Tag: WPMOY

Arik Armstead is 49ers Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee

Arik Armstead is the #49ers’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for the 4th year in a row.

In perhaps the least surprising news of the 49ers’ season, defensive lineman Arik Armstead has been named the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. It’s the fourth consecutive year he’s been nominated for the award.

The Walter Payton Man of the Year is an annual award given out by the NFL that rewards players for exhibiting excellence on and off the field.

For Armstead he’s been a steady force on the 49ers’ defensive line while also continuing to do a ton of work in his home community of Sacramento with his foundation the Armstead Academic Project.

The Armstead Academic Project, among other things, aims to provide equity, inclusiveness and fairness in education. His work through the foundation has earned him four WPMOY nominations in a row for the 49ers.

Voting for the award can be done by fans on Twitter by posting #WPMOYChallenge along with the last name or Twitter handle of the player they want to vote for.

They can also vote online using NFL.com/ManOfTheYear.

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Arik Armstead is 49ers Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for 3rd consecutive year

Arik Armstead is the 49ers’ #WPMOY nominee for the 3rd year in a row.

There aren’t many NFL players doing more for their community than 49ers defensive lineman Arik Armstead, who was nominated for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for a third consecutive season.

The WPMOY is an award given to players who exhibit excellence both on and off the field.

While Armstead has dealt with foot and ankle injuries that have limited him to just four games this season, his impact was apparent in the team’s 33-17 win over the Dolphins in Week 13 when he helped create havoc in the middle of the defensive line that caused QB Tua Tagovailoa to have his worst outing of the year. Last season Armstead played the best football of his career down the stretch and picked up 3.0 sacks in the final two weeks to help the 49ers secure a playoff spot.

While Armstead has been a force on the field for San Francisco, it’s the impact he consistently has off the field that’s made him the 49ers’ WPMOY nominee in each of the last three seasons.

His foundation, the Armstead Academic Project, is committed to social justice and equity in youth education. Via a release from the NFL:

Approving an annual operating budget of $700K, Arik recently hired a full-time Executive Director to ensure his nonprofit’s sustainable impact. With his time, Arik met with politicians and media outlets, advocating for statewide legislation for additional funding to support 80,000 unfunded Black children in California. Arik efforts aided in securing a commitment from Governor Newsom to increase resources and services in 2023 for the lowest performing students, particularly to address the needs of Black students. As an advocate, Arik joined Bay Area philanthropy panels as a keynote speaker to inspire others to close gaps of inequity in their communities.

31 of the 32 nominees are awarded $40,000 to the charity of their choice, while the winner of the award gets $250,000 to a charity of their choice.

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Chiefs S Tyrann Mathieu wins Nationwide WPMOY Charity Challenge

#Chiefs S Tyrann Mathieu has won the Nationwide #WPMOYChallenge and will receive a $25,000 donation to the @TM32_Foundation thanks to #ChiefsKingdom’s votes.

Nationwide has announced that Kansas City Chiefs S Tyrann Mathieu has won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Charity Challenge.

Separate from the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which will be presented at the NFL honors in February, the Charity Challenge rewards a player with $25,000 donated to a charity of their choice. Mathieu, of course, chose to receive the donation at his foundation, which works to impact the lives of financially disadvantaged youth in Kansas City and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Chiefs fans were able to vote for Mathieu to win the charity challenge on Twitter from Dec. 7 through Jan. 17. Over that past month-plus, he’s fluctuated between first and second place, but Chiefs Kingdom helped Mathieu finish strong and win the award. The #WPMOYChallenge hashtag used in voting was tweeted 2.9 million times according to Nationwide’s tracking data.

“I am incredibly humbled and overwhelmed with a sense of pride having been selected as this year’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Nationwide Charity Challenge winner,” Mathieu said, via Nationwide’s press release. “It’s been a dream of mine for so many years to give back and to have a true impact. For my efforts to be recognized by others, it means I’m doing something right and that means everything to me. Thank you to all of the fans that voted for me for this incredible honor. I am further inspired to continue to do more and reach higher.”

Mathieu follows in the footsteps of teammate Travis Kelce, who won the charity challenge last year. He’s also the third Chiefs player to win the charity challenge since it was formed back in 2015. Former Chiefs safety Eric Berry won in the inaugural season.

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