The Colts on Thursday announced defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was selected by his teammates as the team's 2024 Ed Block Courage Award recipient.

The award annually recognizes players from all 32 teams for courageous play.

During his nine-year career with the San Francisco 49ers (2016-2019) and Colts (2020-present), Buckner has established himself not only as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL, but as one of the toughest players in the entire league. Buckner, a three-time Pro Bowler and 2020 first-team AP All-Pro, has only missed six games in his entire career due to injury.

Over 137 games (132 starts), Buckner has 66 1/2 sacks, 172 quarterback hits, 86 tackles for a loss, nine forced fumbles, 27 passes batted down and two defensive touchdowns. In 2024, Buckner battled his way back from an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve for five games to put together an impactful season: The 30-year-old has the third-highest pass rushing productivity rate among defensive tackles, per Pro Football Focus, and his 17.3 percent pass rush win rate is second-highest in that group.

Buckner, too, has made a similarly positive impact off the field.

Buckner has hosted an Indianapolis Colts Skills Camp in each of the last three years, providing an opportunity to boys and girls in grades 2-8 to get position-specific coaching in both flag and tackle football, as well as character development lessons. He's been a regular participant in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI) events and has served as the BBBSCI's lead spokesperson for a combined recruitment and fundraising campaign. Buckner has helped with the Colts' defensive line's annual D-Line Christmas, which distributes gifts to local youth during the holidays. This year, Buckner ad Colts Vice Chair/Owner Kalen Jackson visited mothers and babies Ascension St. Vincent to deliver sleep sacks to help promote safe sleep for Indiana infants.

Buckner has also been a prominent presence in fundraisers and PSAs for Kicking The Stigma, the Irsay family and Colts' initiative to raise awareness about mental health and end the stigma surrounding mental illnesses. He's also supported kNot Today, the foundation started by former Colts head coach Frank Reich and his wife, Linda, through the NFL's My Cause, My Cleats initiative.

The award is named for Ed Block, the Baltimore Colts' head athletic trainer from 1954-1977 and the Colts' trainer emeritus until his passing in 1983.

Recent Colts recipients of the Ed Block Courage Award include:

• DE Tyquan Lewis (2023)
• LB Shaquille Leonard (2022)
• WR T.Y. Hilton (2021)
• P Rigoberto Sanchez (2020)
• DE Jabaal Sheard (2019)
• TE Jack Doyle (2018)
• S Clayton Geathers (2017)
• QB Andrew Luck (2016)
• G/T Joe Reitz (2015)
• TE Dwayne Allen (2014)
• DE Cory Redding (2013)
• S Antoine Bethea (2012)
• DE Robert Mathis (2011)
• DE Dwight Freeney (2010)
• DB Marlin Jackson (2009)
• C Jeff Saturday (2008)
• G Ryan Lilja (2007)
• WR Reggie Wayne (2006)
• LB Cato June (2005)
• LB Gary Brackett (2004)
• DE Chad Bratzke (2003)
• LB Rob Morris (2002)
• QB Peyton Manning (2001)
• DT Bernhard Whittington (2000)