Inside The Panthers

Damar Hamlin Loses Comeback Player of the Year

Former Pitt Panthers safety Damar Hamlin missed out on the 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Stephen Thompson|
Damar Hamlin Loses Comeback Player of the Year
Damar Hamlin Loses Comeback Player of the Year

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Pittsburgh Panthers

PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers safety Damar Hamlin has already achieved a great feat, recovering from a shocking and scary medical episode in the middle of an NFL game and then returning to professional football shortly after. 

And for those efforts, the former Pitt standout and Pittsburgh native was a candidate to win the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Award, but he lost out on the award as Browns quarterback Joe Flacco was named the winner during the NFL Honors in Las Vegas, Nevada, instead. 

He narrowly missed on the award, falling behind by just 11 total votes to Flacco and finishing in second place. 

Hamlin was a finalist alongside quarterbacks Matt Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Tua Tagovailoa and Flacco - who even endorsed Hamlin for the award - to win. Hamlin would have been the first non-quarterback to win the award since Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen took home the award in 2017. A defensive player hasn't won it since Chiefs safety Eric Berry in 2015, his first season back in the NFL after recovering from cancer.

Hamlin, a former sixth-round draft pick in 2021 by Buffalo, was a capable reserve for the Buffalo Bills in 2022, recording 91 total tackles, two passes defended and a forced fumble before going into cardiac arrest on the field at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio in the middle of the first half. He received life-saving medical attention on the field before being transported to UC Medical Center and recovering under the care of doctors and nurses.

Hamlin eventually made a full recovery and returned to NFL football by the start of training camp last August. He spent most of the 2023 season as a healthy inactive but played in five games during his third season as a professional, completing a remarkable comeback from an incident that shook the football world.

As he recovered, Hamlin has used the outpouring of support from around the country to build his charitable foundation and help under-served communities in his hometown of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati as well as raise awareness of how to provide immediate help to people who suffered similar heart conditions as Hamlin did during his incident.

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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