Tag: Walter Payton Man of the Year

Falcons nominate RB Mike Davis for Walter Payton Man of the Year

The Atlanta Falcons have named running back Mike Davis as their 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.

The Atlanta Falcons have named running back Mike Davis as their 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. After racking over 1,000 all-purpose yards for the Carolina Panthers in 2020, Davis signed with his hometown Falcons over the offseason and hasn’t stopped giving back.

The 28-year-old played his college ball at South Carolina before getting drafted in the fourth round by the San Francisco 49ers in 2015. Davis spent two years with the 49ers then another two years in Seattle prior to landing with the Panthers in 2019.

Among his accomplishments, Davis started The Mike Davis Foundation of Hope to help give back to the Atlanta community. Here’s an excerpt from NFL.com’s nominee page highlighting Davis’ contributions.

Through his foundation, The Mike Davis Foundation of Hope, Mike hosted a free youth football camp for over 200 kids on the Westside of Atlanta this past summer. Mike recently described the feeling of being in a position to give back in his neighborhood by saying, “It’s been a great feeling this whole time – ever since the Falcons signed me, especially with the way the community embraced me and how much I’m able to give back to the community. I just want to say thank you to everybody. I’m grateful, and I can’t wait to do more.”

And do more is what he did. Soon after, Mike hosted a back-to-school shopping event at Walmart for local youth in need of school supplies. Working with three different YMCAs in the Atlanta area, Mike had a mission to make sure the students were prepared and ready for the upcoming school year, free of cost to them. In addition to his offseason events, Mike’s wheels are constantly turning on how he can do more.

Watch as Davis’ former high school coach breaks the news to him that he’s the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee, as shared by the Falcons’ Twitter account below.

Here’s the full list of Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees.

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Jason Cabinda is the Lions nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award

FB Jason Cabinda is the Detroit Lions nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award

Congratulations are in order for Lions fullback Jason Cabinda. The veteran is Detroit’s nominee for the annual Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award as chosen by the team and the league.

It’s widely considered the most prestigious honor in the league for players. The Walter Payton award, named after the legendary Bears running back, honors NFL players for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field.

In a statement released by the team, a very gracious Cabinda talked about how important the honor is to him,

“Walter Payton’s legacy embodies so many things. He was one of the greatest running backs on the field, and he truly looked out for people that didn’t have a voice and gave them a voice. I think within my character, I hope to embody Walter Payton in the sense of wanting to look out for others and wanting to be somebody who gives back and be somebody who remembers their roots and where they came from. When you’re in this position, you can have such an impact on these communities. You can have an impact knowing that the person that is standing in front of them is a person that has been in their shoes and has been sitting in their seats.”

Among the reasons for Cabinda’s worthy nomination cited by the Lions:

  • Ongoing work with a Detroit elementary school promoting literacy, including coordinating book drives and reading with the kids
  • Providing Wal-Mart shopping sprees for needy families
  • Coordinating and donating both time and money to assist first responders in the Surfside (FL) building collapse
  • Spearheading the organization’s Detroit Lions Inspire Change initiatives and being a prominent voice for social justice among his teammates

Cabinda will wear a special decal for the rest of the season honoring his nomination. The winner will be announced the Thursday before the Super Bowl.

You can help Cabinda win the award and continue to assist in his off-field work. From the Lions,

Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s 7th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote on Twitter by using #WPMOYChallenge followed by their favorite nominee’s last name or Twitter handle. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 7 and Jan. 17 will receive a $25,000 contribution to his charity of choice, while the second and third place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, all courtesy of Nationwide. Hashtag information and official rules can be found at nfl.com/manoftheyear. 

How Russell Wilson won the most prestigious honor in football

Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson may not have won MVP, but he took home a much greater award – named the Walter Payton Man of the Year.

On Saturday night during the NFL Honors ceremony, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson finally took home some hardware in the form of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Wilson has yet another feather to put in the cap of his illustrious career, and what a feather it is.

Although many Seahawks fans surely hoped Wilson would finally get some love when it came to the Most Valuable Player award, he actually netted a much more prestigious honor.

The MVP highlights triumph on the football field. The Walter Payton Man of the Year award highlights triumph for humanity.

Driven by his devout Christian faith, Russell Wilson has been known as one of the most charitable players in the league. Ever since he was a rookie, Wilson would make weekly trips every Tuesday during the season to Seattle Children’s Hospital. But in 2020, Wilson outdid even himself.

This past year has been a monumentally difficult one for everybody. As the world still continues to grapple with a deadly virus, and as America still cries out for social and racial justice, Wilson stepped up to the plate to do his part for both issues.

