Thursday was a spectacular night for the Cleveland Browns at the annual NFL honors as the organization cleaned by claiming prizes in all four categories they had nominated.
On that list, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was selected the Assistant Coach of the Year, head coach Kevin Stefanski won Coach of the Year for a second time, and defensive end Myles Garrett won his first AP Defensive Player of the Year honour.
In the Comeback Player of the Year category, however, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco upset Bills safety Damar Hamlin to take the award—possibly the most unexpected victory of the evening. Despite having more first-place votes than the Browns signal caller, Hamlin was nevertheless defeated by the total number of points received in the voting.
Flacco saw the trophy as a fitting keepsake to cap off his incredible and historic stint with the Browns. After joining the team in Week 12, the Super Bowl champion gave Cleveland an unexpected boost, leading the Browns to a postseason berth with four straight games of 300 yards or more in five starts.
The story of how he went from living on the sofa to leading a playoff squad was captivating for fans all around the league and resembled something out of Hollywood. It seems that the voters were also drawn to it.
After winning the trophy – which last month he conceded should belong to Hamlin –Flacco sent an emotional statement for the city that embarked on that memorable journey with him at the end of the season .
Many thanks to Cleveland and all of its residents,” Flacco said. “I just want to express my gratitude to my teammates for letting me use their locker room at that particular time of the year. I want to thank those guys since it’s not easy to welcome a new guy. I would want to express my gratitude to the organisation for granting me the chance to pursue my passion, which is playing football. And for making my family and I feel at home for a few months, I want to express my gratitude to the city.
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