NBC to Air 'NFL Honors' on Eve of Super Bowl

On the eve of this year’s Super Bowl, the National Football League will salute its best players and plays from the 2011 season with a two-hour NBC primetime special hosted by Alec Baldwin.

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NFL Honors will air from 9-11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 from Indianapolis, the site of Super Bowl XLVI, which airs on NBC. The telecast is designed to become an annual event held in the host city of the title game.

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The awards for the league’s Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Fantasy Player of the Year and Fantastic Finish of the Year will be among those unveiled. Most are voted on by the Associated Press and come with corporate sponsorship from the likes of Pepsi, Castrol and Prilosec OTC.

Also to be announced will be the winner of the coveted Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which recognizes a player’s off-the-field community service as well as his playing excellence. All the honorees are scheduled to be on hand.

The NHL stages a similar end-of-year televised awards event from Las Vegas.

Baldwin, the star of NBC’s returning Emmy winner 30 Rock, will host the show from the historic Murat Theater in Indianapolis, and Lenny Kravitz is set to perform. The show will be taped two hours before airing.

Leading into NFL Honors will be a one-hour red-carpet show on the league’s NFL Network cable channel.