The Art Rooney Award is given annually by the National Football League (NFL) in recognition of outstanding sportsmanship on the playing field. Established in 2015, the award is named in honor of Art Rooney, the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Art Rooney Award
Awarded forOutstanding sportsmanship on the playing field.
Presented byNFL Honors
History
First award2014
Most recentBobby Wagner

The award is determined by a vote of the NFL players. The award is presented each year to an NFL player who demonstrates on the field the qualities of great sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for opponents, and integrity in competition.

Each NFL team nominates one player during the season. A panel of former players from the NFL Legends Community selected from the 32 nominees eight finalists (four in the American Football Conference; four in the National Football Conference). The panel of Legends Coordinators in the inaugural year was composed of Warrick Dunn, Curtis Martin, Karl Mecklenburg and Leonard Wheeler. Along with the award, the winner receives a $25,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to a charity of his choice.[1][2]

Award winners

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Larry Fitzgerald, the inaugural recipient of the award
Year Player Position Team Ref
2014 Larry Fitzgerald Wide receiver Arizona Cardinals [3]
2015 Charles Woodson Safety Oakland Raiders [4]
2016 Frank Gore Running back Indianapolis Colts [5]
2017 Luke Kuechly Linebacker Carolina Panthers [6]
2018 Drew Brees Quarterback New Orleans Saints [7]
2019 Adrian Peterson Running back Washington Redskins [8]
2020 Teddy Bridgewater Quarterback Carolina Panthers [9]
2021 Matthew Slater Special teamer New England Patriots [10]
2022 Calais Campbell Defensive end Baltimore Ravens [11]
2023 Bobby Wagner Linebacker Seattle Seahawks

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sportsmanship Award named in honor of Art Rooney Sr". National Football League. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  2. ^ Weinfuss, Josh (February 1, 2015). "Larry Fitzgerald wins first Art Rooney Award for sportsmanship". ESPN. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Werner, Sam (January 31, 2015). "Former Pitt WR, Cardinals' star Larry Fitzgerald wins inaugural Art Rooney award". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  4. ^ McDonald, Jerry (February 6, 2016). "Charles Woodson wins Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  5. ^ "Frank Gore wins Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award". indystar.com. February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  6. ^ "Luke Kuechly Wins Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award". Panthers.com. February 3, 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  7. ^ "Drew Brees wins 2018 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award". NFL.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  8. ^ Stackpole, Kyle. "Adrian Peterson Wins Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award". Redskins.com. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  9. ^ Gordon, Grant (February 6, 2021). "Panthers QB Teddy Bridgewater wins 2020 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award". NFL.com. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  10. ^ "Matthew Slater named 2021 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award Winner".
  11. ^ "NFL Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Calais Campbell Named Winner for 2022-2023 Season".