Tuesday, the Commanders announced their 2024 Ed Block Courage Award recipient is veteran safety Jeremy Reaves.
Each December, NFL teams vote for the player from their team who is a role model in courage, inspiration and sportsmanship.
Reaves, 28, played his college ball at South Alabama and went undrafted by all 32 NFL teams.
Although he has been released several times during his career, he illustrates what can happen when a player works hard, keeps coming back, and contributes to Washington. He has played in 60 NFL games, starting 11.
Block was an athletic trainer for the old Baltimore Colts from the 1954-1977 seasons after serving as a U.S. Army officer in World War II. He was also a physical therapist for disabled children in Baltimore.
Next March, the recipient from each of the 32 teams will receive their award at a banquet in Baltimore. Reaves and the other award winners will receive a helmet engraved with his name, team, and season. The helmet also included the team’s logo.
.@JR1ERA is our 2024 Ed Block Courage Award winner 💪#ProBowlVote | 📰 https://t.co/xtz3nhlzrW pic.twitter.com/1mZuDFFoLO
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) December 10, 2024
The NFL began presenting the award during the 1984 season, and the Redskins’ first recipient was offensive tackle Mark May. Last year, the Commanders voted offensive lineman Tyler Larsen as the winner.
Some other notable Washington Redskins / Commanders to have been voted to receive the award were:
- Doug Williams 1988
- Joe Jacoby 1990
- Don Warren 1991
- Art Monk 1993
- Mark Schlereth 1994
- Darrell Green 1998
- Chris Samuels 2002
- Marcus Washington 2007
- Robert Griffin 2013
- DeAngelo Hall 2017
- Alex Smith 2019
- Brandon Scherff 2020
- Brian Robinson Jr 2022
