Bills' Damar Hamlin named 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after miraculous recovery

Taylor Swift's effect on the NFL has been palpable, and while at the 2024 NFL Honors, players around the league seem to all be for the added exposure this season.

Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who came back to the NFL after suffering a cardiac arrest on Jan. 2, 2023 against the Cincinnati Bengals, has been named the league's Comeback Player of the Year. 

Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco, who led his team to a playoff berth after being signed midway through the season, was another frontrunner for the award. But even he knew it should go to Hamlin for what he's been through just to get back on a football field this season. 

Hamlin's NFL future was the last thing on anyone's mind when he went down at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on "Monday Night Football" for the entire world to see. The tragic scene led everyone watching to only care about Hamlin's health. 

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Damar Hamlin arrives at the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary at Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort on February 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Mindy Small/Getty Images)

Hamlin's heart stopped on that field, and if it wasn't for the swift actions of the Bills' training staff, as well as those at the UC Health Trauma Center in Cincinnati, he wouldn't be where he is today. 

He certainly wouldn't have been able to receive the Alan Page Community Award at last year's NFL Honors, but even at that point, everyone wondered whether Hamlin would be back on a football field. 

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Just months later, he was cleared for football activities, and Hamlin was able to make the Bills' 53-man roster