The 2015 Comeback Player of the Year award was hard to forget for many reasons. Hearing Devon Still and his incredibly inspirational daughter Leah present Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry with the honor after Berry fought his way back from Hodgkin lymphoma was a reminder of how tough a person can possibly be -- and just how diverse the pool of candidates are for the award every season.
Players can come back from health scares, poor seasons, scheme changes or broken bones.
In 2016, the award celebrated Packers receiver Jordy Nelson, who tore the ACL in his right knee during a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Aug. 2015. He missed the entire season.
Because of past success, fans tend to overlook the grueling recovery that accompanies an ACL tear even with today's medical advancements. Nelson is a technician as a wide receiver and needed to completely rebuild and strengthen one of his most important tendons.
This season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Nelson became the most productive quarterback-receiver relationship in franchise history with their 58th touchdown. The previous record was held by Brett Favre and Antonio Freeman.
"I think everyone would agree that Jordy is back," head coach Mike McCarthy said earlier in the season.
He added: "I don't know how much more Jordy needs to prove. He's going through what every great player goes through in that first year back from major injury. He practices every day, and those are the little things that are probably most important. Because I think his performance speaks for itself."
The voters agreed.
