A Viking Is an Award Finalist
There hasn’t been much reason to celebrate for the Minnesota Vikings this season. Coming into the year with high hopes after a 14-win campaign in 2024, followed by an offseason with various supposed upgrades, expectations were unsurprisingly high.
In good old Vikings fashion, they once again followed a good season with a bad one.
A Viking Is an Award Finalist
Perhaps one guy will have something to celebrate in a few weeks. Standout right tackle Brian O’Neill was announced as a finalist for the 2025 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award. He joins seven other players, including former Viking Harrison Phillips, who the franchise traded to the New York Jets in August.
Also in the mix: DeForest Buckner (Indianapolis Colts), Zach Sieler (Miami Dolphins), Kyle Van Noy (Baltimore Ravens), Budda Baker (Arizona Cardinals), Lavonte David (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and Demario Davis (New Orleans Saints).
The Vikings wrote on the team’s website, “A panel of NFL Legends evaluated the 32 nominees and selected four finalists from the NFC and four more from the AFC. Those eight players will be listed on the Pro Bowl ballot, and players are scheduled to vote today. The winner will be announced as part of NFL Honors ahead of Super Bowl LX.”
Former Vikings Adrian Peterson (2019) and Teddy Bridgewater (2020) won the award, as well as Larry Fitzgerald, a Minnesota native. He’s now part of the panel that picked O’Neill as a finalist. Last season, Bills quarterback Josh Allen came out victorious.
Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations, said about the award, “Sportsmanship is at the very core of the game, the foundation of our values that are shared across all levels of the sport. These Rooney Sportsmanship Award nominees demonstrate to the world how the game is played with respect and integrity at the highest level of competition.”
The NFL added on the Football Operations website, “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.”
O’Neill joined the club in 2018, when Rick Spielman wanted to bolster the offensive line. Not only did he find a fantastic blocker, but a model citizen. While others have better and worse seasons, he’s pretty much the same (good) player every year.
The Pitt alumnus has been the right tackle ever since he was inserted into the lineup in his rookie season. We’re in year eight of his reign, having played 121 career games (117 starts). O’Neill was a Pro Bowler following the 2021 and 2024 seasons.
Kevin O’Connell spoke highly of his team captain, “It’s hard to express my gratitude for not only the player, the person. What it means in professional sports to be a great sportsman, it’s not just being the nice guy out there. It means you are elite at how you work, how your teammates view you, how your coaches view you, how outside folks, whether it’s other teams, the officials, other coaches, everybody views Brian O’Neill the same way, and it’s been that way for his whole career.”
O’Neill has shown his durability in the past, playing with a broken bone in his foot in 2023. Earlier this year, he tried to limit his absence with an MCL sprain. He also managed to return in time from a partially torn Achilles tendon suffered late in the 2022 campaign. In Week 1 of the following season, number 75 handled the right tackle duties.
O’Connell added, “He is an absolute pillar for our organization, and I’m just excited he’s getting recognized with this type of award because he’s quite honestly a guy that needs to be recognized more for not only what he’s meant to our team but the NFL.”
It’s another strong Pro Bowl-caliber season for the 30-year-old. He’s under contract for one more season, but it’s hard to imagine him leaving the club. A new deal should be in the works.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.