Stampede Blue
A tremendous honor has been bestowed on an equally great Colts defensive player.
The Indianapolis Colts announced on Thursday that defensive tackle DeForest Buckner is the team’s 2024 Ed Block Courage Award recipient.
The award’s namesake is the late longtime Baltimore Colts trainer, Ed Block, who served in his role from 1954-1977 and remained the Colts trainer emeritus until he passed away in 1983.
Per the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation:
“Each year the Ed Block Courage Awards honors those National Football League players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. The Courage Award has become one of the most esteemed honors bestowed upon a player in the NFL and each recipient is selected solely by a vote of his peers [teammates]. Every fall all 32 teams conduct a vote which results in each team selecting their Ed Block Courage Award recipient for the year.”
“The Ed Block Courage Award recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication. He is also a community role model.”
“ . . . The Ed Block Courage Award recipient will be identified as a team player in helping abused children and families in crisis.”
On the field, Buckner has been a highly impactful defensive player for the Colts franchise as an NFL First-Team All-Pro, 2x NFL Pro Bowler, and team defensive captain.
However, it’s been Buckner’s impact off of it that has been equally—if not even more so felt by his local communities at-large (via Colts.com):
“Buckner has hosted an Indianapolis Colts Skills Camp in each of the last three years, providing an opportunity to boys and girls in grades 2-8 to get position-specific coaching in both flag and tackle football, as well as character development lessons. He’s been a regular participant in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI) events and has served as the BBBSCI’s lead spokesperson for a combined recruitment and fundraising campaign. Buckner has helped with the Colts’ defensive line’s annual D-Line Christmas, which distributes gifts to local youth during the holidays. This year, Buckner ad Colts Vice Chair/Owner Kalen Jackson visited mothers and babies Ascension St. Vincent to deliver sleep sacks to help promote safe sleep for Indiana infants”
“Buckner has also been a prominent presence in fundraisers and PSAs for Kicking The Stigma, the Irsay family and Colts’ initiative to raise awareness about mental health and end the stigma surrounding mental illnesses. He’s also supported kNot Today, the foundation started by former Colts head coach Frank Reich and his wife, Linda, through the NFL’s My Cause, My Cleats initiative.”
This is a great honor for Buckner, who’s continuously remained a true ‘Horseshoe Guy.’ Last year’s Colts’ Ed Block Courage Award recipient was fellow defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis.
