Strange recently returned to the lineup after a one-year injury absence.
Speaking to reporters on Friday for his final pre-game press conference of the season, New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made an announcement: offensive lineman Cole Strange had been named the team’s 2025 Ed Block Courage Award recipient.
The award, named after the Baltimore Colts’ long-time athletic trainer, is given out annually by each team to players who “best exemplify the principles of courage and sportsmanship while also serving as a source of inspiration.” In the Patriots’ eyes, that descriptions fits Strange.
“The Ed Block Courage Award, it’s given to a player on a team — all 32 teams — that display courage, facing adversity, going through all that stuff and returning to play. This year it is Cole Strange,” said Mayo.
A first-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2022, Strange started 27 games at left guard over his first two seasons in the NFL. However, a torn patellar tendon suffered in December 2023 disrupted his development and ended up sidelining him for more than full calendar year.
When he finally returned to the starting lineup last Saturday against the Los Angeles Chargers, Strange was playing a new position. The 26-year-old aligned at center rather than guard for the first time in his career, playing all 53 off his team’s offensive snaps along the way.
Strange, who will be honored alongside the other winners from around the NFL during the offseason, is the 16th Patriot to win that award — a group that also includes the team’s current head coach, Jerod Mayo. Last year, center David Andrews and cornerback Jonathan Jones were honored as co-recipients.