Cam Newton adds NFL Offensive Player of the Year award to his outstanding 2015 season

Cam Newton was named the NFL's 2015 Offensive Player of the Year Saturday night, adding to his long list of accolades in a career-best season.

After leading the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 season and the Super Bowl with 35 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in the regular season, Newton has long been the huge favorite to win MVP. But because he was considered a shoo-in for MVP, some believed that the Associated Press would give the Offensive Player of the Year Award instead to contenders like Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, Julio Jones or Antonio Brown.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named the MVP for the 2014 NFL season, but it was DeMarco Murray who earned Offensive Player of the Year honors after he led the NFL in rushing while with the Dallas Cowboys. The awards went to different players in three of the five years before that.

The 2015 season was easily the best of Newton's career after he threw no more than 24 touchdowns and no fewer than 12 interceptions in his first four seasons in the NFL. While he didn't eclipse the 4,051 passing yards or 706 rushing yards he posted as a rookie en route to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, he crushed his career mark in passing rating by finishing the year at 99.2.

No team scored more points in 2015 than the Panthers, and the high-powered offense led the team to Super Bowl 50 by scoring 80 combined points against the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals in two postseason wins.