CHARLOTTE— Austin Corbett is all too familiar with a comeback story. He's lived it his entire Carolina Panthers career. Making one comeback is commendable. Making two is admirable. Making three is akin to unbelievable. Corbett is doing just that, though, which is why his teammates rewarded his courage and commitment to the game.

Corbett has been named the 2024 Carolina Panthers recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. An annual award voted on by teammates, it exemplifies "commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage" and symbolizes the "professionalism, great strength, and dedication" of someone who is also a community role model.

When taking stock of Corbett's dedication and commitment to sportsmanship and courage, it's easy to focus first on the injuries. An ACL injury in the last game of 2022, a knee injury in Week 11 of the 2023 season, and a biceps tear in Week 5 of this past season would deject a lesser man.

But the versatile offensive lineman has walked through the door each day of the past three years ready to take on whatever was necessary to get on the field, even knowing it would be a long road back to a starter position. Heading into this offseason, the starting center from the beginning of the season knows it also will make talks of a new contract more interesting.

"As soon as I got hurt, I knew that's what was gonna happen," Corbett shared after the season had concluded. "That's just the nature of the game when you're coming off—you got three surgeries, and it's one thing if all those surgeries were related and just kind of the same injury coming back and forth, but you know all three of them completely separate incidents and just the game of football sneaking up, Back to '22, start all 17 games then and 63 additional games before that, back to LA so I know I'm plenty capable of doing it.

"It's just a matter of getting back to that state, and football is going to do what it does, so you're not in control. You're just going to let it ride out and just enjoy it while I can."

A biceps tear is typically a 12-week recovery, according to Corbett. So when he suffered it in Week 5, it meant his timeline put him ready for football again at the end of the regular season. The Panthers turned to Brady Christensen and Cade Mays in his stead, who both performed admirably.

Before his biceps injury, though, Corbett was the center (literally) of one of the best lines in football at the time. In five games, Corbett played 174 pass-blocking snaps. He allowed only seven quarterback pressures (4.0 percent, 18th best in the league at that time) and 1.0 sacks. Of those seven QBPs, only three came on one-on-one assignments, of which Corbett pulled 67 total.

This was the first year Corbett played as a center. He's previously played guard on both the right and left side. He made the switch after the Panthers brought in free agent guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt. Even with the learning curve and responsibility, the Nevada product was excited to take on the challenge.

"So there's obviously the differences of, guard is definitely more physically demanding—the D-tackles in the league nowadays, they're just crazy. But centers, it's the mental side of it, right? And you got to be able to put all five guys on the same page. You got to be able to talk to that quarterback that we're all seeing flash that's pretty amazing what he's doing," Corbett said, bragging on Bryce Young before continuing. "And so, to be on the same page and do so in a quick, efficient manner is the mental challenge that I like."

While a return from multiple injuries is to be commended and position changes, Corbett's attitude about the game and the Panthers overall made him someone teammates look to for guidance. After winning a Super Bowl as a starter with the Los Angeles Rams, the free-agent lineman signed with Carolina. The Panthers had gone 5-12 the previous season while Corbett was winning a ring. But he knew what he wanted in a team.

"I knew when I came here, it was going to be tough, and that's what I wanted to be a part of," admitted Corbett. "I wanted to be a part of the grind and helping young guys set a foundation of what it means just to love the game of football and fight every single game."

Corbett has seen this attitude really take hold the past year, even while he was on the sidelines. The fact that he was there, though, offering encouragement, insight, or even just laughs, was not lost on his teammates when it came time to vote on this year's Ed Block Courage Award recipient. And their approach to the game wasn't lost on Corbett.

"Just over these last couple weeks of just watching and seeing how guys have handled adversity and seeing what Dave (Canales) has done in his first year as a head coach has been just tremendous, and so I definitely want to be a part of it."

Previously this season, Corbett was also the Panthers nominee for the Salute to Service Award, due to his consistent work with the military community.

PANTHERS PAST WINNERS OF ED BLOCK COURAGE AWARD

2023 - Donte Jackson
2022 - Jaycee Horn
2021 - Jeremy Chinn
2020 - Brian Burns
2019 - Shaq Thompson
2018 - Julius Peppers
2017 - Graham Gano
2016 - Luke Kuechly
2015 - Cam Newton
2014 - Greg Olsen
2013 - Ryan Kalil
2012 - Ron Edwards
2011 - Thomas Davis
2010 - Jordan Gross
2009 - Dan Connor
2008 - Jake Delhomme
2007 - Mike Rucker
2006 - Colin Branch
2005 - Steve Smith Sr.
2004 - Mark Fields
2003 - DeShaun Foster
2002 - Kevin Donnalley
2001 - Patrick Jeffers
2000 - Mushin Muhammad
1999 - Mike Minter
1998 - Steve Beuerlein
1997 - Tshimanga Biakabutuka
1996 - Lamar Lathon
1995 - Brett Maxie