Bruce Arians to be honored at NFL Combine

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians will be honored by the Fritz Pollard Alliance on Thursday, February 25 with the organization’s “Game Ball Award” in a ceremony at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown in Indianapolis, IN, the site of the annual NFL Combine.

Arians is being honored for the Cardinals success on the field in 2015 and for his commitment to extending opportunities to minorities in the National Football League. During his first two seasons with Arizona (2013-14), the Cardinals were the only team in the NFL whose offensive and defensive coordinators were both African American (Harold Goodwin & Todd Bowles).

In 2015, former Pro Bowl linebacker Levon Kirkland became the inaugural recipient of the Bill Bidwill Coaching Fellowship, a program established by the Cardinals to provide recently-retired minority NFL players the opportunity to gain experience at the highest level. The Cardinals also made history when one of their seven training camp interns in 2015, Jen Welter, became the first woman to hold a coaching position in the NFL as she worked with the team’s inside linebackers.