Former Broncos QB wins Comeback Player of the Year Award
The yearly NFL awards, to be specific, the famous NFL Honors were given on Thursday Night. It is always a tradition to do the event in the city where the Super Bowl will be played, and on Thursday Night.
Among the multiple awards given during the ceremony, there is a very interesting one, to be specific, the Comeback Player of the Year. This award is given to a player that goes through adversity due to injuries, or not having a team, and then has a great season the next year. This player has a significant season performance following a bad and/or inexistent season.
The 2023-2024 winner of the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award is no other than former Denver Broncos quarterback, Joe Flacco.
Flacco appeared in five games for the New York Jets back in the 2022-23 season, he got benched and even became their third-string quarterback. Ahead of Week 13 in the 2023 season, free agent Joe Flacco was signed to Cleveland's practice squad due to Deshaun Watson's and PJ Walker's injuries. They needed a veteran presence to help rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson. In less than two weeks, Flacco had a big impact on the team and was signed to a one-year deal to their active roster.
Despite not knowing the entire playbook due to the lack of time with the Browns, Flacco had some huge performances that helped Cleveland get into the Playoffs. Under Flacco, the Browns had a 4-1 regular season win-loss record, and he had the following stats: 123/204 completions/attempts (60.3%), 1,616 passing yards, 8 passing touchdowns, and a 90.2 rating. Additionally, he went 34/46 completions/attempts (73.9%), 307 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in their Wild Card loss against the Houston Texans.
He became the first player in NFL history with 250+ passing yards and more than one passing touchdown in his first five games with a team.
Flacco started at quarterback for the Broncos, and John Elway, who was the general manager when they signed Joe, said something interesting in his introductory press conference ...
Maybe his prime was not with Denver, but Elway had a good point after trading for him ...
Joe Flacco won the award over Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, among other nominees. People thought that Hamlin was winning the award following his incident in Cincinnati last season, but Flacco's impact on the field got him the edge.