Damar Hamlin not named NFL Comeback Player of the Year despite return from cardiac arrest suffered last season

Damar Hamlin was overlooked for the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award at the league’s award ceremony in Las Vegas on Thursday.

As the NFL celebrated its best performers from the 2023 season at the Honours ceremony – where Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named league MVP for a second time – Hamlin lost out to Cleveland Browns QB Joe Flacco in the CPOY category.

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Hamlin made a remarkable return this season after suffering a cardiac arrest, and needing to be resuscitated on field, in January 2023. He played five times for the Bills this season.

He was beaten to the comeback prize by 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP Flacco, who started the season without a team before joining the Browns in November. He went 4-1 in five starts, taking the team to the playoffs as he passed for over 300 yards in four-straight games, with 13 touchdowns.

Image: Joe Flacco joined the Cleveland Browns mid-season and took them to the playoffs with four wins from five starts

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The NFL’s awards are decided by a 50-strong nationwide panel that includes media members, former players and coaches, who list their top three players for each category – first-place votes are weighted with five points, second-place earn three and third-place one.

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Hamlin received the most first-place votes (21) but appeared on 42 of 50 ballots while Flacco was on 47, earning 13 first-place votes and a much higher proportion of second-place votes (26) to finish with 151 points.

Image: Damar Hamlin rocked some stylish shoes at the NFL Honours featuring a heart monitor print on them

Hamlin got seven second-place votes and 14 thirds for an overall tally of 140 points. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield finished third in the voting, with 93 points.

Mayfield, the No 1 overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft, bounced around from the Browns to the Carolina Panthers and then the Los Angeles Rams last season before finding a stable home in Tampa Bay, where he guided the team to the playoffs in his first season.

Others receiving first-place votes in the CPOY category were: Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (4), Rams QB Matthew Stafford (1) and the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback for Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, Brock Purdy (1).

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Hamlin spoke for a few minutes prior to Thursday’s awards ceremony. Joined by Bills team-mate Dane Jackson on the red carpet, he said: “To give everybody some more perspective, I would just say, trust what you know and trust what got you here.

“Along the journey of the ups and downs, I had my own, he had his own, and we was able to keep each other, hold each other accountable to what got us there in the moment.”

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Although thrilled to be able to return to the football field in 2023, Hamlin knows there’s more to life than football.

“I’m trying to take care of all opportunities that I can,” he added. “I’m trying to capitalise on all business opportunities. I want to make sure I’m setting myself up for the future.”

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