Michael Thomas the Giants’ 2019 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award

Veteran safety Michael Thomas was named the New York Giants’ 2019 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award on Thursday, which is voted on by teammates and honors players who “exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.”

Thomas, a team captain, is as valuable to the locker room as he is the local community. That doesn’t even take into account his work with NFLPA.

@Michael31Thomas is the @Giants 2019 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. While his on the field contributions are numerous, they pale in comparison to Mike’s work off the field. pic.twitter.com/3Els8rMhCp

— Ed Block Foundation (@EdBlock) March 26, 2020

A non-profit organization, the Michael Thomas Dreambuilders Foundation works to provide for disadvantaged children. Mike’s teammates have selected him for this prestigious award for the invaluable contributions he has made on the field and more importantly off the field.

— Ed Block Foundation (@EdBlock) March 26, 2020

The award is given to 32 players per year (one per each team), who are then presented with a trophy, which is a pewtered football helmet featuring the team logo and is engraved with the player’s name, team and year.

The award is named after Ed Block, who was the head athletic trainer for the Baltimore Colts from 1954 to 1977. The award itself begun being handed out in 1984.

Previous Giants winners include Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Michael Strahan, Tiki Barber, Jumbo Elliott and Mark Bavaro.

Thomas joined the Giants in 2018 after five seasons with the Miami Dolphins and two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2018. He is currently an unrestricted free agent.