CHARLOTTE—Austin Corbett knows comeback stories all too well. He lived it his entire career with the Carolina Panthers. Making a comeback is commendable. Doing two is admirable. To do three is almost unbelievable. Corbett does just that, which is why his teammates have rewarded his courage and commitment to the game.
Corbett was named the recipient of the Carolina Panthers 2024 Ed Block Courage Award. An annual award voted on by teammates, it illustrates “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 final game of 2022, a knee injury in Week 11 of the 2023 season, and a torn biceps in Week 5 of last season would deter a lesser man.
But the versatile offensive lineman walked through the door every day for the past three years, willing to do whatever was necessary to get on the field, even knowing the road to a starting job would be long. Heading into this offseason, the starting center since the start of the season knows it will also make discussions about a new contract more interesting.
“As soon as I got hurt, I knew that’s what was going to happen,” Corbett said at the end of the season. “It’s just the nature of the game when you go out – you have three surgeries, and it’s one thing if all those surgeries were related and it was just the same injury that came and went, but you know them inside out all three separate incidents and just the football game sneaking in, back to 22, starting all 17 games at that point and 63 more games before that, back to LA so I know I’m all in. able to do it.
“It’s just a matter of getting back to this state, and football is going to do what it does, so you’re not in control. You’re just going to let it pass and enjoy it while I can.”
