Joe Cardona named Patriots’ Salute to Service Award nominee for 8th straight year

The New England Patriots have made Joe Cardona their nominee for the NFL’s 2023 Salute to Service Award presented by USAA.

Cardona originally arrived in New England as a fifth-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. Only the fourth ever long snapper to hear his name called on draft day, the Navy product went on to become a core member of the Patriots’ kicking game operation: he helped bring two Super Bowls to Foxborough and earned contract extensions in 2018 and 2023.

His loyalties are not limited to the Patriots, though, as he also continues to serve in the U.S. Navy.

Cardona was promoted to Lieutenant in 2020 and has also led numerous military support initiatives over the course of his nine-year career in the pros. He has hosted over a dozen special re-enlistment and retirement ceremonies, and free football clinics for military children at military bases all over New England.

In 2018, Cardona was furthermore recognized as the organization’s Ron Burton Community Service Award winner for his work off the field. Given his commitment to pro football, the Navy and numerous charitable causes, it was only logical to see the Patriots make the 31-year-old their nominee for the Salute to Service Award.

Cardona has been in this position before: 2023 is the eighth straight year the team has put him up.

The award will be given out as part of the NFL Honors ceremony ahead of the Super Bowl, to the finalist who is deemed to best fulfill the criteria the panel of judges is looking for. The finalists will be evaluated “based on the positive effect of the individual’s efforts on the military community, the type of service conducted, the thoroughness of the program and level of commitment.”

Cardona was one of those finalists in 2020.