Three players with Alabama football roots have been nominated for the NFL’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award for the 2025 season.
Each NFL team nominated one player for the annual honor, and the league revealed the candidates on Wednesday.
The award is presented annually to the NFL player “who best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition.”
The nominees for the award for the 2025 season from Alabama high schools and colleges are:
- Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown (Auburn)
- Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (Clay-Chalkville High School)
- New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (Enterprise High School, Troy)
“Sportsmanship is at the very the core of the game, the foundation of our values that are shared across all levels of the sport,” said Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, in a release from the league. “These Rooney Sportsmanship Award nominees demonstrate to the world how the game is played with respect and integrity at the highest level of competition.”
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The 32 nominees will be reduced to eight finalists – four from each conference – by four players from the NFL Legends Community — Warrick Dunn, Larry Fitzgerald, Curtis Martin and Leonard Wheeler. From the eight finalists, each team’s players will submit a consensus vote of their choice for the winner. As in Pro Bowl voting, a team cannot vote for its own player.
The winner will be announced during the annual NFL Honors program in February. The winner will receive a $25,000 donation from the NFL Foundation for the charity of his choice.
This year marks the 12th time that the NFL has presented the award.
