The NFL and USAA announced the full list of 32 nominees for this year’s Salute to Service Award presented by USAA on Wednesday.
There is one nominee per team for the annual award, which recognizes NFL players, coaches, staff and alumni who go above and beyond to honor and support the military and veterans. San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle took home the award last season.
Here is a look at the full list of nominees, which is headlined by Kittle’s teammate, Christian McCaffrey, as well as Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh:
Travis Homer (Bears), Aaron Jones Sr. (Vikings), Tony Richardson (Jets) and Brian Ford (Buccaneers) were among the 32 nominees last year as well.
Homer and Jones are both running backs in the NFC North and take the time to honor the military in multiple ways.
Homer has purchased tickets for every Bears home game this season and donated them to military families to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and Wounded Warrior Project. Jones honors the military through his A&A All the Way Foundation and visited U.S. service members on an NFL-USO tour this spring.
The three finalists for this year’s award will be named in January, and the winner will be recognized at the NFL Honors during the week of Super Bowl LX.
Fans can vote for the nominees through Nov. 30 at NFL.com/SaluteFanVote.
As last year’s winner, Kittle will join the Salute to Service Award panel to help choose this season’s award recipient. There is a chance the 49ers could take home the award two years in a row if McCaffrey is selected.
The star running back recognizes and honors the military through his Christian McCaffrey Foundation and the organization’s flagship initiative, 23 and Troops. Since it launched in 2021, 23 and Troops uses athlete-level care to help those in the military and veterans heal from post-traumatic stress.
It has invested approximately $700,000 in military support and has paid off holiday layaway balances for 515 military families.
Harbaugh is another headline nominee thanks to his efforts that include hosting T.A.P.S. families and Gold Star families at games, practices and team activities, as well as the decision to move the Chargers’ minicamp to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton before the 2024 season.
Harbaugh also brought in more than 2,500 military personnel, veterans and their families to two training camp practices at the University of San Diego ahead of the 2025 campaign.