The tradition of handing out Alabama football, player awards at the end of each spring goes back to Bear Bryant. A few awards have been added over the years. Two of the awards, the Dixie Howell MVP and the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of A-Day award are determined by media votes.
The number of award winners has grown more than the number of awards. Other than the media awards, it is common for most of the awards to be shared by two or more players. Last season the Ozzie Newsome Most Improved Freshman and the Bart Starr Most Improved Player awards were shared by 14 players.