Newspaper Enterprise Association United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States , owned by The E . W . Scripps Company . It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide . Its core businesses were the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association . The Newspaper Enterprise Association once presented awards in professional and college football . History . Edward Wyllis Scripps started his newspaper career in the 1880s , and owned 22 newspapers by 1910 . In 1897 , he created two companies , the Scripps - McRae Press Association and the Scripps News Association . In 1907 , he combined a number of news providers into United Press Associations as a rival to Associated Press . On June 2 , 1902 the new Newspaper Enterprise Association , based in Cleveland , Ohio , started as a news report service for different Scripps - owned newspapers . It started selling content to non - Scripps owned newspapers in 1907 , and by 1909 , it became a more general syndicate , offering comics , pictures and features as well . It moved from Cleveland to Chicago in 1915 . NEA rapidly grew and delivered content to 400 newspapers in 1920 and about 700 in 1930 . At that time , it had some 100 features available . Boyd Lewis became the executive editor of NEA Service in 1945 . From 1936 to 1954 , United Features published their own line of comic books , using their comic strip features as characters . After ending the line in 1954 , most of their comics would be continued by St . John Publications . On June 3 , 2010 , United Media sold their licensing arm , along with the rights to " Peanuts " , to Iconix Brand Group . On February 24 , 2011 , United Media struck a distribution deal with Universal Uclick for syndication of the former company ' s 150 comic strip and news features , which became effective on June 1 . NEA Christmas strip . 1936 - 2010 NEA produced an annual Christmas - themed daily comic strip for its subscribing newspapers as a holiday bonus . They typically ran for three - four weeks before Christmas , with the concluding installment on December 25 or a nearby date . Strip historian Allan Holtz notes over the years these strips have featured regular NEA characters , adapted classic Christmas stories , and original stories with single - appearance characters . The 1942 strip , " Santa ' s Victory Christmas , " had a WWII - era theme of conserving raw materials to further the war effort and was drawn by Superman ghost artist Leo Nowak . The 1967 entry , " Bucky ' s Christmas Caper " , was written and drawn by famed comic book creator Wally Wood . Web features . These are published on GoComics : Other . Syndicated puzzles NFL awards . Beginning in 1954 the Newspaper Enterprise Association ( NEA ) , under the guidance of Murray Olderman , began to poll NFL players and award what became known as the Players ' All - Pro team . In addition , the NEA awarded a Rookie of the Year , a Most Valuable Player ( since 1955 ) , and a Defensive Player of the Year ( George S . Halas Trophy ; 1966 – 96 ) . All were accepted as official and were published in the " NFL Record and Fact Book " alongside the Associated Press , United Press International , and the Pro Football Writers Association All - Pro teams and awards . The NEA last announced awards in 1997 and last had an All - Pro team in 1992 , ending a 34 - year tradition of the " Player ' s All - Pro Team " . ( The NEA list ' s successor , the " Sporting News " All - Pro team , currently polls players along with coaches and managers for its teams . ) From the early 1980s the NEA All - Pro team was released in the " World Almanac " which was a NEA publication . The NFL MVP award was called the Jim Thorpe Trophy and began in 1955 ( not to be confused with college football ' s Jim Thorpe Award ) . The Defensive Player of the Year was named after Chicago Bears founder George S . Halas and its inception was 1966 , the Rookie of the Year award was named after NFL commissioner Bert Bell and began in 1964 . In the early 1960s the NEA began awarding the Third Down Trophy that symbolized each team ' s MVP . That began in the American Football League and included the NFL after the 1970 AFL - NFL merger and ran through 1979 . Currently the Jim Thorpe Trophy is still awarded , through the Jim Thorpe Association of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma . It is awarded to the NFL Most Valuable Player and is voted upon my members of the NFLPA . Olderman , the driving force behind the Players ' All - Pro teams and awards , was also a fine artist and cartoonist . When the NEA news service released its stories on the annual NFL awards they were accompanied by artwork provided by Olderman to illustrate the stories . College football awards . NEA was the selector of All - America teams , a practice that ended in 1992 .