You know, just the other day I was thinking about the MVP race and how it's odd that Brady 'only' has two career MVPs given that he's annually in the mix......
...but then it occurred to me that it is actually BECAUSE he consistently wins and puts up great stats that he doesn't win the race. We're so used to his ho-hum 12+ win seasons with 34-ish TDs that it has become almost an afterthought.
Instead, naturally more attention is given to those better than average players who have a career year. When something happens outside of the norm there is bound to be more people taking notice.