It’s one of the NFL’s highest honors — the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.
The Kansas City Chiefs announced Tuesday, that Patrick Mahomes has been nominated for the prestigious award, presented by Nationwide, for a second year in a row.
With only one nominee from each of the NFL’s 32 teams, the quarterback finds himself in rare company thanks to the charitable efforts of his foundation, 15 and the Mahomies.
We're excited to officially announce our Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee, @PatrickMahomes 👏#WPMOYChallenge + @Nationwide pic.twitter.com/A0MKjw05i0
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 5, 2023
His foundation places an emphasis on improving the lives of children with a continued focus on supporting health, wellness, and various communities in need of resources.
Team officials said to date, nearly $4 million in grants and programs have been distributed by the foundation. The Kansas City Business Journal ranked it among Kansas City’s Biggest Charitable Trusts and Foundations by grant volume.
Patrick and 15 and the Mahomies Foundation have cultivated many impactful moments, kicking off the 2023-24 NFL season with an announcement of a national partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Touchdowns
mean even more for Mahomes this year as he has pledged to donate $1,500 for every touchdown in the regular season to Boys and Girls Clubs of America in addition to his $1.625 million donation. His commitment will support facility improvements to Boys and Girls Clubs of America facilities in communities personal to Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, including Greater Kansas City and Lubbock, Tyler, and Whitehouse, Texas.
Among the special moments for Mahomes and the foundation include the rededication of Kansas City’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park 58 years from the day the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech was given. The playground is now inclusive and open for children of all abilities.
Mahomes’ efforts have also tackled children’s literacy, providing support to underserved youth athletics programs, afterschool programs, funding for the Special Olympics, animal rescue efforts, donations to cancer research, free vision and dental clinics and much more.
You can read more about the charity foundation’s efforts here.
All 32 NFL 2021 nominees will wear a “Man of the Year” helmet decal and will be recognized for their accomplishments both on and off of the field in the weekend leading up to the Super Bowl in February. The winner will be announced during the NFL Honors Awards.
The winner of the award each year receives a $250,000 donation to a charity of their choice. Each runner-up still gets a $55,000 donation to their charities.
“The Chiefs organization and the Kansas City community could not ask for a better leader on the field and representative off of it, which is why we are honored to once again announce Patrick Mahomes as the club’s nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said.
In addition to the main award, there is also the Nationwide Charity Challenge, which calls for fan votes on social media between now and Jan. 8 using the Twitter hashtag #WPMOYChallenge followed by the nominee’s last name and/or his Twitter handle. Each retweet also counts as a vote.
This year, the nominee who pulls in the most hashtag mentions will receive a $35,000 donation from Nationwide to his charity of choice. The second and third-place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations from Nationwide, respectively. The first nominee to reach 1 million votes will get an additional $10,000 donation.
In 2020, the Kansas City Chiefs nominated tight end Travis Kelce for the Man of the Year Award. Kelce ultimately won the fan challenge. In 2021, the nominee was Tyrann Mathieu, who also won the fan challenge.
