The Dallas Cowboys have announced that center Travis Frederick is the team’s 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
Each of the 32 teams across the league selects its own Man of the Year, with each nominee put forward to win the national award, presented by Nationwide. The prestigious award honors an NFL player “for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field,” according to a press release from the league Thursday morning that includes the names of all 32 current nominees.
“Every day, in cities and towns across America, NFL players give of themselves to make our communities better. This year, as we celebrate our 100th season and the 50th year of the Walter Payton NFL Man of Year Award, NFL players have continued to raise the bar on community engagement and impact,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “The 32 nominees for this year’s award are the best of the best and truly embody the spirit of Walter and his legacy of leaving the world better than he found it.”
First established in 1970, the national award was renamed in 1999 after the late Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton.
Frederick, in his seventh season out of Wisconsin, has been one of the league’s top offensive linemen for his entire career, earning four Pro Bowl appearances. He has also been extremely active on the community service front, giving his time and energy to causes like The Salvation Army and Make-a-Wish Foundation of North Texas. He is a frequent visitor to Dallas area hospitals and schools, and his Blocking Out Hunger Foundation is making a huge impact combating childhood hunger in and around the Metroplex.
Travis Frederick is the Cowboys’ nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. All-Pro center’s Blocking Out Hunger Foundation has worked to support “inner-city and low-income children throughout Metro Dallas who struggle with hunger.” More than 70,000 children been helped.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) December 12, 2019
A first-round draft pick in 2013, Frederick was previously named the team’s Man of the Year nominee in 2017 as well. He spent the entire 2018 season making a recovery from Guillain-Barre Syndrome and returned to the field in 2019.
Frederick and the 31 other current nominees will wear a special helmet decal beginning with this week’s games and continuing through the end of the season. Winners of the award- like Jason Witten in 2012- get a Man of the Year patch that they wear on their jersey for the duration of their playing career.
Cowboys fans can help support Frederick’s chosen cause by voting on Twitter using a special hashtag. The nominee whose hashtag is used the most between December 12 and January 12 will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice; the second- and third-place finishers get lesser donations made in their name.
The 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, the league’s awards special that airs the night before the Super Bowl. This year’s announcement will take place on February 1 in downtown Miami.