The National Football League has released the list of nominees for this season’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Each team has one nominee based on that player’s excellence on and off the field, especially in positively impacting his community.
While there will be only one winner from the 32 nominees, each player will be honored with the trophy’s decal on their helmet from Week 14 until the season ends. Meanwhile, the winner will receive a donation of up to $265,000 to a charity of their choice. The other nominees will receive a donation of up to $55,000 each, courtesy of the NFL Foundation and the Nationwide Foundation, the award’s sponsor.
Here is the list of nominees according to division.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills – Dion Dawkins
Miami Dolphins – Alec Ingold
New England Patriots – Deatrich Wise Jr.
New York Jets – Solomon Thomas
AFC West
Denver Broncos – Alex Singleton
Kansas City Chiefs – Travis Kelce
Los Angeles Chargers – Cameron Dicker
Las Vegas Raiders – Maxx Crosby
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens – Roquan Smith
Cincinnati Bengals – Orlando Brown
Cleveland Browns – Denzel Ward
Pittsburgh Steelers – Larry Ogunjobi
AFC South
Houston Texans – Jalen Pitre
Indianapolis Colts – Kenny Moore
Jacksonville Jaguars – Arik Armstead
Tennessee Titans – Jeffery Simmons
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys – Zack Martin
New York Giants – Darius Slayton
Philadelphia Eagles – Brandon Graham
Washington Commanders – Bobby Wagner
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals – Trey McBride
Los Angeles Rams – Kyren Williams
San Francisco 49ers – Curtis Robinson
Seattle Seahawks – Uchenna Nwosu
NFC North
Chicago Bears – Andrew Billings
Detroit Lions – Jared Goff
Green Bay Packers – Kenny Clark
Minnesota Vikings – C.J. Ham
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons – Grady Jarrett
Carolina Panthers – Adam Thielen
New Orleans Saints – Cameron Jordan
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Mike Evans
We're proud to announce the 32 nominees for the league’s most prestigious honor: the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, presented by @Nationwide. #WPMOY pic.twitter.com/KWVeyebYpe
— NFL (@NFL) December 5, 2024
The Walter Payton Man of the Year winner will be revealed during the NFL Honors on February 6th. Meanwhile, some past winners include Johnny Unitas, Franco Harris, Roger Staubach, Anthony Muñoz, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Dan Marino, Jerome Bettis, Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Russell Wilson. Dak Prescott, and Peyton Manning.
-Lance Fernandez