The 32 players are honored as the NFL’s Man of Year team. This award represents the player’s achievement and excellence both on and off the field. The NFL nominated a single player from every team in the league, and they are eligible to win the award presented by Nationwide.
The award is named for the Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back, Walter Payton. Three players will be selected as finalists, and that is going to be announced in January 2016. Each of the 32 nominated players will receive $5,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. The winner will get additional $50,000 while two runners-up will receive $6,000.
“Serving their communities and philanthropic causes is a strong and long-standing tradition of NFL players,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“These outstanding young men embrace and represent that important commitment of giving back to our communities. We salute and thank our players for their leadership.”
This is not all. Every nominee will receive a unique hashtag, and the fans can vote for a favorite player on Twitter, so the player with most mentions will get another $20,000 for the charity of choice.
Walter Payton played 13 seasons for Chicago Bears and missed only one game in that span. He was selected nine times to the Pro Bowl and was one of the most prolific running backs of his generation. Payton won two NFL MVP awards and a Super Bowl XX with Chicago in 1985. He was later inducted into a Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Payton died on November 1, 1999, aged 46, from a rare liver disease and ultimately cholangiocarcinoma.
These are the 32 nominees for this year’s award:
Arizona Cardinals — Patrick Peterson
Atlanta Falcons — Patrick DiMarco
Baltimore Ravens — Steve Smith Sr.
Buffalo Bills — Eric Wood
Carolina Panthers — Greg Olsen
Chicago Bears — Matt Forte
Cincinnati Bengals — Carlos Dunlap
Cleveland Browns — Gary Barnidge
Dallas Cowboys — Brandon Carr
Denver Broncos — David Bruton Jr.
Detroit Lions — Stephen Tulloch
Green Bay Packers — Sam Barrington
Houston Texans — J.J. Watt
Indianapolis Colts — Dwayne Allen
Jacksonville Jaguars — Zane Beadles
Kansas City Chiefs — Eric Berry
Miami Dolphins — Ryan Tannehill
Minnesota Vikings — Chad Greenway
New England Patriots — Devin McCourty
New Orleans Saints — Benjamin Watson
New York Giants — Eli Manning
New York Jets — Eric Decker
Oakland Raiders — Justin Tuck
Philadelphia Eagles — Connor Barwin
Pittsburgh Steelers — Cameron Heyward
San Diego Chargers — Darrell Stuckey
San Francisco 49ers — Anquan Boldin
Seattle Seahawks — Richard Sherman
St. Louis Rams — Chris Long
Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Vincent Jackson
Tennessee Titans — Delanie Walker
Washington Redskins — Ryan Kerrigan
