Sport | American football |
---|---|
League | National Football League |
Awarded for | An NFL player, coach or staff member overcoming adversity |
Presented by | Pro Football Writers of America |
History | |
First award | Joe Namath, 1969 |
Most recent | Damar Hamlin, 2023 |
Website | www |
The George Halas Award is given by the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) to a National Football League (NFL) player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed.
The award is named for George Halas, a charter member (1963) of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who was associated with the Chicago Bears and NFL from their inception in 1920 until his death in 1983 as an owner, manager, player and promoter.
Halas represented the Bears, then known as the Decatur Staleys, at the Sept. 17, 1920 organizational meeting of the American Football Association in Canton, Ohio. One year later, the AFA became known as the National Football League.
Halas’ teams won six NFL titles in his 40 seasons as the Bears’ coach. His 318 regular-season wins and 324 total victories were long-standing NFL records until broken by Don Shula in 1993. [1]
In 1970, the George Halas Award went to Gale Sayers for his comeback from knee surgery to lead the NFL in rushing in 1969.[ citation needed ] Sayers gave an emotional speech that was memorialized in the film Brian's Song . Said Sayers, "You flatter me by giving me this award, but I’ll tell you here and now that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. Brian Piccolo is the man of courage who should receive the George S. Halas Award. I accept it tonight, but I’ll present it to Brian tomorrow. I love Brian Piccolo. And I’d like all of you to love him, too. And tonight, when you hit your knees, ask God to love him, too." [2] [3]
Other notable winners of the George Halas Award include Joe Namath, [4] Steeler running back Rocky Bleier, Hall of Fame cornerback Jimmy Johnson, [5] New York Giant cancer survivor Karl Nelson, [6] Hall of Famers Dan Hampton and Joe Montana, [7] Denver Broncos guard Mark Schlereth, [8] former N.Y. Giant Kerry Collins, [9] San Francisco 49ers Garrison Hearst [10] and Bryant Young, [11] coach and former linebacker Sam Mills, [12] Dolphins running back Robert Edwards, [13] linebacker Mark Fields, [14] former head coach Tony Dungy, [15] former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, [16] New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, [17] and former Saints safety and ALS advocate Steve Gleason. [18]
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl, and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears have also recorded the second-most victories of any NFL franchise, only behind the Green Bay Packers, who they have a long-standing rivalry with.
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The Patriots play home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Boston. The franchise is owned by Robert Kraft, who purchased the team in 1994. As of 2023, the Patriots are tied for the third most valuable sports team in the world and have sold out every home game since 1994.
Randy Gene Moss is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record, as well as the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie.
George Stanley Halas Sr., nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), and served as his own head coach on four occasions. He was also lesser-known as a player for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the namesake for the NFC Championship trophy.
William Stephen Belichick is an American sports analyst and football coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, including the record of most Super Bowl wins (six) as a head coach, all with the New England Patriots, along with two more during his time as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, for the record of eight combined total Super Bowl victories as coach and coordinator. A renowned American football historian, Belichick is often referred to as a "student of the game" with a deep knowledge of the intricacies of each player position. During his tenure with the Patriots, Belichick was a central figure as the head coach and de facto general manager during the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019.
Anquan Kenmile Boldin Sr. is an American former football wide receiver who played for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft. He also played for the Baltimore Ravens, the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions.
Louis Brian Piccolo was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for four years. He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of germ cell testicular cancer, first diagnosed after it had spread to his chest cavity.
Gale Eugene Sayers was an American professional football halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Sayers spent seven seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971, though multiple injuries effectively limited him to five seasons of play. He was known for his elusiveness and agility and was regarded by his peers as one of the most difficult players to tackle.
The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. The game is played on the last Sunday in January by the two remaining playoff teams, following the NFC postseason's first two rounds. The NFC champion then advances to face the winner of the AFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl.
Alexander Douglas Smith is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Smith played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American honors and winning the 2005 Fiesta Bowl as a senior. He was selected first overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL draft.
Lawrence Alexander Izzo is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the special teams coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rice Owls and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Miami Dolphins in 1996. A three-time Pro Bowl selection and All-Pro selection for the New England Patriots, he won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and one as a coach with the New York Giants.
The National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award refers to a number of awards that are given to a National Football League (NFL) player who overcomes adversity to return to remarkable performance, in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, a severe injury, or simply poor performance. The awards have been presented by several organizations, including the Associated Press (AP), Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA), Sporting News, and United Press International (UPI). As of the 2022 season, Chad Pennington has been the only recipient of the award to have won the Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award in multiple seasons.
Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the life of Brian Piccolo, a Chicago Bears football player stricken with terminal cancer, focusing on his friendship with teammate Gale Sayers. Piccolo's and Sayers's sharply differing temperaments and racial backgrounds made them unlikely to become friends but they did, becoming the first interracial roommates in the history of the National Football League. The film chronicles the evolution of their friendship, ending with Piccolo's death in 1970. The production was such a success on ABC that it was later shown in theaters by Columbia Pictures with a major premiere in Chicago; however, it was soon withdrawn for lack of business. Critics have called the movie one of the finest television movies ever made. A 2005 readers' poll taken by Entertainment Weekly ranked Brian's Song seventh in its list of the top "guy-cry" films.
The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and team members to keep for themselves to symbolize their victory. There are also rings provided to the runners-up team of the Super Bowl.
The Chicago Bears American football franchise is a charter member of the National Football League (NFL), and has played in all of the league's 100 seasons. The team has captured nine NFL championships – eight NFL championships and one Super Bowl – second most all time behind the Green Bay Packers. The franchise has also recorded more victories than any other franchise (739), retired the most uniform numbers (14), and have the most members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (29). The Bears have played in over a thousand games since becoming a charter member of the NFL in 1920.
The 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
Stephen Michael Gleason is an American former professional football player who played as a safety with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington State Cougars. Originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2000, he played for the Saints through the 2006 season. As a free agent in 2008, Gleason retired from the NFL after eight seasons.
The 1968 season was the Chicago Bears' 49th in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their 7–6–1 record from 1967 and finished with a 7–7 record under first-year head coach Jim Dooley and earning them a second-place finish in the Central Division within the NFL's Western Conference, a game behind the Minnesota Vikings.
The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be "[the] official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public." Goals of the organization include improving access to practices and locker rooms, developing working relationships with all teams, and ensuring that football writers are treated in a professional manner. By the mid-2000s, the group consisted of over 300 writers, editors, and columnists who cover pro football. The PFWA also issue several awards and honors following each NFL season.
Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the NFL Record and Fact Book and Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. The Associated Press (AP) has been giving the award since 1972; Pro Football Writers of America/Pro Football Weekly since 1970; and Sporting News has announced winners since 2008. The Newspaper Enterprise Association was the originator of the award in 1966. However, it became defunct after 1997. Also going defunct was the United Press International (UPI) AFC-NFC Defensive Player of the Year Awards that began in 1975.