikings Territory have a screenshot that shows that we weren't just making this up, either.