NFL Honors 2016: Cam Newton among award winners Saturday night

Typically, the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction process is an arduous one. Committee members present their cases for players, coaches or owners, and the voters can spend a long, long time debating the merits of each individual. Earlier on Saturday, the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain illustrated how exhausting this process can be.

As one specific example, take former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who was eventually inducted after nearly an hour of deliberation.

It was a big night for the Carolina Panthers at Saturday’s NFL Honors show. Cam Newton swept the top two awards, while Ron Rivera walked away with Coach of the Year once again. Meanwhile, J.J. Watt continued to build on what’s already turning into a Hall of Fame legacy.

The NFL seems determined to make this red-carpet extravaganza an annual tradition, but once again the show was pre-taped, leading to all the winners being revealed early on Twitter. Still, Conan O’Brien was the host for the night, and he brought the jokes early on.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is officially among the pantheon of NFL greats. He was awarded the MVP trophy Saturday night, becoming only the sixth player in history to win both the Heisman Trophy and the Associated Press NFL MVP award. He is also the fourth player in the last eight years to win both MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in the same season.

It wasn’t a particularly close race, either -- Newton got 48 of the 50 writers’ votes, with Tom Brady and Carson Palmer receiving the other two.

Carolina’s defense led the league in takeaways with 24 interceptions in 2015. The Panthers were also tied for first with 22 forced fumbles. Their fourth-ranked run defense only allowed 88.4 yards per game, and their pass rush finished the season with 44 sacks.

Bruce Arians, the head coach of the Cardinals, was also a strong candidate to win the award, but Arians even said in December that Rivera would have his vote to win the award this season. Arians won the AP’s Coach of the Year award in 2012 and 2014, and Rivera has taken home the honor in 2013 and 2015.

Peters capped off his season with a strong finish, recording four interceptions in his final five regular season games and was selected as the NFL’s defensive rookie of the month in December. He was named to the 2015 Pro Bowl and received second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press. Peters added another interception in the playoffs, picking off Hoyer again in the Chiefs’ 30-0 rout of the Texans in the Wild Card round.

He was an integral part of a dominant Chiefs pass defense that helped Kansas City put together its incredible run from 1-5 to arguably most improbable playoff berth in league history. During their 10-game win streak from Week 7 to the end of the regular season, the Chiefs led the league in interceptions, opponent passer rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt allowed.

The MVP of the NFL Honors award show was determined before it even started. That honor goes to Leah Still.

This is her second appearance at an awards show, and she’s already handling it like a pro. Devon Still announced that Leah was cancer-free in November, and it would appear that Leah and her father are doing better than ever.

On Saturday night, the NFL presents its annual Honors show, the league’s version of the Academy Awards ceremony that it’s been trying to make a thing for a few years now. However, last year all the award winners leaked out on Twitter hours before the show started, so whoops! Hope that doesn’t happen this year.

Here’s a brief rundown of the top awards contenders and my predictions.