US President Donald Trump on Friday announced the names of the seven recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest honor for any US civilian. Two pro football Hall of Famers, Alan Page and Roger Staubach will be granted the honor.

Before Staubach joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969, he served in the US Navy. Nicknamed "Captain Comeback," quarterback Staubach played five Super Bowls and won two, in 1972 and 1978. He has also been to the Pro Bowl six times in his 11-year NFL career. In 1985, Staubach was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Seventy-six-year-old Staubach is currently executive chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), one of the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage firms and has helped raise money for the United Way of America, the Children's Scholarship Fund, and Allies in Service.

Alan Page joined the league in 1967 with the Minnesota Vikings and played for the team until 1978. Then he departed for the Chicago Bears before he retired in 1981. In his 15-year career, Alan was named nine times to the Pro Bowl and named NFC Defensive Player of the Year twice, in 1970 and 1971. He was also NFC Player of the Year in 1971 as a defensive player, a rare success shared only by him and Lawrence Taylor.

Page was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 while carrying on his legal career. In 1992, he became the first African-American to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court and he worked as an Associate Justice for over 20 years. Page also founded Page Education Foundation which has offered scholarships to nearly 7,000 students since 1988.

The third sportsman to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom this time is the American baseball legend George Herman "Babe" Ruth. In his 20-year career, Ruth won seven World Series championships, 12 AL home run leaders, six AL run batted in (RBI) leaders and other honors under his name.

The other four recipients are Elvis Presley, "King of Rock and Roll," Doctor Miriam Adelson, the longest serving Republican senator Orrin Hatch and the longest serving judge on the US Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to "individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," according to the White House.