Jets quarterback Josh McCown is one of eight finalists for the 2017 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, the NFL announced today. The finalists, featuring four players from each conference, are McCown, tight end Antonio Gates (Los Angeles Chargers), quarterback Alex Smith (Kansas City) and tackle Joe Thomas (Cleveland) in the AFC, and tight end Vernon Davis (Washington), linebacker Luke Kuechly (Carolina), defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (Detroit) and tackle Joe Staley (San Francisco) in the NFC.
Staley (2015 and 2016), Smith (2014) and Kuechly (2015) have been named finalists in the past. Gates (2014), McCown (2015) and Thomas (2016) have been nominated by their teams in previous seasons but are first-time finalists.