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Andrew Luck Wins 2018 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award After Injury
February 2, 2019
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck won the 2018 Comeback Player of the Year Award at the 8th Annual NFL Honors show Saturday at Fox Theatre in Atlanta.
Luck won the vote in a landslide, per NFL.com's David Ely:
- Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts: 44 votes
- J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans: 4 votes
- Adrian Peterson, RB, Washington: 2 votes
Luck missed the entire 2017 season because of a lingering shoulder injury that required surgery following the 2016 campaign.
The 29-year-old showed no signs of health issues while playing all 16 regular-season games for the first time since 2014. In fact, his strong play vaulted him into the MVP conversation behind fellow quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.
Luck completed 67.3 percent of his throws for 4,593 yards with 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He ranked third among quarterbacks in Pro Football Focus' grading system and fifth in ESPN's Total QBR.
Although Comeback Player of the Year is a regular-season award, the Stanford product also led the Colts to a playoff victory over the Houston Texans.
In January, Luck said it was hard to fully grasp because he remained so focused on each game during the course of the campaign, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com:
"If you've played five, six, seven years, you've overcome something in a sense. I was talking to my folks about this and [girlfriend] Nicole about, man, it's hard to sort of when you're in the weeds to sort of flip that switch and zoom out a little bit and get a little different perspective and appreciate or understand what happens. Because you're in it and it's like you're on and you don't want to get out of it."
His ability to dominate once again after legitimate questions about his future were raised during the extended absence allowed him to edge other strong contenders, led by the Houston Texans' J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson, for the award.