For the second time in three years, Brandon Graham is the Philadelphia Eagles’ Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee.
The annual award is designed to recognize “outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field.”
On the field, Graham was having a very strong year prior to recently suffering a season-ending triceps injury. Despite playing in his 15th NFL season at age 36, he’s showed no signs of slowing down.
Off the field, Graham is obviously a gregarious guy who does great work in the community. More from the team’s official site:
Graham started the Team Graham Fund. The fund offers its time and resources to various organizations and causes in the Detroit area – his and wife Carlyne’s hometown. Team Graham’s efforts include mentoring young adults, giving away clothes, and feeding the homeless and needy families. In addition, he has been active in fundraising events including Eagles Radiothon for Eagles Autism Foundation.
Graham has volunteered his time with many nonprofits that include March of Dimes, Make-A-Wish, Ronald McDonald House, American Heart Association, and Liberty USO. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education which sets out to create opportunity for under-resourced youth of the Greater Philadelphia region.
The Eagles published the video of Graham finding out about his nomination:
Entering 2024, Graham expected this to be his final season in the NFL before officially retiring. There’s hope that he might change his mind since he was playing so well. Not to mention it would be a bummer if his final game was one where he got injured.
But there might not be a better send-off for Graham if he’s announced as the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner a few nights before the Eagles win another Super Bowl.
The winner of this year’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award will receive up to $265,000 donated to their charity of choice. All other 31 nominees receive up to $55,000 donated to their charity of choice.
You can lend support to Graham by voting for him in the Nationwide Charity Challenge. Here’s how:
Fans are once again encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s annual Charity Challenge, a social media and online contest that allows fans to show support for their favorite Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee. Fans can vote on X/Twitter by posting #WPMOYChallenge along with the last name/X handle of their chosen nominee or by voting directly on NFL.com/ManOfTheYear. The nominee who receives the most collective hashtag mentions and online votes will win an additional $35,000 donation from Nationwide to the charity of their choice, with the runner-up receiving $10,000 and the third-place winner receiving $5,000. Charity Challenge voting takes place from Thursday, Dec. 5 to Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.
