Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick given Bart Starr Award for character, integrity, leadership

Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was named the winner of the Bart Starr Award for 2024, an honor selected by NFL players to recognize a peer for outstanding character, integrity and leadership on and off the field.

The award is named after late Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr, who died in 2019. His widow, Cherry, informed Fitzpatrick of the honor. He will be formally presented with it in Las Vegas during the week leading into the Super Bowl next month.

“It’s a huge honor,” Fitzpatrick told Steelers.com. “I am grateful for you guys to select me. I appreciate it very much.

“That my peers selected me means a lot. I say all the time the better man you are, the better ballplayer you will be. I feel like that’s a phrase not a lot of people really believe in across the league.

“The fact that people see a good man in me means a lot. I am always trying to be a better man, better brother, better son. The fact that people recognize that is a huge honor.”

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Over his five seasons with the Steelers, Fitzpatrick has been first-team All-Pro three times and named to the Pro Bowl roster four times. He was voted team MVP by his teammates last season.

Fitzpatrick is a member of the Steelers Social Justice Committee and has worked with Dreambuilders Foundation to give away bikes to local foster kids. Fitzpatrick raised money via donations to pledge $39 for each of his tackles (No. 39 is his uniform number) to benefit foster children through his faith-based Unshackled Foundation via KidsVoice, an agency in Allegheny County that advocates for abused and neglected children.

Note: For the third consecutive game, veterans Eric Rowe and Myles Jack were elevated from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. Rowe, a safety, and Jack, an inside linebacker, were out of the league when the Steelers signed both to their practice squad on Nov. 20. The past two games, each played a starting-caliber role on the defense.

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