The NFL announces the nominees for the Walter Payton Award

The NFL announced on Thursday its 32 nominees for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which is the league’s highest accolade bestowed upon a player.

Players that have a “positive impact beyond the game,” as defined by the league, in addition to being exceptional on the field are nominated.

As stated in a press release, “The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award honors Walter’s lasting legacy of excellence on the field and compassion off it.” “This award is the league’s most prestigious honor, and we are proud to recognize these 32 outstanding men for the positive impact they make in their communities every day.”

The NFL Honors celebration on February 6 will feature the award presentation. The winner will get up to $265,000 donated to his preferred charity. For their causes, the others will get up to $55,000.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Cameron Heyward was the 2023 winner.

The nominees, by team, are:

Arizona Cardinals, Trey McBride

Atlanta Falcons, Grady Jarrett

Baltimore Ravens, Roquan Smith

Buffalo Bills, Dion Dawkins

Carolina Panthers, Adam Thielen

Chicago Bears, Andrew Billings

Cincinnati Bengals, Orlando Brown Jr.

Cleveland Browns, Denzel Ward

Dallas Cowboys, Zack Martin

Denver Broncos, Alex Singleton

Detroit Lions, Jared Goff

Green Bay Packers, Kenny Clark

Houston Texans, Jalen Pitre

Indianapolis Colts, Kenny Moore II

Jacksonville Jaguars, Arik Armstead

Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce

Las Vegas Raiders, Maxx Crosby

Los Angeles Chargers, Cameron Dicker

Los Angeles Rams, Kyren Williams

Miami Dolphins, Alec Ingold

Minnesota Vikings, C.J. Ham

New England Patriots, Deatrich Wise Jr.

New Orleans Saints, Cameron Jordan

New York Giants, Darius Slayton

New York Jets, Solomon Thomas

Philadelphia Eagles, Brandon Graham

Pittsburgh Steelers, Larry Ogunjobi

San Francisco 49ers, Curtis Robinson

Seattle Seahawks, Uchenna Nwosu

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mike Evans

Tennessee Titans, Jeffery Simmons

Washington Commanders, Bobby Wagner