MIAMI – Traded by the Dolphins before the season, Ryan Tannehill was honored Saturday in the city that gave him the first seven years of his NFL career.
Tannehill was named the 2019 NFL comeback player of the year during an awards ceremony in Miami.
The former first-round draft pick replaced Tennessee Titans starting quarterback Marcus Mariota in October and led the NFL with a 117.5 passer rating, completing 70.3% of his passes, and throwing 22 touchdowns against just six interceptions -- the fewest of his career.
Tannehill earned 16 of 50 votes, edging out San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo by a single vote.
Selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2012 draft, Tannehill became the first quarterback chosen by Miami in the first round since Dan Marino and started 77 consecutive games for the Dolphins before going down with an injury in 2016.
After missing the entire 2017 season with an injury suffered during the team’s first practice, Tannehill returned to the starting lineup in 2018, but he was once more sidelined by injury and finished with career-lows in completions (176), passing yards (1,979) and touchdowns (17).
He was traded to the Titans after head coach Brian Flores took over for the fired Adam Gase.
With Tannehill at the helm of the offense, the Titans were within one game of playing in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium.