AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year

For similar awards by other publications, see List of NFL Comeback Player of the Year awards.

AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year

Joe Burrow, 2024 recipient
Awarded for	Comeback player of the year in the National Football League
Presented by	Associated Press
History
First award	1963; 1998
Most wins	Chad Pennington and Joe Burrow (2)
Most recent	Joe Burrow

The AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year (CBPOY) award is presented annually by the Associated Press (AP) to a player in the National Football League (NFL). While the criteria for the award is imprecise, ^[1] it is typically given to a player who overcomes the worst adversity to return to play even a single snap of NFL football, such as not playing the previous season, injury, or for playing well in comparison to the previous year's poor performance. ^[2] The winner is selected by a nationwide panel of media personnel. ^[3] Since 2011, the award has been presented at the NFL Honors ceremony held the day before the Super Bowl. Beginning with the 2024 season, the criteria for the award was changed to emphasize players coming back from "illness, physical injury, or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season", as opposed to players having resurgent performances or "coming back from sucking". ^{[4] [5]}

The AP first recognized an NFL comeback player of the year from 1963 to 1966, but these players are typically not included in overall lists of winners. ^[6] The AP did not give the award again until the 1998 season. Only two players have received the award more than once since the AFL–NFL merger: quarterbacks Chad Pennington, who received it in 2006 and 2008 as a member of the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, respectively, and Joe Burrow, who won it in 2021 and 2024. ^[7]

Chad Pennington is one of two players to receive the award more than once.

Winners

Season	Player	Position	Team	Ref
1963	Jim Martin	Placekicker	Baltimore Colts	[8]
1964	Lenny Moore	Halfback		[9]
1965	John Brodie	Quarterback	San Francisco 49ers	[10]
1966	Dick Bass	Fullback	Los Angeles Rams	[11]
No award given between 1967 and 1997
1998	Doug Flutie	Quarterback	Buffalo Bills	[12]
1999	Bryant Young	Defensive tackle	San Francisco 49ers	[13]
2000	Joe Johnson	Defensive end	New Orleans Saints	[14]
2001	Garrison Hearst	Running back	San Francisco 49ers	[15]
2002	Tommy Maddox	Quarterback	Pittsburgh Steelers	[16]
2003	Jon Kitna		Cincinnati Bengals	[17]
2004	Drew Brees		San Diego Chargers	[18]
2005	Steve Smith Tedy Bruschi	Wide receiver Linebacker	Carolina Panthers New England Patriots	[19]
2006	Chad Pennington	Quarterback	New York Jets	[20]
2007	Greg Ellis	Defensive end	Dallas Cowboys	[21]
2008	Chad Pennington (2)	Quarterback	Miami Dolphins	[22]
2009	Tom Brady		New England Patriots	[23]
2010	Michael Vick		Philadelphia Eagles	[24]
2011	Matthew Stafford		Detroit Lions	[25]
2012	Peyton Manning		Denver Broncos	[26]
2013	Philip Rivers		San Diego Chargers	[27]
2014	Rob Gronkowski	Tight end	New England Patriots	[28]
2015	Eric Berry	Safety	Kansas City Chiefs	[29]
2016	Jordy Nelson	Wide receiver	Green Bay Packers	[30]
2017	Keenan Allen		Los Angeles Chargers	[31]
2018	Andrew Luck	Quarterback	Indianapolis Colts	[32]
2019	Ryan Tannehill		Tennessee Titans	[33]
2020	Alex Smith		Washington Football Team	[34]
2021	Joe Burrow		Cincinnati Bengals	[35]
2022	Geno Smith		Seattle Seahawks	[36]
2023	Joe Flacco		Cleveland Browns	[37]
2024	Joe Burrow (2)		Cincinnati Bengals	[38]

See also

• List of NFL Comeback Player of the Year awards for an overview of similar awards from other organizations

