Inside The Panthers

Pitt's Damar Hamlin Loses NFL Comeback POTY Award Again

The former Pitt Panthers star missed out on a great award.

Dominic Campbell

Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Damar Hamlin on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Damar Hamlin on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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PITTSBURGH — Former Pitt Panthers star and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went up for NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award this season, but lost once again.

Hamlin ended up fourth in the voting for the award, with Cincinnati Bengals quaterback Joe Burrow winning the award, earnign 370 votes and 31 of the 50 first-place votes.

Los Angeles Chargers running back J.K.Dobbins ranked second with 195 votes and three first-place votes, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold came in third place with 102 votes and eight first-place votes, Hamlin finished fourth with 86 votes and three first-place votes and New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez received 69 votes and two first-place votes.

Hamlin stepped up for the Bills in 2022, with safety Micah Hyde out for most of the season. He recorded 91 tackles (63 solo), six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a forced fumble in 15 games, starting every game in the secondary from Week 3 onward.

In a Week 17 Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road, Hamlin collapsed to the field after suffering cardiac arrest. He made a comeback from an almost near death experience on the field and came back in the 2023 season, playing a much smaller role.

He only played in five regular season games, making two tackles and attempted an unsuccesful fake punt in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round at home.

Hamlin was also a finalist for NFL Comeback Player of the Year that campaign, but lost out to then Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco.

The AP changed the criteria for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award last June, which focuses on overcoming illness and injury, rather than not playing as well for a few seasons and suddenly having a great campaign, like Flacco did with the Browns.

The spirit of the AP Comeback Player of the Year 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," according to AP senior NFL writer Rob Maadii via Pro Football Talk.

Burrow won the award after suffering a wrist injury that ended his 2023 season in early November. He finished 2024 by leading the NFL with 4,918 yards, 43 touchdown passes, and 460 completions.

Hamlin still had a good season for the Bills, starting 14 games in the regular season, while ranking third on the team with 89 combined tackles and second with 62 tackles. He also started in the 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Wild Card Round, making four tackles (one solo).

He made two interceptions, with the first of his career coming in the 47-10 home win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3 and the other coming in the 34-10 home win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 7.

Hamlin also forced a strip sack on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in the AFC Divisional Round, a 27-25 win for the Bills.

Hamlin hails from McKees Rocks, Pa. and played for Pittsburgh Central Catholic, where he helped the team to two WPIAL Class 4A Titles in 2013 and 2015 and a PIAA Class 4A Title in 2015.

247Sports and Rivals both listed Hamlin as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2016, with 247Sports ranking him at No. 5 in Pennsylvania, No. 21 cornerback and No. 218 in the country, while Rivals had him at No. 4 in the commonwealth, No. 7 safety and No. 126 in the United States. 

He would only play in three games as a true freshman in 2016, but managed to play in nine games, starting four at safety in 2017, still missing three games with injury, while making 41 tackles, one TFL and an interception.

Hamlin led the team with 90 tackles, while adding three TFLs, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery, receiving Honorable Mention All-ACC recognition in 2018, playing in all 14 games and helping Pitt win the ACC Coastal Division and make the ACC Championship Game 

He finished second on the Panthers with 84 tackles and was third with 10 pass breakups in 2019, starting 12 games. 

Hamiln earned Second Team All-ACC honors in 2020 as a redshirt senior, as he made 66 tackles, 38 solo, 3.5 tackles for loss, seven passes defended and two interceptions.

He made 275 tackles, 185 solo, 10 tackles for loss, six interceptions, 21 pass breakups and a fumble recovery in his five seasons at Pitt from 2016-20.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.

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