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Don’t waste your money on Sam Darnold being named Comeback Player of the Year

Don’t waste your money on Sam Darnold being named Comeback Player of the Year

Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Sam Darnold accomplished everything the Minnesota Vikings hoped for in the 2024 National Football League season. He was a perfect bridge quarterback with JJ McCarthy expected to take over in 2025. However, that won’t win him any awards.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold fails to win CPOY

Last season, Joe Flacco won the Comeback Player of the Year award for the Cleveland Browns. That was not in the spirit of the award. The Associated Press changed the criteria in June, telling voters: “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 through illness, physical injury or other circumstances.” “He has overcome the challenges that led him to miss playing time last season.”

These new regulations mean that Darnold is not a candidate for the prize and bettors would be wasting their money. Rob Maadi of The Associate Press said the same.

Of course, it will be interesting to see how voters actually follow the new guidelines. If you follow the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting at all, you know full well that the BBWAA marches to the beat of its own drum. How voters decide how to proceed still remains a question. Darnold can get votes, and then the powers that be will have to make a decision.

Related: Sam Darnold Revenge Tour Continues With NFC OPOM Award

Darnold has certainly overcome the “other circumstances” described by the Associate Press. His win over the New York Jets in London was a nice reminder of that. If the award is only intended to benefit a player who is injured and then returns to action, the pool becomes small and relatively meaningless. Sports betting has made money off players like Darnold, and more education clearly needs to be done.

Related: 4 Minnesota Vikings stats to help understand undefeated start

This whole situation is a train that left the station before everything was thought through. The issue will not be resolved for the 2024 season, but should be resolved in the future.

Mentioned in this article: Sam Darnold

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