Veteran 2 w/ Pin of Excellence

Saw a player on the leaderboard that had the pin of excellence but was only a Vet 2. How is this possible? Does the veteran rank only increase if the player has played at least once in a new year? So if they played no games at all during the whole year their veteran rank remains unchanged? So maybe this player earned their Pin of Excellence all those years ago but went on a years long break and at some point since Jan. 1st came back to play their second year? I’m probably not even close and the answer is much simpler. It’s not a big deal, it’s just one of those things that caught my attention and will probably bother me for a while or until I find a legit answer. How is it possible that a Veteran 2 earned The Pin of Excellence?