Pittsburgh Steelers announce two 2021 team award winners

Every year the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America hand out awards to individual players for a multitude of reasons. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, two of those awards are for media cooperation, and the team’s top rookie performer of that particular season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced the recipients of those two awards on Wednesday, and they are Cameron Heyward as the winner of ‘The Chief’ Award and Najee Harris as the winner of the Joe Greene Great Performance Award.

‘The Chief’ Award is given to a player on the Pittsburgh Steelers who is known for their cooperation with the media. Cameron Heyward previously won the award in 2014 and 2019. Other current Steelers to win the award are Ben Roethlisberger in 2010 and 2020, and Joe Haden in 2018.

The Joe Greene Great Performance award is given to the Steelers top rookie each season. In 2021, Najee Harris was chosen for the award after posting 296 carries for the Steelers rookie record of 1,172 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns along with 70 receptions for 440 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. Awarded since 1984, Harris joins fellow award winners Chase Claypool in 2020, Devin Bush in 2019, Terrell Edmunds in 2018, JuJu Smith-Shuster in 2017, and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004.

Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for all the latest news and notes surrounding the black and gold, especially as the regular season comes to a close and more team awards will continue to be announced.