Chiefs’ Eric Berry is pro football writers’ comeback player of year

One reason Chiefs safety Eric Berry fast-tracked his recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma before this season was that he believed the Chiefs could make it to the Super Bowl.

His team came up short of that goal, as it lost to the New England Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs, but Berry’s individual performance this season was a rousing success, and for that, he’s been chosen the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2015 comeback player of the year.

Berry, 27, finished the season with 61 tackles, 10 pass deflections and two interceptions in 16 games, including 15 starts.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in six years, and was also one of the lynchpins and leaders of a close-knit locker room that helped the Chiefs rebound from a 1-5 start to win 11 straight games, including their first playoff victory in 22 years.

Berry is the second member of the Chiefs to win the writers’ comeback player of the year award. Running back Marcus Allen also did in 1993. Berry was also selected to the group’s All-NFL team for the second time.

Berry had a shot at the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award, as it was announced in December that he was one of 32 nominees — one from each team — for having a significant positive impact on his community.

But on Sunday, the league announced the three finalists were San Francisco 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and New Orleans Saints tight end Ben Watson.

The finalists were chosen by a panel of judges that included NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, Connie Payton (Walter Payton’s widow), 2014 winner and Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis and football greats Anthony Munoz and LaDainian Tomlinson.

The winner will receive a $55,000 donation in his name to a charity of his choice, while the two runners-up will receive an $11,000 donation. As a nominee, however, Berry will receive a $5,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

Berry also won the Walter Payton Man of the Year hashtag challenge in January, as fans on Twitter used the #BerryWPMOYChallenge more than any other nominee’s during the last month of the season. As the winner, Berry received a $20,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Eric Berry is pro football writers’ comeback player of year."