NEW YORK, NY – Navy senior quarterback Tai Lavatai and junior corner Dashaun Peele have been named to the Watch List for the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Since 2018, the award has recognized college football student-athletes from all divisions of college football for overcoming injury, illness, or other circumstances. At the conclusion of each season, in a vote by a panel of college football writers, editors, and sports information directors, three college football student-athletes are honored as Comeback Player of the Year Award winners at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
The award is presented by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) in association with The Associated Press (AP) and the Fiesta Bowl Organization.
Lavatai is coming back from a knee injury he suffered in last year's game against Temple. He missed all of spring practice, but has returned in the fall and is listed as even for the starting quarterback job with sophomore Blake Horvath. Lavatai has started 18 games in his career.
Peele is coming back from a leg injury that he suffered, ironically enough, in his first-career start last year against Notre Dame. He is expected to make his second-career start this Saturday against the Irish in Dublin, Ireland. He has played in five career games, all last year.
Previous winners of the Comeback Player of the Year Award include: 2022 - Mohamed Ibrahim (Minnesota); Laiatu Latu (UCLA); Michael Penix Jr. (Washington); 2021 – Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan); McKenzie Milton (Florida State); J.J. Weaver (Kentucky); 2020 – Jarek Broussard (Colorado); Kenneth Horsey (Kentucky); Silas Kelly (Coastal Carolina); 2019 – Jake Luton (Oregon State); Drew Wilson (Georgia Southern); Octavion Wilson (Salisbury); 2018 - Antwan Dixon (Kent State), Seth Simmer (Dartmouth); Antonio Wimbush (Carson-Newman). For a complete list of past honorees, visit www.Comeback-Player.com.
The second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics, College Sports Communicators was founded in 1957 and rebranded in August 2022. The organization, now in its 67th year as an organization, was previously known as College Sports Information Directors of America, or CoSIDA. Today, College Sports Communicators is a vibrant 4,200-plus member international association, composed of the athletic communications, media relations, digital and creative professionals throughout all levels of intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. CSC's signature program is the Academic All-America® program, honoring thousands of outstanding scholar-athletes annually. To learn more, visit collegesportscommunicators.com