One of the major challenges to come up during the COVID-19 pandemic has been food insecurity. Wilson and his wife Ciara donated $1 million of their own wealth to Feeding America, which is a network of hundreds of food banks across the county, to provide over a million meals.

With Feeding America, Wilson also partnered with an aviation company known as Wheels Up to create the Meals Up program to help deliver food all over the United States.

Wilson also partnered with the I AM A VOTER to encourage people to register to vote and participate in the 2020 election. He and Ciara also purchased billboard add space across the country with the message “Black Lives Matter, Love Russell and Ciara.”

Wilson and Ciara, with their Why Not You Foundation, announced they will be launching Why Not You Academy – a tuition-free, public school which will open its doors in Des Moines, WA in the fall of 2021.

The reality of the situation is Wilson’s philanthropy is quite extensive, and more detail can be found on the Seattle Seahawks’ official Twitter account.

Wilson joins Steve Largent (1988) as the only Seahawks to receive the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

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NFL Honors: A look at every award winner from the 2020 season

A look at every single award winner named during the NFL Honors, celebrating the best and the brightest from the 2020 season.

The 10th Annual NFL Honors awards show was held Saturday night on CBS. Below is a look at every AP, NFL and Sponsor award winner.

AP AWARDS

AP Most Valuable Player delivered by Pizza Hut
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

AP Coach of the Year presented by Bose
Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns

AP Comeback Player of the Year presented by Visa
Alex Smith, Washington Football Team

AP Offensive Player of the Year
Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans

AP Defensive Player of the Year
Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams

AP Offensive Rookie of the Year presented by Microsoft Surface
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year presented by Microsoft Surface
Chase Young, Washington Football Team

AP Assistant Coach of the Year
Brian Daboll, Buffalo Bills

NFL award winners on next page . . .

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Seahawks QB Russell Wilson wins NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has won the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year award following the 2020 season.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has earned himself one of the league’s highest honors. Wilson has been named the Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Wilson received the award virtually Saturday evening during the 10th Annual NFL Honors show on CBS.

The Walter Payton Man of the Year award is given to one NFL player each season who exemplifies excellence on and off the field. The honor was first awarded in 1970 and then renamed in 1999. Every NFL club gets to nominate one player each season for the award.

Wilson, one of the league’s most generous philanthropist’s is more than deserving of the honor.

As the winner, $250,000 will be donated to the charity of Wilson’s choice.

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Travis Kelce thanks Chiefs fans for voting him Walter Payton Man of the Year challenge winner

Kelce received over 1 million fan votes to win the Walter Payton Man of the Year challenge.

Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has been selected as the winner of the sixth annual Walton Payton Man of the Year Charity Challenge.

Not to be confused with the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for which Kelce is also nominated, the charity challenge is a fan-vote that awards the winner a $25,000 donation to a charity of their choice. The donation is contributed by Nationwide Insurance and the NFL Foundation. Fans were able to vote over a two-week span using the hashtag #WPMOYChallenge on Twitter.

In the first update of the vote tally released on Dec. 31, Kelce was in third place with just over 45,000 votes, listed behind Chargers’ Isaac Rochell and Broncos’ Justin Simmons. Chiefs fans henceforth made it their mission to get the lead for Kelce. When the vote ended following Jan. 17, Kelce had received over a million votes, and today he took to Twitter to say thank you.

Check it out:

Kelce plans to use that $25,000 donation to give right back to the community that helped him earn it. Kelce and his foundation, Eighty-Seven & Running, have recently been working with Operation Breakthrough to create a STEM learning space called “Ignition Lab” for underserved teens.

To read more about Kelce’s nomination for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and his history of charity work in the Kansas City community, go here.

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Chiefs TE Travis Kelce reacts to Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination

Kansas City is truly lucky to have a player like Travis Kelce representing the team.

Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has come a long way in terms of his maturation since entering the league back in 2013. He’s become one of the most dependable players on offense, simultaneously strengthening his commitment to the Kansas City community through his 87 & Running foundation.

Fans learned yesterday that Kelce had been selected by the team as their nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, recognizing excellence and achievement on and off the field. It came as no surprise to Chiefs HC Andy Reid that Kelce had been selected to become the team’s nominee.

“I’ve had a chance to be here and watch him grow as some of you have,” Reid said of Kelce on Friday. “Just to see where he’s at now, the whole center that he’s working on right now is a beautiful thing for our community and for kids. I’m proud as heck of him. He does such good work in the community— like he does on the field. He’s got a good heart, man. A big heart.”

A total of five Chiefs players have been selected to receive the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award since its inception in 1970, back when it was merely the NFL Man of the Year Award. Among the most recent winners include Brian Waters (2009) and Will Shields (2003). On Friday, Kelce reacted to the news of his nomination, knowing that his name could soon be mentioned among those players.

