Bengals’ Burrow, Chase honored by NFL

The NFL held its annual awards show on Thursday right by the site of Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood, Calif., but Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase collected theirs the best way they probably could envision.

Burrow was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year and Chase is the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and because they are in the midst of preparing to play the L.A. Rams in the Super Bowl on Sunday, they participated in the nationally-televised ceremony via satellite from their hotel.

Meanwhile, Bengals great Willie Anderson didn’t make the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first season as one of the 15 finalists, but he tweeted out Thursday night he had learned the news three weeks ago and appreciated all the well-wishes from fans.

Burrow’s comeback from major surgery, after tearing his ACL and MCL on Nov. 22, 2020, was truly remarkable. He returned to break all the franchise’s major passing records while leading the Bengals to an AFC North title, first playoff win in 31 years and their first Super Bowl since 1988. He completed 70.4% of his passes for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns, both single-season records for the franchise.

The 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick beat out Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, 28-21, in the voting.

“I’d like to thank the people that helped me throughout my entire process, physical therapists, Nick (Cosgray) and Aaron, my trainer Dak (Notestine), my family obviously helped me after surgery -- it was tough getting around the house -- and then my teammates,” Burrow said. “I obviously wouldn’t be here without them, coaches, organization, everybody. So, thanks everybody so much. I worked really hard to get here, just excited for this weekend.”

With Chase’s award, he can cross off another one of the goals he posted on his bathroom mirror going into his rookie season.

The 2021 No. 5 overall draft pick set league rookie records for yards in a season (1,455), game (266) and postseason (279 in three games). He also set the Bengals’ all-time record for most receiving yards in a season, beating Chad Johnson’s mark, and for most receiving yards in a game with that 266 against the Chiefs in Week 17. He received 42 of the 50 votes with Patriots quarterback Mac Jones the closest competitor with five votes.

Chase had a rocky preseason with drops but shook off the rust with a 100-yard game in his debut in a season-opening win over Minnesota, and he had 754 yards and six touchdowns in his first seven games.

“First and foremost, I want to say thank you to my parents for all the support they have been giving me,” Chase said in his acceptance speech. “Second, my teammates, Joe Burrow, TB (Tyler Boyd) and the rest of those guys. Shout out to (wide receivers coach) Troy (Walters) for pushing me this far, constantly on me to make sure I was working, especially after all the noise at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t shattering me. It just made me stronger but also I want to say thank you to the organization for picking me. Appreciate the award.”

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