If you scan BetMGM’s odds for NFL Comeback Player of the Year, you won’t find Russell Wilson’s name.
There are 22 players listed, from the favorite Kirk Cousins (+175 odds) to Jets receiver Mike Williams, Lions receiver Tim Patrick and 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw (250-to-1) but no Wilson. That’s due, in part, to Associated Press clarifying the qualifications for the award to voters and putting an emphasis on players coming back from injury or illness.
That shouldn’t keep Wilson from consideration.
Wilson has revitalized his career and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense since being named starter two weeks ago. The Steelers’ two best games in terms of yardage and two of their three best games for points came the past two weeks with Wilson at quarterback. There were a lot of critics who thought Wilson was finished as a viable NFL quarterback, and to this point he has proven them all wrong.
Sounds like a good comeback story.
Russell Wilson’s case
Wilson’s problem in being considered for Comeback Player of the Year is Joe Flacco.
Flacco was a weird winner last season. He came back from … sitting on his couch? The Cleveland Browns signed him in November, he played very well the rest of the season and won the award. That was enough for the AP to remind voters what the criteria of the award should be.
AP senior NFL writer Rob Maaddi, who oversees All-Pro and NFL awards voting, told Pro Football Talk this offseason that voters will be instructed: “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.”
Wilson wasn’t injured or sick last season. But the “other circumstances” seem to fit his situation.
Wilson was the victim of one of the more unprofessional acts in the NFL over the past few years, when he was told by the Denver Broncos that he would be benched the rest of the season if he didn’t change an injury guarantee in his contract. Wilson confirmed that story. The players union told the Broncos, rightfully, that such a threat violated the CBA. Wilson wasn’t benched then but was for the last couple weeks of the season.
That should be “other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.” Wilson was left for dead and has come back strong.
Steelers have been pleased with Wilson
If Wilson continues to play like he has and helps the Steelers to the playoffs, his entire career will be looked at differently.
Wilson made nine Pro Bowls in 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, and helped them win two NFC championships and a Super Bowl. The time with the Broncos was miserable. But if Wilson continues on this pace — his 111.9 passer rating looks very much like his Seahawks days — then can we shift the blame to a first year with incompetent head coach Nathaniel Hackett and a bad fit in his second year with Sean Payton, who never seemed to want him? Seems fair. He might even get back on a possible Hall of Fame path.
Over the past year Wilson was benched; ridiculed; cut despite a salary cap dead hit that was two times bigger than any other in NFL history; cited as being perhaps the worst trade in NFL history and the worst contract for a team in NFL history (Deshaun Watson takes the top spot for both, though); signed for just $1.2 million by the Steelers; ridiculed again for his play in the preseason; left for dead by those who thought Justin Fields should be the full-time when Mike Tomlin chose him to start in Week 7 once he was healthy. That’s a lot to come back from, even if it wasn’t an ACL tear.
And Wilson has looked far better than anyone expected over two weeks, playing confidently and effectively for a 6-2 Steelers team. Maybe Wilson’s play falls off. Perhaps the Steelers have a losing streak and don’t make the playoffs. There’s a long way to go this season.
But this isn’t the ridiculousness of Flacco “coming back” from being unemployed. Wilson should probably get consideration for Comeback Player of the Year. No matter the criteria.