“Man, I’ve been trying to fill a lot of shoes here in Kansas City, and one of them is all the unbelievable athletes that were before me, that made this community feel loved,” Kelce said. “[They] made this community feel appreciated knowing how much energy and how much love they bring on Sundays or Mondays or Tuesdays, whatever it is. Now, whenever we play a game, the Kingdom is always there and they’re always screaming their lungs out and we always have their support. So, getting in this community, showing that we love them too and we appreciate what they do and that we’re here to help and lend a helping hand when we can, that’s everything and that’s what the Chiefs stand for. You’ve seen it. It’s not just one guy here and there, it’s every single year you see everybody in this building trying to get back into this community.”

After the league announced the nominees on Thursday, Kelce took to Twitter to share his mindset.

Kelce elaborated on his stance on Friday, showing exactly just how far he’s come as a player and a person.

“Football is just a game,” Kelce said. “We’re talking about life and to be able to help somebody have a better future, being able to lend a helping hand so somebody has a better situation, that’s making a difference. I mean, granted, I can put a smile on somebody’s face by doing a touchdown dance on Sundays, but being able to actually help somebody in their situation in life and either like I said, help them do better for themselves or get help for them. That’s everything for me and to be able to be in a situation like I am playing for the Chiefs, being a professional athlete and having the influence I have, I feel like it’s a duty of mine to make sure that I’m helping out as much as I can, knowing that it’s a responsibility.”

Kelce knows that he has influence and that the way he carries himself on the football field and within the community can lead to meaningful change. He knows that his lasting legacy goes beyond what he accomplishes at Arrowhead Stadium. He also knows that he wants to be remembered for more than his performance on the field.

To be nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, well, Kelce seems to believe it’s a reflection of the way he grew up. It shows the positive impact that a community filled with love and compassion can have. It only makes sense that he’s doing the best he can to recreate that for his new home and perhaps influence the next generation.

“What that means to me is that my family, my parents, my community that I grew up in gave me the understanding that if someone needs a lending hand, you do that and you lend a hand for them if you have the ability to,” Kelce said. “It’s just, being prideful of who I am and knowing that I can put a smile on someone’s face by doing that.”

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Jets’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee Pierre Desir is a Baltimore Raven

Pierre Desir is on the Baltimore Ravens after being cut by the Jets, who made him their Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee

When you are 0-12. nothing — and we mean nothing — should surprise you.

The New York Jets make wrong call after wrong call. On Thursday, the NFL revealed its Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominees. And when the name for the Jets’ person was revealed, it was a player who is no longer on the team.

Yes, the Jets’ nominee for the prestigious honor is no longer a New York Jet. Pierre Desir was cut in November. He does still lead Gang Green in picks.

Desir currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens. A Jets spokesman said Desir was nominated prior to his release, and “his tremendous work in the anti-bullying space earned him our nomination.”

A native of Haiti, Desir donated $185,000 to build a performance center at the high school he attended in St. Charles, Missouri, among his other charitable participation.

In classic Jets fashion, the nomination was ignored on the team’s website.

Each nominee receives a donation of $40,000 to the charity of his choosing, with the winner earning a $250,000 charitable donation in his name. The winner will be revealed during the league’s award show, NFL Honors, the night before Super Bowl LV.

Ravens have 2 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees thanks to the Jets

CB Pierre Desir now plays for the Baltimore Ravens, making his nomination as the Jets’ Walter Payton Man of the Year a little awkward

The New York Jets seemingly can’t get anything right this season.

As all 32 teams nominated one of their own players for the 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year award on Thursday, the Baltimore Ravens actually have two players on the list. No, they didn’t cheat and sneak an extra player into the running. Instead, New York nominated cornerback Pierre Desir, who was recently released by the team and signed by Baltimore. Of the 32 nominees, Desir is the only player currently with another team.

Granted, it’s not like the Jets ran an all-out blitz at this award or anything. But for a franchise that is struggling in just about every way imaginable, New York really didn’t need yet another thing people can point and laugh about. Currently sitting at 0-12 on the season, there’s not exactly a lot of hope the Jets will win a game this season. They have four more games remaining, all against playoff-hopeful teams.

With the seat getting hotter for both coach Adam Gase and general manager Joe Douglas, this gaffe might not be the thing that gets them fired but it is a silly black eye that neither could much afford.

The Ravens nominated left guard Bradley Bozeman, who is seemingly a perfect fit for the award thanks to his tireless work both in Baltimore’s communities and against childhood bullying around the country.