Joe Flacco Shares Message For Browns Fans After Winning Comeback Player Of The Year
Thursday was a memorable night for the Cleveland Browns at the annual NFL honors as the organization cleaned by claiming awards in all four categories they had nominees.
That list included defensive end Myles Garrett earning his first AP Defensive Player of the Year award, head coach Kevin Stefanski taking home the Coach of the Year Award for a second time and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was voted the Assistant Coach of the Year.
Perhaps the most surprising win of the night though came in the Comeback Player of the Year category, where veteran QB Joe Flacco nudged out Bills safety Damar Hamlin to claim the prize. Hamlin actually had more first place votes that the Browns signal caller but lost based on total points from the voting.
For Flacco, the award served as a a nice memento to put a bow on his historic and magical run with the Browns. Joining the team in Week 12, the Super Bowl champion provided an unpredictable spark for Cleveland, putting up four consecutive 300-plus yard outings in five starts to help the team clinch a playoff berth.
The rags-to-riches, off the couch to quarterbacking a playoff team was something out of Hollywood and captivated fans across the league. Apparently it caught the attention of the voters as well.
After winning the award – which last month he conceded should go to Hamlin –Flacco shared a heartfelt message for the city that embarked on that memorable journey with him at the end of the season.
“Big thanks to the city of Cleveland, everybody in Cleveland,” Flacco began. “I want to say thank you to my teammates just for welcoming me into that locker room at that point in the year. To welcome a new guy is not the easiest thing, so want to say thank you to those guys. Want to say thank you to the organization for just giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do, and that’s play football. And I want to say thank you to the city just for making me and my family feel at home for a couple months.”
There’s no guarantee that Flacco will be back with the team next year. Browns vice president of football operations Andrew Berry expressed that he’d be open to bringing Flacco back at his end of the season presser, but avoided making any guarantees.
That means, as the 16-year veteran eluded to, Browns fans may be left hanging onto those couple months where they could call Joe Flacco one of them. Even in that short amount of time though, he provided the city and it’s passionate fan base with memories they won’t soon forget.
