Video: Damar Hamlin Reveals Reaction to Joe Flacco Winning NFL Comeback Player Award

Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year Award winner in February, a surprise to many given that Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin returned to football this season after suffering cardiac arrest on the field during a Jan. 2023 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which nearly cost him his life.

Hamlin was asked on the Maggie & Perloff show Monday if he felt he deserved to win the award.

"I heard some people were in an uproar. I did at first, I'm not gonna lie," Hamlin said. "I did, a little bit, just because you know I'm a competitor myself. Any competition you put me in, I want to win. I clapped for Joe as he went on stage and clapped for him as he went off. ... It wasn't something that a trophy can define."

For the record, Flacco also felt Hamlin would have been more deserving, saying on CBS Sports Radio's Zach Gelb Show in February, before the award was announced, that the defensive back "for sure" should be the winner (h/t Ralph Ventre of SI.com).

"I just think mentally to get yourself back to the point where you feel comfortable doing that kind of thing... is pretty cool," he added of Hamlin.