After having an amazing season in which he threw for over 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford won the Associated Press’ Comeback Player of the Year Award.
After fighting through injuries the first two seasons of his still young career, Stafford received 21 of 50 total votes to take home the award.
Coming in second was Cleveland linebacker D’Qwell Jackson. San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith finished third, followed by Carolina receiver Steve Smith, Denver defensive end Elvis Dumervil, New England defensive end Andre Carter and Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
After leading the Lions to their first playoff berth since the 1999 season, Stafford stressed the importance of what the team did as a whole and not what he did as an individual player.
“That’s what people are judged on this time of year,” said Stafford, who added the Lions are capable of much more than just earning a wild-card berth and losing in the opening round. “”We have great talent around me. We’ve got it all. We’re still proving ourselves.”
Stafford completed 63.5 percent of his passes and became only the fourth quarterback to go over 5,000 yards — and 41 touchdowns. On top of all of that though he developed some tremendous chemistry with his receivers especially Calvin Johnson who established himself as thee premier wide-out in the NFL.
Ref: Mlive.com, AP (image), ESPN
