page_title: Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award
hierarchical_section_title: Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award
caption_attribution_description: English: Chicago Bears' running back Walter Payton rushing the ball against the New Orleans Saints on October 7, 1984, breaking the NFL's all-time rushing record.
context_page_description: The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is presented annually by the National Football League honoring a player's volunteer and charity work, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called simply the NFL Man of the Year Award. Shortly after Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton died, the award was renamed to honor his legacy as a humanitarian. Each year, a winner is selected from 32 nominees from the 32 different teams. A panel of judges, which includes the Commissioner of the NFL, the previous year's winner, and a number of former players select the winner of the award. The Man of the Year winner receives a $250,000 donation in his name to a charity of his choice. The other 31 finalists also receive donations in their name of $50,000 each to charities of their choice. The Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs have had more winners of the award than any other team, with 5 winners each.
  Since 2017, previous winners who are currently active in the league wear a patch, depicting a caped silhouette of Steve Wright, on their uniforms for the rest of their NFL careers.
context_section_description: The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is presented annually by the National Football League (NFL) honoring a player's volunteer and charity work, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called simply the NFL Man of the Year Award. Shortly after Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton died (having been the 1977 recipient himself), the award was renamed to honor his legacy as a humanitarian. Each year, a winner is selected from 32 nominees from the 32 different teams.  A panel of judges, which includes the Commissioner of the NFL, the previous year's winner, and a number of former players select the winner of the award. The Man of the Year winner receives a $250,000 donation in his name to a charity of his choice. The other 31 finalists also receive donations in their name of $50,000 each to charities of their choice. The Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs have had more winners of the award than any other team, with 5 winners each.
  Since 2017, previous winners who are currently active in the league wear a patch, depicting a caped silhouette of Steve Wright (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/sports/football/lineman-steve-wright-was-model-for-walter-payton-award.html), on their uniforms for the rest of their NFL careers. The current active winners (in chronological order) are: Drew Brees, Jason Witten, Thomas Davis, Larry Fitzgerald, J.J. Watt, and Calais Campbell. Once announced, the nominees of each team are given a helmet decal, also depicting Payton, to wear for the remainder of the season.
caption: Walter Payton rushing the ball against the New Orleans Saints on October 7, 1984, the day he broke Jim Brown's record for both 100 yard games and overall rushing yardage.
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