Hickok Belt


The S. Rae Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year award, commonly known as the Hickok Belt, is a trophy awarded to the top professional athlete of the year in the United States. First awarded from 1950 to 1976, it was dormant until being revived in 2012. The most recent recipient is 2024 winner Shohei Ohtani.

History

The award was created by Ray and Alan Hickok in honor of their father, Stephen Rae Hickok, who died unexpectedly in December 1945. The elder Hickok had founded the Hickok Manufacturing Company of Rochester, New York, which made belts—hence the choice of a belt for the trophy. The first recipient was baseball player Phil Rizzuto, who received the award for 1950 during a charity dinner event in Rochester on January 22, 1951. He narrowly bested golfer Ben Hogan. Rizzuto's belt is now in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
News reports indicate that the Hickok family had previously awarded other belts to boxers, independent of the annual athlete of the year award. Examples include the presentation of "a solid gold and jewel-studded championship belt" to Jake LaMotta in June 1949 at the conclusion of a bout at Detroit's Briggs Stadium, and a belt given to a Rochester-area boxer named Mike Conroy in 1927.
The annual award winner received an alligator skin belt with a solid gold buckle, an encrusted diamond, and 26 gem chips. It was valued at $10,000 in 1951, and its presentation was a major event in sporting news of the day. A simpler alligator skin belt with an engraved buckle of 10 karat gold was apparently awarded to monthly winners—examples include one presented to Otto Graham in recognition of his December 1954 monthly award, which was sold at auction in April 2001, and one presented to Elgin Baylor in recognition of his March 1959 award, which was sold at auction in 2013.
A group of 200 sportswriters throughout the U.S. selected monthly winners, with an athlete of the year selected from those honorees. For the first 21 years, from 1950 to 1970, the belt was awarded in Rochester at the annual Rochester Press-Radio Club dinner. After the Hickok company was taken over by the Tandy Corporation, the award was presented in larger cities such as Chicago or New York. After the 1976 annual award was presented, monthly awards were issued through October 1977, then halted. The award remained dormant until being revived in 2012.
During the first 27 years the annual award was presented, it was won 15 times by baseball players, five times by football players, four times by boxers, and three times by golfers. The only two-time winner was Sandy Koufax, in 1963 and 1965.

Revival

In 2010, Tony Liccione, the president of the Rochester Boxing Hall of Fame, announced plans to reinstate the Hickok Belt starting in 2012. The mold for the belt used from 1951 onward was found and planned to be used again. Liccione invited the 18 surviving belt winners to a "comeback dinner", which was held on October 16, 2011, at St. John Fisher College in Rochester. Attendees included Johnny Antonelli, Carmen Basilio, Jim Brown, George Chuvalo, Meadowlark Lemon, and Bob Turley.
Upon being re-established in 2012, the award was based on a vote by the National Sports Media Association; however, there were no public award ceremonies or belt presentations. A 20-member panel selected one athlete each month, with the 12 monthly winners being eligible for the annual award.
For the 2012–2024 belts, five winners have been basketball players, five have been baseball players, two have been football players, and one has been a swimmer. There have been three two-time winners: LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, and Shohei Ohtani.
Tony Liccione died in February 2025. Monthly awards since that time are lacking, leaving the future of the annual award uncertain.

Winners

1950–1976

The following athletes won the award during its original term. Contemporary newspaper reports indicate that monthly winners were also named, only some of whom are included in this table.
YearWinnerSportMonthly winners
1950BaseballBen Hogan, Johnny Longden, George Mikan, Jimmy Demaret, Stan Musial, Ben Hogan, Johnny Mize, Jim Konstanty, Ezzard Charles, George Ratterman & Phil Rizzuto, Joe Culmone, Lou Groza
1951BaseballBabe Didrikson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Maurice Richard, Ben Hogan, Conn McCreary, Irish Bob Murphy, Jersey Joe Walcott, Bob Feller, Allie Reynolds, Rocky Marciano, Otto Graham, Charlie Burr
1952BoxingGeorge Mikan, Chico Vejar, Willie Hoppe & Jackie Burke, Sal Maglie, Bobby Shantz, Jersey Joe Walcott & Julius Boros, Rocky Marciano, Virgil Trucks, Rocky Marciano, Mickey Mantle, Anthony DeSpirito, Anthony DeSpirito
1953GolfLloyd Mangrum, Kid Gavilán, Gordie Howe, Ben Hogan, Roy Campanella, Ben Hogan, Ben Hogan, Eddie Mathews, Ted Williams, Billy Martin, Otto Graham, Bobby Layne
1954BaseballEzzard Charles, Neil Johnston, Paddy DeMarco, Sam Snead, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Joe Adcock, Johnny Antonelli, Dusty Rhodes, Willie Shoemaker, Jimmy Carter, Otto Graham
1955Football
1956Baseball
1957Boxing
1958Baseball
1959BoxingElgin Baylor
1960Golf
1961Baseball
1962Baseball
1963Baseball
1964Football
1965 Baseball
1966Baseball
1967Baseball
1968Football
1969Baseball
1970Baseball
1971Golf
1972BaseballGene Tenace
1973Football
1974Boxing
1975Baseball
1976Football
1977Steve Cauthen, Steve Cauthen, Jimmy Young, Tom Watson, A. J. Foyt, Bill Walton, Tom Watson, Lou Brock, Guillermo Vilas, not issued

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2012–present

YearWinnerSportMonthly winners
2012LeBron JamesBasketball
2013LeBron James Basketball
2014Baseball
2015Stephen CurryBasketball
2016Michael PhelpsSwimming
2017Jose AltuveBaseball
2018Patrick MahomesFootball
2019Kawhi LeonardBasketball
2020Patrick Mahomes Football
2021Shohei OhtaniBaseball
2022Aaron JudgeBaseball
2023Nikola JokićBasketball
2024Shohei Ohtani Baseball
2025
  • Saquon Barkley

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