Chad Pennington has mastered NFL quarterbacking.
And personal comebacks.
For the second time in three years, Pennington is The Associated Press 2008 NFL comeback player of the year. The Miami Dolphins star is the first player in the 11 seasons of the award to win it twice.
“This time last year, I’m getting ready to watch the ball drop in Times Square. No playoffs, no starting job, no anything,” Pennington said Wednesday, reflecting on the end of his 2007 season with the New York Jets.
“Now here we are playing in a wild-card playoff game with a team that was 1-15 the year before,” he added. “We were able to move the dash over one and be 11-5, so it’s pretty special.”
As special as the way Pennington turned around his fortunes.
This time, Pennington was coming back from being benched in New York last season, then discarded this summer when the Jets acquired Brett Favre. Two years ago, Pennington returned from two rotator cuff operations in eight months in 2005 and led the Jets to the playoffs to grab comeback honors.
What’s his secret?
“Get hurt the following year and then come back,” he said, laughing. “It’s a reflection upon this organization and upon my teammates. This could have easily been an awkward situation with the new guy coming in the day of the first preseason game.”
The Dolphins rallied around Pennington’s work ethic, his preparation and his cool demeanor, and it resulted in an AFC East championship, Miami’s first since 2000.
“One of the things Chad has been tremendous with is he has been able to take the message you send every day to the team,” said coach Tony Sparano, a prime contender for AP coach of the year. “From my standpoint, it’s almost like you have another coach in the locker room all the time.
“To have a guy like him be a little bit of the torch carrier with your message to the team is very important.”
In other awards given out Wednesday, New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo was named the defensive rookie of the year.
Mayo led the Patriots in tackles and was at the top of the NFL rookie class, receiving 49-of-50 votes from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. Mayo is the sixth straight linebacker to win the award, following Patrick Willis of San Francisco in 2007.
The Patriots drafted Mayo out of Tennessee with the 10th pick.
