This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
Being named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September would make one think that the NFL is high on Sam Darnold. After a career that has seen him travel through more ups and downs than most players, he is now playing at an MVP level.
Despite that emergence, Darnold isn’t eligible for the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
After last year, when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin split the honor with quarterback Joe Flacco, we saw the Associated Press reword its criteria for the award:
“The spirit of the 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.”
It is OK, though — Darnold is going to get his roses in more ways than one. This weekend he should earn them in a visit to USC, and at the end of the year plenty of folks will be singing his praises when he is on the free agent market.