The Pewter Plank
FanSided

Not a single Buccaneers player received an NFL Honors nomination this year

By Josh Hill

TAMPA, FLORIDA - JANUARY 16: Chris Godwin #14 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kneels on the field prior to a game against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card playoff game at Raymond James Stadium on January 16, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - JANUARY 16: Chris Godwin #14 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kneels on the field prior to a game against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card playoff game at Raymond James Stadium on January 16, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The NFL announced the list of finalists for this year’s NFL Honors, but you won’t find a single Tampa Bay Buccaneers player among the nominees.

To be fair, there wasn’t much worth rewarding in Tampa Bay this year. The Bucs offense was among the worst in the league, despite putting up respectable numbers in certain categories. The defense started the year as one of the league’s best units but fell off a cliff midseason, and the Bucs have already begun firing coaches on Todd Bowles staff which is an indictment in itself.

So it’s not at all surprising the Bucs were completely overlooked for NFL Honors, but it’s still a sad coda to a disappointing season.

Bucs fans do have a reason to be disappointing beyond the obvious. If there was one player who seemed likely to garner a nomination, it was wide receiver Chris Godwin. After tearing his ACL late last season and undergoing reconstruction surgery in January, Godwin made a miraculous recovery and started the season on the active roster. Not only that, but he finished the year with a career-high in targets, the third-highest total yards in his career with 1,023, and was a Top 50 receiver in the league according to FiveThirtyEight rankings.

He may not have been a slam dunk to win Comeback Player of the Year over guys like Geno Smith or Saquon Barkley, but he at least deserved to be among the nominees.

Here is the official list of nominees for Comeback Player of the Year:

  • Geno Smith, QB/Seahawks
  • Saquon Barkley, RB/Giants
  • Christian McCaffrey, RB/49ers

The couldn’t have nominated one more guy and tossed in Godwin?

Finalists were determined through the AP’s new voting system, where voters rank their top five picks for MVP and Top 3 for the other awards. That means no voters, or not enough voters, ranked Bucs players on their ballots for any to get award recognition.

When are the NFL Honors? (Updated 2023)

The winners will be announced at the 12th annual NFL Honors ceremony on Feb. 9, 2023, which will air live on NBC, Peacock, and NFL Network. Not that a single Buccaneers fan has a reason to tune in.

  • Date: Saturday, February 9, 2023
  • Start Time: 7 pm ET
  • TV Channel: NBC | NFL Network
  • Live Stream: Peacock | Fubo.tv

NFL Honors 2023 tickets: How to buy?

While Bucs fans probably don’t care about watching the NFL Honors this year, attending the event actually could be a lot of fun. It’s basically the Oscars for football — but not the ESPYs, which is also the Oscars for sports as a whole — which means rubbing elbows with the NFL elite.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that tickets to the event are open to fans. It makes sense, too. Football fans are not known for having laid-back personalities, and the last thing the league wants is the MVP getting booed and heckled by fans of an opposing team. Sure, the league can tell fans not to do that, but that doesn’t mean anyone will listen.

The red carpet, however, is a different situation.

Fans can attend the NFL Honors red carpet event by signing up for limited ticket space, and then leaving it in the hands of the Football Gods.

Home/Bucs News