Bears offensive lineman Joe Thuney added to his long list of impressive accolades Thursday night.

At the annual NFL Honors event, Thuney was awarded the inaugural Protector of the Year Award by a selection committee of NFL Legends, who formulated their evaluation based on on-field performance with a peer-to-peer approach, highlighting and recognizing the offensive line, a position group often underrepresented in traditional awards. The selection panel included LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O'Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shiels and Andrew Whitworth.

"It's just incredible," Thuney said. "I'm very humbled to even be mentioned amongst guys that are on the ballot, and people that are voting. So, very humbling and such an honor. I'm very thankful, but I'm not a one-man operation. There are so many people behind the scenes — parents, family, friends, teammates, coaches, everyone in the building. So it's just a big operation, and I'm very thankful."

In his first season with the Bears, Thuney was named AP First-Team All-Pro at left guard and selected to the Pro Bowl. Through 10 NFL seasons, Thuney has earned All-Pro honors on five occasions, been named to four Pro Bowl teams and started in six Super Bowls, winning four (LI, LIII, LVII, LVIII).

This year in Chicago, Thuney was voted a captain by his teammates and helped lead the Bears to an NFC North Division title, an 11-6 regular-season record and the franchise's first postseason victory since 2010. He anchored an offensive line that played a pivotal role in the Bears leading the league with just 11 giveaways, becoming the only team in the NFL to have multiple running backs with at least 750 yards, finishing the season with the third-best rushing offense, and allowing the third-fewest sacks by any team (24).

"There's a lot that goes into offensive line play," Thuney said. "I appreciate all the running backs that helped chip, the tight ends that were chipping, which helped the tackles, the receivers for getting open, Caleb for making plays, throwing the ball quickly. So really, I'm just a cog in a huge machine.

"I appreciate all the other parts doing such a great job around me to help me do my job better. I just love all the guys. It's awesome."

Thuney's All-Pro play at left guard helped quarterback Caleb Williams experience a historic sophomore season, setting a Bears single-season passing record with 3,942 yards and ranking fifth in the NFL with a 27-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Williams' routine heroics led to the Bears winning seven games in which they trailed in the final 2:00, the most by an NFL team since at least 1970.

For Thuney, who has played alongside NFL greats like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, it was rewarding to witness Williams emerge as a highlight-reel playmaker.

"What an incredible year — just so many memories of incredible plays that he made, and some of the throws, it's just jaw-dropping," Thuney said. "Green Bay, L.A, games, just insane. It's so cool to see him coming into his own as a younger player, and I'm just doing everything I can to try and help him, but he makes a lot of plays, so it's awesome."

While Thuney takes great pride in being the first-ever NFL Protector of the Year, he reiterated the importance of the entire offensive line allowing him to perform at such a high level.

The Centerville, Ohio, native was one of three interior offensive line additions in free agency last year. The Bears also brought in center Drew Dalman and guard Jonah Jackson to pair with right tackle and former first-round draft pick Darnell Wright. While the Bears had multiple players start at left tackle this season, including undrafted second-year pro Theo Benedet and rookie second-rounder Ozzy Trapilo, the unit never missed a beat.

Thuney credits the unit's consistency to the tight-knit bond they developed throughout the past 10 months, which included weekly dinners during the regular season that led to some of the veteran's favorite moments from the 2025 season.

"It was fun, just once a week, everyone getting together," Thuney shared. "We went in order of oldest to youngest, and when it was your turn, you picked a spot, you made the reservation — you could do it at your home if you wanted to — but you just had to feed us all.

"What makes the job a lot better is when you have great teammates and co-workers, and they're awesome. They make it fun every day."

The group will be able to continue that tradition next season, as the core of starters are all under contract through at least the 2026 season, which not only creates consistency for the offensive line but also for Williams and the entire Bears offense.

"It's been such a great O-line room," Thuney said. "We all came together in OTAs in April, and we didn't really know each other. We were coming into a team that hadn't had a ton of success recently, and I'm so proud of all of our hard work, the determination, the effort that we put in to really try to do the best as an O-line. I love all those guys."