Chiefs’ Berry gets comeback award

One reason Chiefs safety Eric Berry fast-tracked his recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma before this season was because 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 named 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 named 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 win the writers’ comeback player of the year award. Running back Marcus Allen also did in 2013. Berry was also named to the group’s all-NFL team for the second time.

Berry also had a shot at the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award, as it was announced in December was one of 32 nominees — one from each team — to have a shot at being honored by the league 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 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.