The two leading candidates for the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year are unorthodox in their own way. Damar Hamlin has barely played this year, but the fact he’s even walking on this earth is incredible. Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest last year in a game at Cincinnati and yet he returned to the Buffalo Bills in time for training camp, completing an astounding journey of medical wonder and inspiration.
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Hamlin seemed a lock for Comeback Player of the Year until quarterback Joe Flacco joined the Cleveland Browns in late November. Flacco went 4-1 in his brief time with Cleveland, lifting the Browns to the fifth seed in the AFC by throwing for 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns as their fourth starting quarterback this season.
The Associated Press is in charge of the widely accepted version of this award, but the Pro Football Writers Association’s criteria is that it goes to a player who “shows perseverance in overcoming adversity in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, a severe injury or simply poor performance.”
The Athletic’s Tim Graham in Buffalo and Jason Lloyd in Cleveland debated the merits of each candidate:
Graham: I’m going to make this easy for you, Jason. If you think Joe Flacco can top the following facts, then you’ll win the debate right here and now:
Damar Hamlin died last year on the field in Cincinnati, his heart was revived after being pummeled by CPR and shocked by a defibrillator and then he made Buffalo’s 2023 opening roster, achieving an unprecedented medical feat.
Along the way, because of what happened to him, so many more people own CPR certifications and have been trained to use AEDs. UC Medical Center in Cincinnati said in 2023 it taught CPR to six times as many people as in the previous year. There were similar spikes in Buffalo and in Hamlin’s hometown of Pittsburgh, too. AEDs have been sought and donated to schools and recreation centers all over the place. He started a scholarship for Cincinnati youth in honor of the medical team that saved his life. More than $10 million was donated to Hamlin’s foundation through a GoFundMe spontaneously started after his cardiac arrest.
OK. Your turn.
Lloyd: Look, what Damar Hamlin has done defies logic. It goes well beyond a Comeback Player of the Year trophy.
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But if we’re talking about on-field performance, Flacco has made the Browns — the Johnny Manziel in Las Vegas/Brandon Weeden trapped under a flag/0-16 parade CLEVELAND BROWNS — legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
For a while, it looked like Hamlin had the comeback award locked up because there just weren’t a ton of great candidates. But then Flacco, who turns 39 in a couple of weeks and hasn’t been relevant in the NFL in nearly a decade, got tired of pickleball, drank some Metamucil and started spinning spirals like the dad who plays all-time quarterback for both teams in a backyard kids’ game.
Graham: So you’re saying the Comeback Player of the Year Award should go to someone who wasn’t even trying to come back until around Thanksgiving?
Lloyd: Oh, he was trying. Nobody would call him until the Browns did out of desperation. Now look at him. Quite a comeback, I’d say.
Graham: Perhaps most remarkable about the football part of Hamlin’s return is that every one of his steps was into the unknown. That’s how much he loved football, how much he needed to get back and play. While he did have a small army of doctors advising him, each progression brought a fresh set of anxieties. Was the next strenuous workout going to make his heart race out of control? Were full-contact practices going to cause a panic attack? Was he going to flinch or pull up short instead of delivering the big hit?
Flacco, meanwhile, just had to show up in Berea and practice the way he has his whole life, totally normal. As horrifying as the Browns have been over the years, you can’t say his experience has been as frightening as the possibility of a major medical episode constantly lurking around the corner.
Lloyd: No, but they’ve had 38 quarterbacks since 1999.
Graham: Hamlin earned CPOY votes last year, and he hadn’t even returned to the field yet. His NFL comeback campaign lasted the entire offseason. Every moment he progressed toward returning to the field was a happening. Most updates received — and deserved — national headlines. His first workout, first preseason practice, first time in pads, first hit, first preseason action against NFL opposition, first kickoff cover, first blitz, first regular-season appearance. Granted, Flacco’s impact on the Browns has been a lightning strike, but it has been by accident. Hamlin’s 2023 was a long, grueling endeavor.
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Lloyd: I’m a huge Hamlin fan. I think his story is incredible. None of that changes the fact Flacco’s comeback is the single best story in the NFL this year because of his actual impact on the field. Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 10. How many teams could do what the Browns did after losing their franchise quarterback and a franchise pillar like running back Nick Chubb to injuries? The Browns have been without both for the majority of the season.
Now they are playing their best football under Flacco, the guy nobody wanted through training camp, preseason or the first three months of the season. More than 60 quarterbacks started NFL games this year but nobody bothered to call Flacco until the Browns were left with no other choice. Flacco not only played himself back into the league, but he’ll make another few million next year if he wants to continue playing after this incredible tear.
Graham: Imagine what might have happened if the New York Jets had kept Flacco around. Game manager with a great defense and whatnot.
Lloyd: If we’re being painfully honest, Hamlin doesn’t fit the spirit of the award. He’s appeared in five games this year and played a total of 16 defensive snaps. Flacco has nearly that many touchdown passes (13) in five games!
Before December, Flacco hadn’t been good for a decade. Now he has as many or more touchdown passes than four NFL teams. The Bills wouldn’t even notice if Hamlin were released tomorrow.
Graham: Hamlin absolutely fits the spirit of the award if you put more emphasis on the “Comeback” part than the “Player” part, and that subtlety is what this debate truly comes down to. Flacco has been the better player, while Hamlin’s comeback has been historic. We also can’t ignore the intangible impact Hamlin has had on the Bills. No, he isn’t making interceptions or even special-teams tackles weekly, but his presence in the locker room alone is a colossal component of the Bills’ dynamic.
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Lloyd: Flacco played only five games and still managed as many 300-yard passing games this year (four) as Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. He had more than Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert. He threw for more than 1,600 yards and 13 touchdowns in December. The list of quarterbacks to accomplish those numbers in any month? Mahomes, Peyton Manning and Jim Kelly. All Hall of Famers now or in the future. And now Flacco. The last five players to win the award were all quarterbacks. Flacco should make it six.
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Graham: All right. So Flacco has beaten the Raiders, Jaguars, Bears, Texans and Jets. He posted some great stats, too. But I’m still going with Hamlin for this award.
Lloyd: Now after all this bickering, watch Baker Mayfield win it.
(Top photos of Joe Flacco and Damar Hamlin: Dylan Buell and Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)