The last running back to win the Super Bowl MVP was Terrell Davis, which happened over 20 Super Bowls ago. One reason for that is a decline in big rushing games in the Super Bowl, particularly with respect to the winning team. Just once in the last 16 Super Bowls — Dominic Rhodes back in SuperBowl XLI — has the winning team had a 100-yard rusher. Perhaps more interesting is that in the last 9 Super Bowls, the losing team had the game’s leading rusher more than half the time.
The graph below shows the leading rusher for both the winning and losing teams in the Super Bowl. The winning team’s leading rusher is in a full black circle, while the losing team’s leading rusher is in a white circle with a black outline. In addition, in the 13 of 53 Super Bowls where the game’s leading rusher was on the losing team, I’ve put that in a white circle with a red outline.
I addition, there are just two games in Super Bowl history where the leading team’s rusher was not a running back or fullback: Steve Young on the ’94 49ers and Percy Harvin on the ’13 Seahawks. There have also been three games where the losing team’s leading rusher was not a running back or fullback: John Elway on the ’87 Broncos, Cam Newton on the ’15 Panthers, and Len Dawson in the very first Super Bowl.
The table below shows the leading rusher in each Super Bowl.
As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.