Today the NFL announced the 32 total players (one from each team) who have been nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The award "recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field."
Eagles defensive end Chris Long is this year's nominee for Philadelphia.
This season, Long announced his First Quarter for Literacy campaign, donating a quarter of his salary to support Philadelphia’s Read by 4th Campaign that aims to develop studentsinto strong readers by 4th grade.
Long already has his teammates campaigning for him to win the award, with Golden Tate printing out a shirt to bring more awareness.
If he wins the award, Long will have $500,000 donated in his name - $250,000 will be donated to expand Character Playbook (the NFL's digital character education program) and an additional donation of $250,000 will be donated to the charity of Long's choice. Even if he doesn't win, Long and the 30 other nominees who came up short will receive a donation of $50,000 in their name to expand Character Playbook, and an additional donation of up to $50,000 to their charity of choice.
The award winner will be announced at NFL Honors the night before Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.