References

1. Burke, Chris (November 7, 2016). "Why Melvin Gordon deserves to win NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017. This is a good spot for a reminder that the Comeback Player of the Year criteria is, well, not exactly precise.
2. "NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award". Football Almanac. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
3. "NFL Comeback Player of the Year". The San Diego Union-Tribune . Associated Press. February 1, 2014. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
4. Dubin, Jared (June 19, 2024). "NFL Comeback Player of the Year award criteria clarified to emphasize injury, illness after Joe Flacco's win". CBS Sports . Retrieved January 6, 2025.
5. Florio, Mike (June 19, 2024). "New Comeback Player of the Year guidelines could frustrate some gamblers". Pro Football Talk . NBC Sports . Retrieved January 6, 2025.
6. Lee, Brenden; Gellerman, Jacob; King, Robert, eds. (2015). 2015 Official NFL Record and Fact Book (PDF). National Football League. p. 527. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
7. Rolfe, Ben (February 7, 2021). "2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year: Alex Smith, Washington Football Team". Pro Football Network. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021. Since the award's reinstatement in 1998, only Chad Pennington has won the award twice. However, the award was also briefly awarded by the Associated Press between 1963 and 1966. During that period, two awards were given each year. One for the NFL, and one for the AFL. During that time, RB Paul Lowe of the Chargers was also named Comeback Player of the Year twice (1963 and 1965).
8. Bowen, George (December 14, 1963). "Jim Martin Comeback Player Of Year in National Grid Loop". The Montana Standard and The Butte Daily Post. Associated Press. p. 8. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Lenny Moore Comeback Of Year In NFL". The Evening Standard. Associated Press. December 12, 1964. p. 12. Retrieved March 20, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
10. Stevenson, Jack (December 24, 1965). "49ers' John Brodie Voted Comeback Player of Year". The Salem News. Associated Press. p. 13. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
11. Jack Hand (December 16, 1966). "Bass Is NFL Comeback Player of Year in '66". The Marshfield (WI) News-Herald. Associated Press. p. 9. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Flutie wins inaugural comeback player honor". The Baltimore Sun . January 8, 1999. p. 3D. ProQuest   406402801. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
13. "Bryant Young is Comeback Player of Year". Chicago Tribune . Associated Press. January 7, 2000. p. 9. ProQuest   419057409. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
14. "Joe Johnson wins NFL's comeback honor". The Index-Journal. December 29, 2000. p. 15. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
15. Georgatos, Dennis (January 11, 2002). "Garrison Hearst wins Comeback Player of the Year award". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
16. Robinson, Alan (January 3, 2003). "Steelers' Tommy Maddox is NFL Comeback Player of Year". Tyrone Daily Herald. Associated Press. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
17. Wilner, Barry (January 2, 2004). "Kitna edges Carter, Brown for AP Comeback Player honor". USA Today. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
18. "Chargers' Brees voted NFL Comeback Player of Year". Santa Cruz Sentinel. January 7, 2005. p. 36. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
19. Curran, Tom E. (January 6, 2006). "Pats' Bruschi shares Comeback Player award". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
20. Wilner, Barry (January 4, 2007). "Comeback honors go to Pennington". Indiana Gazette. Associated Press. p. 14. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
21. "Cowboys LB Ellis comeback player of the year". The Denver Post. January 12, 2008. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
22. Holder, Stephen F. (December 31, 2008). "Miami Dolphins QB Chad Pennington truly is comeback player of the year". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
23. "Tom Brady Wins AP Comeback Player Award". CBS News . Associated Press. January 6, 2010. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
24. "Michael Vick wins Comeback POY". ESPN . February 5, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
25. "Lions QB Stafford wins Comeback Player of Year". Fox News. Associated Press. February 4, 2012. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
26. Klis, Mike (February 2, 2013). "Broncos' Peyton Manning wins NFL award as comeback player of the year". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
27. Mello, Igor (February 1, 2014). "Philip Rivers wins Comeback Player of the Year award". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
28. "Gronk's garland: Patriots TE Gronkowski wins comeback player". USA Today . Associated Press. January 31, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
29. Brinson, Will (February 7, 2016). "Eric Berry wins Comeback Player of the Year, delivers emotional speech". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
30. Cohen, Michael (February 4, 2017). "Jordy Nelson named NFL's Comeback Player of the Year". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
31. "Rams win Coach of the Year, player awards; Saints take rookie honors". ESPN . February 4, 2018. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
32. "Andrew Luck named AP Comeback Player of the Year". National Football League . February 2, 2019. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
33. Grant Gordon (February 1, 2020). "Ryan Tannehill Named 2019 Comeback Player of Year". National Football League . Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
34. Scott, Jelani (February 6, 2021). "Washington QB Alex Smith earns AP Comeback Player of the Year honors". National Football League . Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
35. Shook, Nick (February 10, 2022). "Bengals QB Joe Burrow named 2021 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year". National Football League . Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
36. Condotta, Bob (February 9, 2023). "Geno Smith wins NFL Comeback Player of Year Award; Walker 2nd, Woolen 3rd for rookie honors". Seattle Times . Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
37. Kerr, Jeff (February 8, 2024). "2024 NFL Honors: Joe Flacco wins Comeback Player of the Year; Browns QB tied for oldest player to win award". CBS Sports . Archived from the original on February 10, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
38. Baca, Michael (February 6, 2025). "Bengals QB Joe Burrow named 2021 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year". National Football League . Retrieved February 7, 2022.