Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco doesn’t believe he should be the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year.
Part of Flacco’s thinking is that Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin — who suffered cardiac arrest during a game in 2022 and clinically died on the field before medical professionals resuscitated him in front of tens of thousands of people — deserves the honor considering what he endured to be an NFL player this season.
“I just think mentally to get yourself back to the point where you feel comfortable doing that kind of thing — obviously the physical part doesn’t need any explanation — but the mental part, especially at his position, is pretty cool,” Flacco said on the Friday, January 26 edition of the “Zach Gelb Show” on CBS Radio.
Hamlin appeared in three games for the Bills in 2023.
The second element of Flacco’s argument against winning the award is that he doesn’t feel like he ever went anywhere, thus coming back is a mischaracterization of his late-season heroics with the Browns.
“I don’t necessarily know what I’m coming back from,” Flacco said. “I’m just coming back from being old and not being on a team for a couple months.”
Joe Flacco Reignited Career With Browns After Years as Backup QB
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco.
For those unfamiliar with his story, Flacco was a Super Bowl MVP with the Baltimore Ravens and in 2013 signed what was the richest contract in NFL history at the time.
Flacco started for Baltimore in each of his first 11 years as a professional quarterback. However, he suffered an injury during the 2018 campaign and lost the job to then-rookie QB Lamar Jackson.
Jackson never relinquished the starting spot. He has already won one league MVP Award and is the favorite to win a second for his work during the 2023 regular season. Meanwhile, the Ravens are four-point home favorites to defeat the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game in Baltimore Sunday. A win will land the franchise back in the Super Bowl for the first time since Flacco led the Ravens there following the 2012 campaign.
Flacco migrated west for one season with the Denver Broncos, in which he earned a 2-6 record as the starter. The quarterback signed as a backup with the New York Jets in 2020, subsequently earning a starting record of 1-8. His sole win came against the Browns in Cleveland in 2022.
Joe Flacco Saved Browns During Injury-Riddled 2023 Season
GettyQuarterback Joe Flacco of the Cleveland Browns.
The Jets didn’t ask Flacco back for a fourth season in 2023, which left him unemployed for the first few months of the campaign.
Flacco reached out to the Minnesota Vikings about their starting job after Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 8. However, the Vikings weren’t interested.
That left Flacco available when the Browns came calling in November. He ultimately started five regular-season games for Cleveland, leading the team to a 4-1 record that helped the Browns clinch the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs with Week 18 yet to be played.
Flacco finished the year with 1,616 passing yards, 13 TDs and 8 INTs. Cleveland lost to the Houston Texans on Super Wild Card Weekend, ending Flacco’s “comeback” run with the Browns.
It is unclear if Flacco will return to Cleveland in 2024, as Deshaun Watson remains under contract for the next three years and will be healthy for training camp following season-ending shoulder surgery in November.
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Browns QB Joe Flacco Doesn’t Want Comeback POY Award, Offers Up Own Nominee