Each year on the night before the Super Bowl, the NFL Honors ceremony is held to present many of the league's most prestigious awards.
Because of this, there is a much wider range of awards recognized in football compared to that of other major North American sports.
[1] The Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the winning team of each season's Super Bowl, the NFL's championship game.
The original trophy, designed by jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co., was awarded in 1967 to the winner of the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, known retroactively as Super Bowl I.
It is named after the founder, owner, and longtime head coach of the Chicago Bears, George Halas.
From 1964 to 1996, the Newspaper Enterprise Association gave the Bert Bell Memorial Trophy to the NFL's most outstanding rookie.
[15] The Pro Football Writers Association honors the top rookies at each position after each season by naming them to its All-Rookie Team.
[16] The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football.
The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, is presented by the Butkus Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports a number of health and wellness activities including the "I Play Clean" anti-steroid program.
[19] The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is presented annually to a player in recognition of his charity work as well as excellence on the field.
It was originally the "NFL Man of the Year Award" before being renamed in 1999 to honor recently deceased Chicago Bears great Walter Payton, himself the 1977 recipient.
The award has been split between two players on three occasions, most recently in 2016, when Eli Manning and Larry Fitzgerald were named co-recipients.
Alan Page has been a stalwart for the players union since his early days as an executive committee member as well as a pioneer for social justice during his distinguished 23-year tenure on the Minnesota Supreme Court.
[22] The award is presented by Athletes in Action (AIA), a sports ministry associated with Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ).
The nominee list is compiled by a group of individuals made-up of the Public Relations Directors of every NFL team, past award winners and AIA staff.