Damar Hamlin Loses Comeback Player of the Year
PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers safety Damar Hamlin has already achieved a great feat, recovering from a shocking and scary medical episode in the middle of an NFL game and then returning to professional football shortly after.
And for those efforts, the former Pitt standout and Pittsburgh native was a candidate to win the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Award, but he lost out on the award as Browns quarterback Joe Flacco was named the winner during the NFL Honors in Las Vegas, Nevada, instead.
He narrowly missed on the award, falling behind by just 11 total votes to Flacco and finishing in second place.
Hamlin was a finalist alongside quarterbacks Matt Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Tua Tagovailoa and Flacco - who even endorsed Hamlin for the award - to win. Hamlin would have been the first non-quarterback to win the award since Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen took home the award in 2017. A defensive player hasn't won it since Chiefs safety Eric Berry in 2015, his first season back in the NFL after recovering from cancer.
Hamlin, a former sixth-round draft pick in 2021 by Buffalo, was a capable reserve for the Buffalo Bills in 2022, recording 91 total tackles, two passes defended and a forced fumble before going into cardiac arrest on the field at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio in the middle of the first half. He received life-saving medical attention on the field before being transported to UC Medical Center and recovering under the care of doctors and nurses.
Hamlin eventually made a full recovery and returned to NFL football by the start of training camp last August. He spent most of the 2023 season as a healthy inactive but played in five games during his third season as a professional, completing a remarkable comeback from an incident that shook the football world.
As he recovered, Hamlin has used the outpouring of support from around the country to build his charitable foundation and help under-served communities in his hometown of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati as well as raise awareness of how to provide immediate help to people who suffered similar heart conditions as Hamlin did during his incident.
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