The AP Is Trying To Whitewash The NFL "Comeback Player Of The Year" Award From Effectively Saying "Hey, You Used To Suck"
Full Tweet trascription: #Vikings QB Sam Darnold probably would’ve been a candidate for the Comeback Player of the Year award before the AP issued guidance to voters before the season, instructing them that “the spirit of the award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.” If he keeps playing at this level, Darnold could end up with another award: Most Valuable Player.
The NFL award electorate illuminati has officially been instructed that you can't give the Comeback Player of the Year Award to someone who used to suck and is all the sudden good. Although given the official description the AP provides above, I think "other circumstances" could certainly include being awful for your entire career up until this season.
What they're effectively saying is that Sam Darnold has always been awful until 20204. Which of course everyone knows, but is funny when announced officially. I guess they could also argue he never really "came back", since he was never at any point good. How can one come back if they never were there? Touché AP.
But wait just a second here. This seems like they're whitewashing the spirit of this award. Being terrible has historically been a reason past winners have won. Geno is 2022. Tannehill in 2019. These are just a couple examples from the past five years. I mean, Pennington won it twice (although he was battling prior season injuries I guess). It's not always the case that graduating from being bad for a season is the only reason to get the award - you have Alex Smith in 2020 coming back from that horrific leg injury and 2023 Joe Flacco who came back from being old as dirt. But even Flacco's miraculous victory over DeMar Hamlin had a lot to do with Joe's past history of being bad.
Plus, sorry to bury the Lede here but what the hell? Past poor past performance is literally a cited reference on the award's Wikipedia page.
I see what you're doing AP. But the only way to fight against this is to fill the market void. I'll be taking a deep dive into the stats to track and honor a now very much needed award. The "Hey, You Used To Suck" award. Sam Darnold is no doubt the leader after 5 holes of this 18-round course, but there's still time for guys like Justin Fields or even Bryce Young to make a late push.
I'll work on the proper quantitative methods to scientifically discern who the proper "Hey, You Used To Suck" recipient should be this season. Hell, why not track back a few years too? As far as how to go about this, I'm thinking standard deviations above some key stat (passer rating, receptions, or whatever else fits the narrative of the player I want to win). The true scientific method.
Let's not let the AP win here. Players who used to suck and didn't for at least a season need to be celebrated. Let them have their year before they go back to the abyss. Like Geno did last night.