The Art Rooney Award is one of the most recent awards to have been established and it is named after the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise of the NFL and was first presented in 2014. The winner of this award is selected solely by the players in the NFL through a voting system. The on-field qualities that a player must possess for receiving this award are great sportsmanship which includes fair play, respect for opponents, and integrity in competition.
Each NFL franchise is allowed to nominate one of their players from the current season for the Art Rooney Award. The award has a panel of former NFL players who are entrusted with selecting the finalists for the award. Their job is to narrow down the list of 32 players to a final 8 which consists of 4 players each from the AFC and the NFC. Once the eight finalists are declared, it is up to the current players across the league to cast their votes and determine the winner of that year’s Art Rooney Award. Along with the award, the winner also receives $25,000 as a donation from the NFL Foundation which is given to a charity of the winner’s choice.
List of Art Rooney Award winners
As of January 2025, the Art Rooney Award winners are as follows:
| Year | Player | Position | Team |
| 2014 | Larry Fitzgerald | Wide receiver | Arizona Cardinals |
| 2015 | Charles Woodson | Safety | Oakland Raiders |
| 2016 | Frank Gore | Running back | Indianapolis Colts |
| 2017 | Luke Kuechly | Linebacker | Carolina Panthers |
| 2018 | Drew Brees | Quarterback | New Orleans Saints |
| 2019 | Adrian Peterson | Running back | Washington Redskins |
| 2020 | Teddy Bridgewater | Quarterback | Carolina Panthers |
| 2021 | Matthew Slater | Special teams | New England Patriots |
| 2022 | Calais Campbell | Defensive end | Baltimore Ravens |
| 2023 | Bobby Wagner | Linebacker | Seattle Seahawks |
FAQs on Art Rooney Award
A. The Art Rooney Award is a fairly new annual award given to the player who demonstrates the best sportsmanship in the game for the year.
A. Larry Fitzgerald, the former wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals won the first Art Rooney Award in 2014.
A. Art Rooney was the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers and according to the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, he was an iconic personality of the league and his legacy deserved to be honored in such a way.
A. The Art Rooney Award also comes with a donation amount of $25,000 from the NFL foundation and is given directly to a charity of the player’s choice.
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