:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69172364/usa_today_15144537.0.jpg)
Sometimes an award designation is as straightforward as possible.
Bears linebacker Roquan Smith has won the distinguished 2020 Ed Block Courage Award as Chicago’s representative.
The Ed Block Courage Award is given to one player on all 32 NFL teams every season. A winner is described as someone who exemplifies a commitment to sportsmanship and courage. Additionally, they are the embodiment of professionalism, dedication, and are a community role model. It is then summarily voted on by that player’s teammates and is respectively doled out.
Perhaps no one on the current Bears roster is more fitting of this label than Roquan Smith. A humble person with a calming demeanor on and off the field, Smith has more than come into his own as a quiet leader.
“It’s a tremendous honor for me,” Smith said. “Being voted on by my teammates, I think that speaks volumes, just having your peers vote for you and think you deserve this award. That means a lot to me just because of the brotherhood that we have.”
Past Bears winners of the Ed Block Courage Award include Allen Robinson, Zach Miller, and Kyle Long.
The 24-year-old Smith is coming off a spectacular 2020 season where he amassed 139 tackles, 18 tackles-for-loss, seven pass deflections, six quarterback hits, four sacks, two interceptions, and a forced fumble. A statistical stuffer at inside linebacker if there ever was one, Smith now has an appropriate marker recognizing his place as a special Bears player and community trendsetter.