In June, after the Associated Press clarified the criteria for Comeback Player of the Year, we pointed out that the clarification might frustrate gamblers.
Apparently, it will.
We used the example of Sam Darnold winning the starting job in Minnesota and playing well. Under the new guidelines, he’s not supposed to be considered.
At most sports books, however, he’s not only on the board. He’s one of the favorites.
“The spirit of the AP Comeback Player of the Year 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,” the AP told voters in June.
Rob Maaddi of the AP, who coordinates the awards process, posted this tweet on Friday morning: “Sam Darnold probably would’ve been a candidate for the Comeback Player of the Year award before the AP issued guidance to voters before the season. . . . If he keeps playing at this level, Darnold could end up with another award: Most Valuable Player.”
We’ve posed a variety of questions to the AP regarding the award. For example, will votes for Darnold be rejected? Will votes for other players be rejected? Will the AP make a list of ineligible players?
The problem with the new standard, as we explained in June, is that the phrase “other circumstances” provides voters with a lot of leeway. Darnold arguably has overcome “other circumstances” that caused him to be on the bench in 2023 with the 49ers. Those circumstances would be the fact that the Jets derailed his career, the same as they derailed the career of Geno Smith (the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year) — and maybe Zach Wilson.
The AP clearly intended to keep players like Darnold from being named Comeback Player of the Year. The sports books didn’t get the memo. Or they’ve ignored it, happily taking money from people who have been betting on players who won’t, and perhaps can’t, win the prize.
Plenty of questions still need to be answered. And anyone who bet on Darnold (or any other potentially ineligible player) should be very interested in what the AP, and the sports books, will have to say.
For now, it’s a mess. And it’s a mess too big for one tweet by Maaddi to fully clean up.