Pat Surtain II of the Denver Broncos wins Defensive Player of the Year award

Pat Surtain II of the Denver Broncos won the Defensive Player of the Year honors on Thursday at the NFL Honors ceremony.

"I'm honestly very thankful and humbled to receive this award," the star cornerback said on Thursday night.

He's only the second Bronco to ever win the award. (Randy Gradishar won it in 1978.) Standout Denver defensive players Champ Bailey and Von Miller both finished second in voting. 

The ceremony took place in New Orleans on Thursday night.

Surtain led a Denver defense was third in the league in points allowed and he helped the Broncos secure their first playoff berth in almost a decade. His impressive stats on the season were as follows:

- Allowed only 317 yards on 52 passes thrown in his direction
- 45 tackles (34 solo)
- 4 interceptions, including one pick-6
- 11 passes defensed
- 1 forced fumble
- 1 fumble recovery

Surtain was one of five finalists for the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. He beat out T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and Zack Baun of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Surtain was named a First Team All-Pro for the second time and made the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season.