Good God, I saw that photo yesterday. I can't wait to watch someone punch him in the face as hard as possible.
The award isn't called the "I suck, but was able to ride Chris Johnson's coattail to some wins when the other QB sucked worse award"
I guess it should be called the "I had a ligament injury and didn't do anything special at all award." or just the "Hey I'm Tom Brady Award" I guess we should just go ahead and give it to Welker for 2010?
That's silly talk. The award is meant for someone who overcomes something major like an injury or personal issue. Not for someone who sucked himself onto the bench, then played half decent for a team that didn't even make the playoffs. If there was someone else who came back from a major injury that excelled more than Brady(and he wasn't as great as the past, but very good still), then there's be an argument. If you made an argument for Cadillac Williams, that would have some merit anyway.
It is a misconception that the award only goes to a player who overcame injury or a personal issue. The award can go to someone who was healthy, but rarely played due to being a backup and it can also go to someone who was not in the league at all the prior season. What you see below was originally written by me in 2006. I'm too lazy to update it. Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year Award winners- 1998- Doug Flutie 1999- Bryant Young 2000- Joe Johnson 2001- Garrison Hearst 2002- Tommy Maddox 2003- Jon Kitna 2004- Drew Brees 2005- Steve Smith and Tedy Bruschi What they came back from: Flutie- was out of the league for seven years Young- career-threatening injury that cost him final four games of 1998 season Johnson- missed entire 1999 season Hearst- missed entire 1999 and 2000 seasons Maddox- played in only three games from 1996-2001 Kitna- played in 14 games in 2002, started 12 of them; had 79.1 rating; "led" Bengals to 2-14 record started all 16 games in 2003; had 87.4 rating; led Bengals to 8-8 record; threw 10 more TDs and 1 fewer INT in 2003 than he did in 2002 Brees- was terrible in 2003 (11 TDs, 15 INTs, 67.5 rating); led Chargers to playoffs in 2004 (27, 7, 104.8) Smith- played in only one game in 2004 Bruschi- suffered career-threatening stroke three days after Pro Bowl following the 2004 season PFW/PFWA Comeback Player of the Year winners- 1972- Earl Morrall 1973- Roman Gabriel 1974- Joe Namath 1975- Dave Hampton 1976- Greg Landry 1977- Craig Morton 1978- John Riggins 1979- Larry Csonka 1980- Jim Plunkett 1981- Ken Anderson 1982- Lyle Alzado 1983- Billy Johnson 1984- John Stallworth 1985- no award given 1986- Joe Montana and Tommy Kramer 1987- Charles White 1988- Greg Bell 1989- O.J. Anderson 1990- Barry Word 1991- Jim McMahon 1992- Randall Cunningham 1993- Marcus Allen 1994- Dan Marino 1995- Jim Harbaugh 1996- Jerome Bettis 1997- Robert Brooks 1998- Doug Flutie 1999- Bryant Young 2000- Joe Johnson 2001- Garrison Hearst 2002- Tommy Maddox 2003- Jon Kitna 2004- Willis McGahee 2005- Steve Smith
Since being benched and getting your starting position back and turning your team around isn't a comeback at all.
