On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that tight end Heath Miller was voted by his teammates as the winner of the 2013 Ed Block Courage Award, an award presented annually to a player who has fought back from an injury or tough circumstance. Miller will be presented the award at the 21st annual Arthur J. Rooney Courage House Luncheon Nov. 5.
“It’s an honor to win it,” said Miller, who suffered a serious knee injury on Dec. 23 against the Cincinnati Bengals. “You would like to not be nominated for this type of award because it means you were injured. It feels good to have it in your rear view mirror and be back on the field with your teammates.”
Miller was the easy choice here and while we don’t know for sure, the voting was probably unanimous as the veteran tight end is an easy person to like and root for.
Miller started training camp on the Steelers Active PUP list after being forced to miss all of the offseason practices while rehabbing his surgically repaired knee. He made enough progress by the start of the season, however, that the team decided to activate him to their 53 man roster so that he wouldn’t be forced to sit out the first six weeks of the season.
Miller made his 2013 season debut against the Chicago Bears in Week 3 and caught three passes for 35 yards in the loss. He has since registered 14 more catches and scored his first touchdown this past Sunday in the win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Last year center Maurkice Pouncey won the award.
Below is the list of all of the Steelers players that have won the team award since its inception.
2012 Maurkice Pouncey
2011 Max Starks
2010 Nick Eason
2009 Aaron Smith
2008 Ryan Clark
2007 Ben Roethlisberger
2006 Travis Kirschke
2005 Casey Hampton
2004 Kendall Simmons
2003 Mike Logan
2002 Amos Zereoue
2001 Wayne Gandy
2000 Dermontti Dawson
1999 Chad Scott
1998 Tim Lester
1997 Mark Bruener
1996 Rod Woodson
1995 Jerry Olsavsky
1994 Charles Johnson
1993 Gary Jones
1992 Hardy Nickerson
1991 Mike Mularkey
1990 John Rienstra
1989 Keith Willis
1988 Greg Lloyd
1987 Dwayne Woodruff
1986 Gary Dunn
1985 Pete Rostosky
1984 Eric Williams
