The Green Bay Packers have nominated offensive lineman Darian Kinnard as their 2025 Salute to Service Award nominee. Each year, the award recognizes NFL players, coaches, staff and alumni who have demonstrated a commitment to honoring and supporting military and veteran communities.
Growing up in a family with strong military ties – including his great-grandfather who served as a paratrooper and his mother who worked as a registered nurse at a VA hospital – Kinnard learned from an early age the importance of honoring and thanking service members.
While in college at the University of Kentucky, Kinnard regularly visited patients at VA hospitals. Later, as a member of the Eagles, he represented the Wounded Warrior Project as part of the NFL's My Cause My Cleats initiative, raising awareness and funds for the nonprofit organization.
In his first season with Green Bay, Kinnard spent time with children whose parents deployed in May with the Army National Guard's 2-127th unit. He is also scheduled to join families of fallen soldiers during this year's Salute to Service Week to paint and assemble flags in honor of their loved ones. Kinnard is the Packers' 2025 Salute to Service campaign spokesperson, helping to raise awareness of the initiative and ways fans can get involved to support military members and veterans.
Fans have an opportunity to determine the league-wide award's three finalists by voting for their favorite nominee. One vote per day for each nominee is permitted. The three finalists will be announced in January, and the recipient will be recognized at NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air nationally during the week of Super Bowl LX. The award recipient will have $25,000 donated in their name to official aid societies representing all U.S. military branches, and the NFL Foundation will donate an additional $25,000 to the military nonprofit charity of the recipient's choice. To learn more about each nominee and vote for Kinnard, visit NFL.com/SaluteFanVote. Voting is open now until Nov. 30.
Through the league's Salute to Service initiative, the NFL and all teams from across the league unite to honor, empower and connect with service members, veterans and their families during Weeks 9-11 of the regular season. The initiative will come to life in NFL stadiums across the country through on-field branding and other gameday activations. The Packers' Salute to Service game is slated for Monday, Nov. 10, as the team takes on the Philadelphia Eagles. Visit nfl.com/causes/salute to learn more.
