QB Andy Dalton is the Bengals' nominee for the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. The sixth-year pro from Texas Christian University is among 32 team winners in contention for the league WPMOY Award, the only NFL award recognizing a player's off-field community service and playing excellence combined.
Three of the 32 nominees will be selected as finalists, and the winner will be announced in Houston at NFL Honors, a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on Feb. 4, the night before Super Bowl LI, from 8-10 p.m. on FOX.
A total of $1 million will be donated in the name of the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, with $500,000 going to a charity of his choice and $500,000 supporting the expansion of Character Playbook across all NFL markets. The two finalists will each receive a $125,000 donation to the charity of their choice and a $125,000 donation in their names to expand Character Playbook and the additional 29 team winners will receive a $50,000 donation to their charity of choice and an additional $50,000 donation in their name to implement Character Playbook in their club market. Donations will be courtesy of the NFL Foundation, Nationwide and United Way Worldwide.
To further celebrate and encourage fan support of the 32 team Man of the Year nominees, Nationwide will host the second annual Charity Challenge. As part of the social media challenge, each nominee will have a unique hashtag, and fans will be encouraged to tweet using the player hashtags. The player hashtag that generates the most mentions will win an additional $25,000 donation to his charity of choice, courtesy of Nationwide. Fans can vote for Bengals nominee Andy Dalton by using the hashtag #DaltonWPMOYChallenge.
Nationwide, the presenting sponsor for both the Bengals' and the NFL's Man of the Year awards, will make a donation of $10,000 to the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation with an on-field check presentation scheduled for the team's Jan. 1 game vs. Baltimore.
Dalton has been committed to giving back since his rookie season in the league. Dalton and his wife launched their foundation in 2011 with the mission to provide daily support, opportunities, resources and life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children and their families in Cincinnati and Fort Worth. The Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation has raised $2.1 million and has reached the lives of nearly 2.5 million individuals through its five signature community outreach programs.
The Man of the Year Award has been given annually by the NFL since 1970. It was renamed in 1999 for Payton, the Chicago Bears' Pro Football Hall of Fame running back. Two Bengals are past winners of the league award, QB Ken Anderson in 1975 and OT Anthony Munoz in 1991.
For more information on the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation, visit http://www.andydalton.org. For more information on the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, visit www.nfl.com/manoftheyear.
Andy Dalton 2016 Man of the Year Nominee.