The AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year (CBPOY) is an annual award presented by the Associated Press (AP) to a player in the National Football League (NFL). While the criteria for the award is imprecise,[1] it is typically given to a player who overcomes the worst adversity to return to play even a single snap of NFL football, such as not playing the previous season, injury, or for playing well in comparison to the previous year's poor performance.[2] The winner is selected by a nationwide panel of media personnel.[3] Since 2011, the award has been presented at the NFL Honors ceremony held in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. Beginning with the 2024 season, the criteria for the award was changed to emphasize players coming back from "illness, physical injury, or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season", as opposed to players having resurgent performances or "coming back from sucking".[4][5]
The AP first recognized an NFL comeback player of the year from 1963 to 1966, but these players are typically not included in overall lists of winners.[6] The AP did not give the award again until the 1998 season. Only two players have received the award more than once since the AFL–NFL merger: quarterbacks Chad Pennington, who received it in 2006 and 2008 as a member of the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, respectively, and Joe Burrow, who won it in 2021 and 2024.[7]
Chad Pennington (pictured) along with Joe Burrow each won two Comeback Player of the Year awards, the most in NFL history.
Lee, Brenden; Gellerman, Jacob; King, Robert, eds. (2015). 2015 Official NFL Record and Fact Book(PDF). National Football League. p.527. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
Rolfe, Ben (February 7, 2021). "2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year: Alex Smith, Washington Football Team". Pro Football Network. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021. Since the award's reinstatement in 1998, only Chad Pennington has won the award twice. However, the award was also briefly awarded by the Associated Press between 1963 and 1966. During that period, two awards were given each year. One for the NFL, and one for the AFL. During that time, RB Paul Lowe of the Chargers was also named Comeback Player of the Year twice (1963 and 1965).
