Shaun Alexander set an NFL record for touchdowns, led the league in rushing, and ran away with the Associated Press Most Valuable Player award yesterday.

And with free agency on the horizon, the Seattle running back could parlay his sensational year into unprecedented riches.

Alexander spearheaded the Seahawks’ rise to the best record in the NFL, including a victory over the league’s other 14-2 team, the Colts. It was the most productive season in Seahawks history, one in which Alexander scored 28 touchdowns and rushed for 1,880 yards.

That earned him 19 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. He ended the two-year reign of Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who received 13 votes.

“I think that is a team goal,” Alexander said of winning the award. “The way I always looked at MVPs was it was a player that did really, really good on a really, really good team. That is why I am even more excited about this year, because I have put together some great numbers, but we have a great team.”

Those great numbers included 11 games rushing for 100 yards or more, topped by 173 against Arizona on November 6. He scored 27 touchdowns on the ground and one as a receiver to break Priest Holmes’s seasonal record by one.

His lowest output was in a Monday night game in Philadelphia, a 42-0 romp in which he played only the first half and had 49 yards in the snow.

Alexander became the only player in NFL history with at least 15 touchdowns in five straight seasons and the fourth with consecutive 20-touchdown years. He became Seattle’s career rushing leader this season.

“It’s just like all the things – the rushing title, the MVP, all those things – it’s exciting to talk about,” said the sixth-year pro out of Alabama. “But I don’t think it would mean that much until after I retire, because then it would actually hit me what it means. Right now, we’re on this ride and it’s just kind of one of those things; everything is kind of numb to us. It’s all exciting. We’re already in the second round of the playoffs, we’ve just got a bunch of cool things that we are really not used to.”

Seattle would like to get used to having Alexander in the backfield. But he could leave in the off-season.

He was designated the Seahawks’ franchise player before this season and accepted the team’s one-year, $6.323 million offer – with a proviso. The team agreed not to use the same franchise tag on him in 2006.

So either the Seahawks come up with a huge financial package, or the MVP could be scoring touchdowns and gaining all those yards elsewhere next season.

“It is a business,” he said. “The Seahawks have to make their own decisions. I am going to be happy for whatever they do.”

Alexander is the first Seahawk to win the award. He also is the first running back voted MVP since Marshall Faulk in 2000.

Trailing Manning in the balloting were New England quarterback Tom Brady with 10 votes, Giants running back Tiki Barber with six, and Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer with two.

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Tedy Bruschi didn’t get a chance to tackle Steve Smith when the Patriots played the Panthers in September. By midseason, he’d made a remarkable comeback from a stroke and was starting for New England. Bruschi’s return was as impressive as Smith’s achievement of returning from a knee injury that cost the Carolina receiver nearly all of the 2004 season. Yesterday, they shared The Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year award.

Their teams surely enjoyed their contributions, which earned 18 votes each from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters. That easily outdistanced Washington quarterback Mark Brunell with six, Tennessee defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch with five, Detroit receiver Roy Williams, Tampa Bay receiver Joey Galloway, and Minnesota receiver-kick returner Koren Robinson, each with one vote.

The Patriots’ star linebacker and defensive leader made it back on October 30 after originally expecting to sit out the entire schedule. By then, Smith was on his way to leading the NFL in most receiving categories. Both sparked their teams into the playoffs.

“I’m a football player by trade. That’s what I do,” Bruschi said. “So I did everything I could to make myself a football player again.”

As did Smith.

“I keep stressing that last year put everything in perspective,” Smith said. Smith tied for the most receptions in the league with 103 and led all receivers with 1,563 yards. He scored 13 touchdowns, and also ranked third in the NFC in punt return average (10.6 yards).