With the news that Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing played the entire 2009 season after testing positive for a banned substance under the NFL's steroid policy, the Associated Press voters may do a "re-vote" on the 2009 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, AP "adviser" Dave Goldberg announced on Twitter.

Cushing received 39 of 50 votes for the award, with Buffalo Bills safety Jairus Byrd (6), Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews (3), and Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo (2) finishing out the vote.

If they re-vote, it will interesting to see how the 5+ months between votes would affect the way voters view the performances of the candidates behind Cushing. As Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes, blocking Matthews was a primary goal of the Arizona Cardinals during the Wild Card playoff game, while Byrd and Orakpo would not benefit from the sort of national exposure that Matthews received in January.

As the 2007 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year vote shows, AP voters don't always adhere to common sense when filling out their ballots. While Greg Ellis was a deserving winner, he narrowly beat out New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss for the award.

What debilitating injury did Moss overcome in 2007? Boredom, which magically went away when he wasn't "playing for" the Oakland Raiders anymore.