Five players with Alabama football roots have been nominated for the NFL’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award

Each NFL team nominated one player for the annual honor, and the league revealed the candidates on Monday.

The award is presented annually to the NFL player “who best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition.”

The nominees for the award for the 2024 season included:

• Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama)
• New England Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones (Auburn)
• Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (Alabama)
• Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama)
• New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (Wenonah, Alabama)

The 32 nominees will be reduced to eight finalists – four from each conference – by four players from the NFL Legends Community — Warrick Dunn, Larry Fitzgerald, Curtis Martin and Leonard Wheeler. From the eight finalists, each team’s players will submit a consensus vote of their choice for the winner. As in Pro Bowl voting, a team cannot vote for its own player.

The winner will be announced during the annual NFL Honors program in February. The winner will receive a $25,000 donation from the NFL Foundation for the charity of his choice.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.