Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin won the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year award on Thursday, beating out Texans linebacker Brian Cushing and three other finalists. Cushing and fellow finalist Michael Oher were at the ceremony at the NFL Super Bowl Media Center in Fort Lauderdale; Harvin couldn't attend due to travel complications.
The award was voted on by fans --- Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com reports that **1.59 million votes were tallied** on NFL.com. Last month, Cushing won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, which is voted on by a 50-member Associated Press media panel. The AP also selected Cushing as a second-team All-Pro, and he was chosen for the Pro Bowl by a combination of votes from fans, players and coaches.
At the Media Center on Thursday, Cushing held court with the media for about 10 minutes before heading down to Radio Row. There, he interviewed with SportsRadio 610 AM (**check out the podcast**) and several other stations. During his session with reporters, Cushing reflected on having to miss last Sunday's Pro Bowl because of injuries.
"It was a whole bunch of things, from knee injuries to rib fractures, broken hand, broken pinky," Cushing said. "I really would've loved to play in the game, no question about it, especially because of the honor it was to be selected to it. But you know, I just have to make a couple more now. That's the bottom line. I'm just really happy I was able to be picked for it."
