NEW YORK -- Bob Sanders' impact on the vastly improved Indianapolis defense, not to mention his impact on opposing ball carriers, earned the Colts safety The Associated Press 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award Monday.

Sanders makes highlight films with his smash-mouth style and knack for always being near the ball. He was a leader on defense for Indianapolis, which had the third-ranked unit in the NFL and allowed just 262 points, a league low.

Sanders earned 31 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL.

The next closest in the balloting were Seattle end Patrick Kerney and Tennessee tackle Albert Haynesworth with four votes each.

The Colts excelled on defense on their way to a 13-3 record and the AFC South crown.

Sanders received much of the credit for the turnaround, which saw Indy cut its yards per carry average from 5.3 in 2006 to 3.8 this season.

Vick tranferred to Kansas

Michael Vick left Virginia on Monday and was transferred to a Kansas prison to serve the rest of his 23-month sentence on a federal dogfighting charge.

The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback is at the federal prison camp in Leavenworth, Kan., said Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Yahoo! Sports reported that Vick plans to enter a drug treatment program at Leavenworth, and a successful completion of the program may allow him to be released after serving 12 months.

Billingsley said federal prison records wouldn't immediately show if an inmate was accepted into such a program.

-- AP