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Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward has been named as one of eight finalists for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.
.@CamHeyward is a finalist for the seventh annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a player for their on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition.
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 15, 2020
One player from every NFL team was nominated at the beginning of December with four players from each conference being selected as finalists by the NFL’s Legends Community. The award winner will be selected by the players as part of a category on their Pro Bowl ballot. Players will vote for the best candidate who exemplifies sportsmanship, fair play, integrity, and respect. The eight finalists are as follows:
DE Calais Campbell (Baltimore)
DT Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh)
DE Justin Houston (Indianapolis)
WR Matthew Slater (New England)
QB Teddy Bridgewater (Carolina)
LB Lavonte Davis (Tampa Bay)
FB Kyle Juszczyk (San Francisco)
C Jason Kelce (Philadelphia)
The award was established in 2014 and named after former Steelers owner Art Rooney Sr. This per Teresa Varley of Steelers.com:
The award was created in 2014 to honor Art Rooney Sr., the founder of the Steelers and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Art Rooney is an iconic figure in NFL history,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the time the award was introduced. “It is appropriate that we honor his legacy in this way and recognize NFL players for one of the important values that Mr. Rooney represented so well.”
The Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award will be presented at the NFL awards ceremony Scheduled for Saturday, February 6 which is the night before Super Bowl LV.