Sports Illustrated has said they won’t be a “slave to the calendar” when it comes to the NFL. Having a quarterback get the award for a super bowl win in the beginning of February is consistent with how they have awarded it to quarterbacks in the past. It’s for their entire season. Mahomes had a great season, won the Super Bowl and has all the off field accomplishments in his city that they love. Mahomes would have been a strong contender if it was a normal year with all sports going.
Of course they can define it anyway they want. In 2020 Kobe died and people were sad. He didn’t accomplish anything noteworthy sports related or otherwise. They can do whatever they want but it would not be consistent with what they have done in the past. They haven’t always followed their pattern but they have most of the time.
Arrhur Ashe did not accomplish anything sports related in 1992. He did found the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health in 1992. He did promote AIDS awareness probably more than anyone before him. They did deviate from the norm of it being mostly about sports accomplishments but he did accomplish much more than Kobe did during the year.
I hope it’s this. I’d nominate someone like Shin-Soo Choo, who donated money to the minor league baseball players. I know there were others who also thought about the guys coming up in their sports who hadn’t had any million-dollar years. Let’s honor them.