Following a third consecutive nomination, the Denver Broncos have been named the 2022 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, ESPN announced Tuesday.
“It’s an awesome experience just to be considered a finalist and an incredible honor to be named the winner of ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award,” Broncos vice president of community development Allie Engelken said in a team release. “This award is the culmination of responding to the needs of our community while furthering our commitment to our long-term strategy. We have been fortunate to have some strong work done in the 2020-21 season, and we look forward to building on that for years to come.”
The Broncos became only the second NFL team to win the award, following the San Francisco 49ers in 2017.
Denver, which is one of three teams to be named champion three or more times, lost to Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream in 2021.
The Broncos beat out the NBA’s Miami Heat, the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm for the award, which is given annually to a sports franchise that “shows how a team’s teamwork can measure up to a community or cause.”
Among the notable activities that have won them recognition, Broncos players have volunteered more than 900 hours through 745 different engagements; the team has donated more than $275,000 for Inspire Change projects and programs; and the team is the only professional sports club to fully fund its Boys & amp; Girls Clubs of America, according to the franchise.
