Insider blasts voters for Damar Hamlin Comeback Player of the Year snub
Add NBC Sports’ Peter King to the list of those upset that Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco earned Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year honors over Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin last week.
“It’s ridiculous that Joe Flacco, who came back from sitting on his couch for two-and-a-half months, won Comeback Player over Damar Hamlin, who came back from having to be resuscitated back to life on a football field last January,” King wrote for Monday’s edition of his “Football Morning in America” column. “What’s stronger than ridiculous? Absurd? Okay. It was absurd.”
Flacco remained an unsigned free agent through the start of the 2023 season until the Browns needed a temporary replacement for injured quarterback Deshaun Watson in November. The 39-year-old then became a Cleveland sports savior who won four of five regular-season starts en route to helping the Browns clinch a postseason berth. However, he and the club came crashing back down to earth thanks to a 45-14 wild-card playoff loss at the Houston Texans on Jan. 13.
Meanwhile, the Pro Football Writers of America voted Hamlin their Comeback Player of the Year in January after he appeared in five regular-season games and a pair of playoff contests. The 25-year-old went into cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game at the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2, 2023, and had to be resuscitated on the field.
Flacco publicly campaigned for Hamlin to win the AP Comeback Player of the Year Award ahead of the “NFL Honors” ceremony held this past Thursday. According to the AP website, Flacco received 13 first-place votes and 151 total points in voting. Hamlin finished with 21 first-place votes and 140 total points.
“Eight voters did not have Hamlin in their top three Comeback candidates,” King added. “I simply do not understand.”
King isn’t alone. Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk wrote on Thursday night that Hamlin “came back from the dead, but that wasn’t enough to win him the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year.” One-time Super Bowl champion A.Q. Shipley said during Friday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show” that the NFL “missed on almost every award” given out on Thursday evening.
