There is an interesting development regarding those who vote for the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award.
The Associated Press recently released a statement regarding how players in the running for the award should be judged by the voters:
“The spirit of the AP Comeback Player of the Year award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury, or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.”
The AP is asking voters to consider the following when voting for Comeback Player of the Year starting this upcoming season:
“The spirit of the AP Comeback Player of the Year award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming… pic.twitter.com/roJTtFpPFL
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 18, 2024
In the last two seasons, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco won the award over Bills safety Damar Hamlin, and Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith won it over Christian McCaffrey.
Flacco came in off the bench last year and took the Browns to the playoffs while Hamlin fought back to play on the field after going into cardiac arrest during a play the season prior.
Geno Smith, like Flacco, was a previous backup that ended up becoming a Pro-Bowler while guiding Seattle to the playoffs.
McCaffrey battled injuries in Carolina before being traded over to San Francisco in 2022 and having a resurgence.
It is clear that the award has recently been given to a few players that have only had to overcome being a backup.
Players like Hamlin and McCaffrey actually had to overcome injuries or in Hamlin’s case, a near-death experience, in order to get back to playing the game of football at a high level.
This is a good reminder for the voters just to make sure that they know what the award stands for in the end.
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