The fans have spoken: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce wins Walter Payton Man of the Year challenge
The voting public in (and loyal to) Kansas City, the Chiefs and one of their brightest stars has spoken.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has won the NFL’s fan-version of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, earning $25,000 toward the charity of his choice — his 87 & Running Foundation — from Nationwide Insurance and the NFL Foundation.
Fans were invited to vote for one of the league’s 32 nominees, one from each team, through a social media challenge using the #WPMOYChallenge hashtag followed by the player’s last name. The challenge ended Sunday, and Kelce was declared the winner Monday. The second- and third-place finishers receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, respectively.
The winner of the main Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, for which Kelce is also nominated, will be unveiled at the annual NFL Honors show on Feb. 6, the night before Super Bowl LV in Tampa. As the Chiefs’ nominee for that award, Kelce has already received $40,000 toward his charity.
According to the league’s website: The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award “recognizes an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field. The award was established in 1970. It was renamed in 1999 after the late Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back, Walter Payton. Each team nominates one player who has had a significant positive impact on his community.”
The winner is selected by a panel of judges that includes commissioner Roger Goodell, the previous year’s winner (former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Calais Campbell, now with the Baltimore Ravens) and certain former NFL players.
The winner’s chosen charity receives a $250,000 donation from the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.
The Chiefs and the Chicago Bears have had more winners of the award than any other team. Past Chiefs winners include Willie Lanier, Len Dawson, Derrick Thomas, Will Shields and Brian Waters.
KC sports fans, whose beloved Chiefs play host to the Buffalo Bills in this weekend’s AFC Championship Game following Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, have a history of showing up strong at the social-media ballot box. Royals fans voted in droves during the club’s two-year reign as the American League’s best team, casting “ballots” so often that at one point it looked like nearly the entire AL starting lineup would be wearing Kansas City blue.
Voting legally, Royals fans even became a story outside of KC with accusations of hacking. The #VoteOmar push for former Royals infielder Omar Infante somewhat famously irked former Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 12:16 PM with the headline "The fans have spoken: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce wins Walter Payton Man of the Year challenge."