Well Steelers Nation, I’m not sure what you would call the award Le’Veon Bell received at the NFL Honors ceremony, which aired the night before Super Bowl LI.

The Pittsburgh Steelers running back is this year’s winner of… wait for it… Courtyard’s Greatness on the Road Award.

Yes, I kind of smirked at that too.

No doubt it’s kind of cool to have your name called on national TV for winning something during the NFL’s version of the Academy Awards, but at the same time, it feels as if several of these trophies were created to appease various big money sponsors.

Aside from Courtyard’s award, the NFL also presented the “Built Ford Tough Offensive Line of the Year”, “FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year”, and “Castrol EDGE Clutch Performer of the Year” awards to various players.

Other awards, which have more legitimacy but still included sponsor branding were:

• AP Offensive Player of the Year presented by Microsoft
• Bridgestone Performance Play of the Year
• NFL.com Fantasy Player of the Year
• Salute to Service Award presented by USAA
• Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year presented by Nationwide
• AP Comeback Player of the Year presented by McDonald‘s
• AP Defensive Player of the Year presented by Old Spice

That’s a lot of awards, and even with the advertising, the above bullet points make a case for legitimate acknowledgement of achievements throughout the year.

I could even state a case for the FedEx Air & Ground (passing/rushing) awards, but Castrol and Courtyard?

Please.

Now I don’t want this to take away from what Le’Veon accomplished this season, but the league was really stretching for a way to display its stars on stage Saturday night. The Courtyard, Castrol and even the Built Ford Tough awards are nothing more than “participation trophies” in my opinion.

It’s always great to see a Steelers nominated for, and win an award, however, this one just screams silliness. According to an NFL press release:

“Courtyard’s Greatness on the Road Award is given to the player who demonstrates the best performance in a road game during the regular season. NFL Media Analysts selected Le’Veon Bell’s Week 14 play as the pinnacle of ‘Greatness On The Road.'”

What would’ve happened if Bell, who was also in contention for Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP honors, did not have a franchise record-setting 236 yards rushing with three touchdowns in an away game win over the Buffalo Bills?

That’s largely my point about the award, though I’d like to still congratulate Bell for a job well done this season. We had already made a case for Bell to be league MVP over Tom Brady (who lost that race to Matt Ryan) so it’s nice to see him acknowledged, even if the award is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

The NFL Honors show itself is a novel concept. Seven awards are presented by the Associated Press, as voted on by a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and others who cover the NFL on a regular basis.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017 was also announced during the show.

But the Courtyard Greatness on the Road Award?

Again, taking nothing away from Bell, but the league created an award that they had to name a winner for.

You be the judge! Is this award a participation trophy, or not?

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