What is the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award?
One of the best things the NFL does is provide opportunities for players to give back to their communities. While fans see photo-ops of certain activities throughout any given season, some NFL players go above and beyond.
Near the end of every NFL season, fans will see news about Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award nominees. So what is this award, and why does it mean so much?
What is the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award?
The award focuses on players who give back to their communities. The process involves every NFL team having a nominee. Then, there is one ultimate winner named at the end of every season. That individual has gone to an extreme level to provide for their community in some way, whether through a charity or through direct action.
Each nominee gets a donation of up to $40,000 in their name to a charity of their choice from the NFL and Nationwide. The final winner has a $250,000 donation go in their name to their charity of choice. So it is easy to see why players would be thrilled to not just be nominated, but to win the full award. That is a huge donation going toward a cause they care about.
What a moment 🥺
@MikeDavisRB was told he was our Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee by his high school coach. https://t.co/8K3yrxfURb
The award is named after the late Walter Payton in honor of his own legacy for giving back to his community. He also won the award in 1977 during his time with the Chicago Bears. The first winner was Johnny Unitas back when the prize was known simply as the NFL Man of the Year Award.
Unitas won back in 1970, showing just how long this prestigious honor as been around. The fact it is now named after Payton may lead some to believe the honor is new when, in reality, it dates back to when the NFL started to really grow in popularity.
Active NFL players now get to wear a patch on their uniforms after winning the award. J.J. Watt, Calais Campbell, and Russell Wilson are the current active players with this honor and proudly display the patch to prove their excellence in doing well both on and off the field.
The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by @Nationwide honors players who have exhibited excellence on-the-field, and whose passion to impact lives extends beyond the game. #ItTakesAllOfUs to make a difference. See the nominees here: NFL.com/manoftheyear #WPMOY https://t.co/aMOBKbY0Tg
Picking just one winner can, sometimes, be hard, so the NFL has gone with multiple winners on several occasions. The first time this happened was in 2000 when Derrick Brooks and Jim Flanigan each won the award. In 2006, Drew Brees and LaDainian Tomlinson shared the honors. The year 2016 was the most recent instance when the award was shared by Larry Fitzgerald and Eli Manning.
NFL players strive for excellence on the field. That means trying to get into the postseason and achieve the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl. But for those who do not play the game, seeing a player win the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award may mean more than any Super Bowl success.
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