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Robert Kraft is finalist for Halas Award

Print | Comments () Posted by Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff May 9, 2012 06:15 PM

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By Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a finalist for the Pro Football Writers of America Halas Award.

The Halas Award is given to the "player or coach that has performed with abandon despite injury or personal problems off the field."

Kraft lost his wife Myra to a battle with cancer on July 20. He played an instrumental role in resolving the NFL’s collective bargaining dispute and shuttled back and forth between labor talks and his wife’s hospital bed throughout the spring and summer.

Other finalists for the Halas Award:

D’Qwell Jackson, Cleveland. He missed 10 games in 2009 because of a torn right pectoral muscle and missed all of the 2010 season with a torn left pectoral muscle. He came back to start all 16 games in 2011. He led the Browns with 158 tackles, second most in the league.
Alex Smith, San Francisco. Rebounded from a 2010 season in which he was 3-7 as starter and suffered a shoulder injury. Revived his career and quarterbacked the Niners to a 13-3 record.

Matthew Stafford, Detroit. Came back from a 2010 season in which he played just three games due to injury. Started all 16 games, passed for more than 5,000 yards and helped the Lions to a playoff berth for the first time in 12 years.

Voting for the PFWA Awards ends May 23.