There are a lot of great sounds in sports: The swish of a basketball rippling the net; the cling of a puck caroming off the post; the explosive thud of a baseball hitting Alex Rodriguez.

But for my money, nothing is better than a stadium full of fans chanting the three magic letters:

M-V-P.

It might happen for Paul Goldschmidt, but only if he leads the Diamondbacks into the playoffs.

And it could happen for Patrick Peterson, who is poised to become the Valley’s next superstar.

Peterson has already declared himself a MVP candidate, in a league that hasn’t seen a defensive player win the award since Lawrence Taylor in 1986. His confidence is staggering, borderline delusional. Few have made cocky seem so cool.

But then again, Peterson lives in a different world.

He returned four punts for touchdowns as a rookie, and nearly had a fifth in the last game of the season. He had seven interceptions last season. Now, he’s going to play a significant role in the offense.

In the NFL, the mythology of two-way players is a very powerful thing. But what about a three-way player, someone who is an impact player in every phase of the game?

Cardinals GM Steve Keim recently put Peterson in the same class as Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson. That’s NFL royalty, folks. Those are names that transcend football. Those are names that capture your imagination.

So while the Valley has mostly gone bat-crazy for Paul Goldschmidt, lining up around the stadium to get his gold-painted bobble-head doll, Peterson has even bigger plans for us.

In the end, he may even become the greatest athlete we’ve ever seen.

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