Rodgers tops Watt for MVP

PHOENIX (AP) — Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers won his second MVP award Saturday night, and J.J. Watt swept away the voters the way he sweeps quarterbacks off their feet to take top defensive honors.

Rodgers, also the 2011 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award winner, took this one in somewhat surprisingly easy fashion over Watt. The Packers quarterback received 31 votes for the 2014 award from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Houston’s Watt, seeking to become the first defensive player to win MVP since 1986, got 13 votes.

NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray of Dallas won Offensive Player, while the Arizona Cardinals swept coaching honors. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski took the Comeback Player award. Bruce Arians took his second Coach of the Year award in three seasons after leading his injury-ravaged Cardinals to an 11-5 record and a wild-card playoff berth. His defensive coordinator in Arizona, Todd Bowles, won the first Assistant Coach of the Year award. Bowles has parlayed his work with the Cardinals into a head coaching job with the Jets.

Seau, Haley, others elected to HOF

PHOENIX (AP) — Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley and Will Shields were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The class of 2015, to be inducted in August in Canton, Ohio, also includes a pair of contributors, Bill Polian and Ron Wolf, along with senior selection Mick Tingelhoff. The announcement was made Saturday, a day before the Super Bowl.

Five nominees were eliminated in the final vote: Tony Dungy, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace and Kurt Warner.

Giants matriarch Ann Mara dies

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (AP) — Ann Mara, the matriarch of the NFL’s New York Giants for the past 60 years, died Sunday. She was 85.

Giants co-owner John Mara announced his mother’s death on Super Bowl Sunday. Ann Mara slipped in front of her home in Rye, New York, during an ice storm two weeks ago and was hospitalized with a head injury the following day. While there were initial hopes for recovery, John Mara said, complications developed and she died early Sunday surrounded by her family.

Djokovic wins 5th Aussie title

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic won his fifth Australian Open title and his eighth career Grand Slam while extending Andy Murray’s misery at Melbourne Park.

Djokovic beat Murray 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 in Sunday’s final, relegating the Scotsman to runner-up status for the fourth time in four tries in the Australian Open final. Murray had lost twice previously to Djokovic ”“ in 2011 and 2013 ”“ and to Roger Federer in 2010.

The No. 1-ranked Djokovic, meanwhile, is a perfect 5-for-5 in Australian Open finals.

In the women’s final Saturday, Serena Williams won her 19th Grand Slam title and continued her unbeaten run in six Australian Open finals by extending her decade-long domination of Maria Sharapova.

She struggled with a hacking cough, she was sick, and she twice celebrated too early, but she held her composure in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory.

Koepka gets 1st PGA win in Phoenix

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Brooks Koepka rolled in a 50-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 15th hole and closed with a 5-under 66 on Sunday to win the Phoenix Open for his first PGA Tour victory.

The victory ended a journey around the world for the 24-year-old Floridian. He went from the Challenge Tour in Europe to a European Tour card to a victory in Turkey. But this was the pinnacle.

Koepka emerged from a wild final hour at the TPC Scottsdale in which five players had a share of the lead at some point. Martin Laird lost a share of the lead with a bogey on the 17th. Hideki Matsuyama ended 44 holes without a bogey with a three-putt on the 14th. Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer ran out of holes.