Fans outraged over change to NFL award voting

Over the years, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award has largely been a subjective award where players who fall into a number of different categories can find themselves being named the recipient. But heading into the 2024-25 NFL season, the Associated Press created new guidelines to make their criteria for the award crystal clear to voters.

Typically, players who have won the award fall into one of two categories.

Joe Flacco, who won the 2023 AP Comeback Player of the Year Award, is an example of a player who largely sat on the bench the year prior before playing an impact down the stretch of the season last year on the Cleveland Browns. Then you have Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who won the award in 2021 after missing the majority of his rookie season due to injury the year prior.

Someone like Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who has led the Vikings to a 5-0 record thus far this season, would typically be someone who would be an ideal candidate for the award in a similar way that both Flacco and Geno Smith have won it each of the last two seasons.

However, Darnold will likely not be eligible for the award this year. AP Senior NFL Writer Rob Maaddi pointed out the new guidelines for the award in a post on X, noting the organization’s guidance to voters 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”.

This change was officially made by the AP back in June . So it’s not like this is some kind of breaking news. However, many media pundits are quite upset that Darnold almost certainly won’t get acknowledgment for his great season by winning the award.

“I count playing for the Jets and Panthers as illnesses in this scenario,” wrote Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times on X.

“Wow so Aaron Rodgers first got his HC fired from the team and then removed the opposing QB whose team won against him from the list of eligible players for the award Rodgers is supposed to get,” wrote Timo Riske of Pro Football Focus on X.

“They really did not need to change these rules,” wrote Patrick Daugherty of NBC Sports on X.

And Nick Kostos of You Better You Bet had quite the rant on this:

The change to the rule likely came after Flacco won last year’s CPOY award over Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who of course  “demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity” perhaps more than anyone in NFL history last year after returning to the field after his cardiac arrest.

Interestingly, it seems like sportsbooks have yet to catch on to the new letter of the law when it comes to the CPOY award. Just two days ago, Sam Darnold was the favorite to win the award on DraftKings Sportsbook .

This debate could all be solved by the Associated Press implementing a Most Improved Player Award like we have in the NBA. But until that happens, fans and media members alike appear to be quite upset that Darnold won’t be eligible for the award.

[ Rob Maaddi on X ]

The post Change to AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year criteria sparks media debate appeared first on Awful Announcing .