Minkah Fitzpatrick is a star safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one of the best players to ever wear an Alabama uniform. Bart Starr Award At the NFL Honors the night before the Super Bowl.

The award has been presented since 1989 and is presented to the “NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership at home, on the field, and in the community.”

Fitzpatrick became the first Alabama player to earn this honor, and after receiving the award he spoke about his faith and what got him through a difficult season in which he missed seven games due to injury.

“I remember asking myself: I'm trying to be a better man. I'm trying to be a good man. And I remember asking myself: What is a good person? And I've been thinking about that for weeks. I'm proud to be a good person. But what is it really? As I sat in quiet time, God began to speak to me and say that good people are dead. When I first heard that, I thought, “I don't really know what that means.” I did. want to live. But then he exposed it to me,” Fitzpatrick said, according to Teresa Burley of the Steelers' official website.

“One of the first requests that Jesus gave to his disciples was to take up their cross and follow it. Many of us think of it as a gold cross that we wear around our necks, or we think of it as a tattoo. But the cross was an instrument of torture. It was an instrument of humiliation. It was an instrument for evil purposes, but what Jesus did when he was crucified. God made it beautiful by dying on that cross and making it beautiful. Good people are dead people. A good man is one who is willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus. A good man stands on the cross every day, sometimes many times a day, nailing his body to it and worshiping Christ. It’s about a man who continues to obey.”

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It's fitting that an Alabama player finally won the Bart Starr Award, as Starr himself was an Alabama legend both during his time at Sidney Lanier High School and while playing for the Crimson Tide.

Fitzpatrick himself is an Alabama legend, a two-time All-American and two-time All-American during his time in Tuscaloosa.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin also attended the event to cheer on Fitzpatrick, but Tomlin said he doesn't want to attend a Super Bowl unless he's coaching in one.

“Honestly, it's not my style to go to the Super Bowl unless I'm working. I'm going to leave here and go straight to the airport. This guy, Minkah Fitzpatrick, deserves this recognition. , I couldn't afford to miss this. I read the description that this award embodies a person of high character, values, integrity, and leadership on and off the field. “Fitzpatrick,'' Tomlin said.