Cowboys Nominate Jake Ferguson for the 2026 Salute to Service Award — and the Fan Vote That Picks the Finalists Runs Through November 30
The Cowboys' tight end is the team's nominee for the league's military-service honor, on the strength of a year of work with the National Medal of Honor Museum, a USAA visit to NAS JRB Fort Worth, and a Veterans Day campaign aimed at veterans' medical debt. Fans vote through November 30; three finalists are named in January.
The Dallas Cowboys on Thursday announced tight end Jake Ferguson as the team's nominee for the 2026 Salute to Service Award presented by USAA, the league's annual honor — now in its 16th year — for players, coaches, staff and alumni who demonstrate exceptional commitment to supporting U.S. service members, veterans and their families. Ferguson is one of 32 nominees, one per team, announced Thursday by the NFL and USAA.
The nomination is built on work, not appearances. Ferguson has continued his support of the National Medal of Honor Museum — the Arlington museum whose mission he helps promote, and which he is highlighting again this season through the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative. He participated in a USAA-hosted visit to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, and he has partnered with Black Rifle Coffee Company on a Veterans Day campaign aimed at eliminating veterans' medical debt. The team's announcement cited his year-round efforts to engage with service members, veterans and military families.
What happens next is partly up to the fans. Voting at NFL.com/SaluteFanVote runs from now through Monday, November 30, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, and the fan vote helps determine the award's three finalists, who will be announced in January 2027. The recipient will be recognized at NFL Honors, the league's primetime awards special, during the week of Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles. USAA, the award's presenting sponsor, will contribute $25,000 in the recipient's name to official aid societies representing all U.S. military branches.
The timing is the point of the exercise: the nomination lands in the league's Salute to Service month, six days before Veterans Day, for a player whose service work runs through two Metroplex institutions — the Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington and the joint reserve base in Fort Worth. Whether Ferguson reaches the January finalist list now depends in part on how North Texas votes.
