Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker was named the winner of the 2025 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award during the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 5, in San Francisco.

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

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This was the third straight year Baker was named a finalist for the award, which was created in honor of the late founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Rooney Sr.

“I’ve always played football the way I have played,” Baker said, via the Cardinals’ website, after accepting the award at the Palace of Fine Arts. “Ever since little league, I’m that person who tries to fly around, make hits, make tackles, create opportunities for us to win, but also play football at a high level. Accolades and awards, that can come with that.

“It just kind of goes to show that I’m just trying to play football the right way and try and do the right thing. I want to be a great player but also a great person on and off the field.”

Baker is the second member of the Cardinals to win the honor, joining Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald, who won the award when it first debuted in 2014. Calais Campbell won the award in 2022 while playing for the Baltimore Ravens.

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Baker has balanced his relentless and physical playing style with respect for the game and his opponents. Over the last five seasons, he led all NFL defensive backs with 580 total tackles while adding 4½ sacks, 26 tackles for loss, six interceptions, 24 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Despite that production and playing over 4,900 total snaps during that span, he was penalized just four times.

He was voted a team captain each of the last six seasons and been selected to the Pro Bowl eight times, including as a starter at safety each of the last seven years.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals’ Budda Baker wins Rooney Sportsmanship Award