On Tuesday, the Chicago Bears honored linebacker T.J. Edwards and tight end Colston Loveland as their 2025 Brian Piccolo Award winners.
The Award is named after former Bears running back Brian Piccolo, who died from embryonal cell carcinoma, a rare form of cancer, on June 16, 1970. Piccolo’s story, his fight against the illness, and his friendship with Gale Sayers were captured in the 1971 movie “Brian’s Song.”
The Brian Piccolo Award is voted on by the players, and it has been given to one rookie
(since 1970) and one veteran (since 1992) who best exemplify the courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication, and sense of humor of the late Bears running back.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson presented the awards to Edwards and Loveland in a ceremony at Halas Hall earlier today.
Edwards has won the veteran Award all three years he’s been in Chicago, becoming the only player ever to win three consecutive seasons. He joins Charles Tillman, who also won three awards, twice as a veteran and once as a rookie. Olin Kreutz was honored with the Award four times.
“I do not take it lightly whatsoever to be associated with this legacy,” Edwards said via the team’s site. “I grew up here. I grew up watching what’s happening in this building, and to be a part of it, it means all the more.”
“Why I fell in love with this game was just the respect of my peers and the respect of my teammates,” Edwards said. “To get something that is solely based on what your teammates think of you, it’s incredible. I just try to try to be myself and try to talk to everyone because it’s nice to come into work when you actually know and care for the people around you. That’s the kind of place that’s been built here.”
Loveland led the Bears in receiving yards (713), receptions (58), and tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (6).
“It really is an honor to accept this award,” Loveland said from chicagobears.com. “To be associated with a name that stands for courage, loyalty, and selflessness, that really means a lot. I feel like I have similar values. And to get it from your teammates, that means even more because you’re sweating with them, you’re bleeding with them, you’re crying with them.”
For more information about the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund, you can visit this site: https://brianpiccolofund.org/
