Bobby Wagner Named Seattle Seahawks Nominee for 2023 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award

Winner to be Announced at NFL Honors the Thursday Before Super Bowl LVIII

Dec 05, 2023 at 12:18 PM

Seahawks.com

RENTON, Wash. – Today, the Seattle Seahawks announced LB Bobby Wagner as its nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide is the league's most prestigious honor and acknowledges NFL players who excel on the field and demonstrate a passion for creating a lasting positive impact in their communities. Each of the league's 32 nominees were announced today.

A member of Seattle's Super Bowl XLVIII-winning team and seven-time team captain, Wagner is Seattle's all-time leader in tackles with 1,508 and holds three of the team's top-five records for most tackles in a single-season in franchise history. He was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 2010s, has been named an AP All-Pro nine times, is a six-time first-team section, and has been named to eight Pro Bowls.

Wagner was also named the team's 2023 nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award. Off the field, Wagner's dedication to serving the community has been a constant during his time in the NFL.

A few of his many recent community initiatives include:

For the 2023 season, Wagner partnered with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health to launch a new campaign, FAST54. The campaign raises awareness for the signs of stroke and raises money for the Phenia Mae Fund, which is named in honor of his mother who he lost to a stroke. FAST54 features a comic book and video with Wagner as a superhero and educates readers on F.A.S.T., an acronym to help people recall the signs of a stroke (F_ace drooping, *_Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and *Time to call 911). Wagner collaborated in the story writing and development of the book, and more than 10,000 copies have already been distributed free to the public. The Phenia Mae Fund provides stroke patients with the equipment needed to aid in their rehabilitation and more than $250,000 has been pledged and raised to date. Fans interested in donating to the Phenia Mae Fund can do so here. Wagner has dedicated his time to support the initiative, making school visits to read the comic to elementary students, and participating in a speaking engagement at Microsoft to share more about the FAST54 initiative. Wagner has also been a longtime supporter of the American Stroke Association through donations and participation in fundraising efforts.

In a collaborative effort with Microsoft, Wagner participated in the Seahawks' first-ever HBCU tour earlier this year in partnership with Seattle Public School's WHOLE Mentoring Program, and The BE Project. Wagner joined the students on their tour of Howard University in Washington, D.C. When the Seahawks recapped the students' trip with a 15-minute documentary, Wagner then surprised the group with new Jordans when they visited the team training facility for a documentary viewing.

Wagner has been a supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County for more than eight years. In the summer of 2023, he supported their annual Field Day event, which included hosting more than 800 youth at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium.

In early 2023, Wagner made a generous donation to the Time for Change Foundation, which helps women recreate their life as they move into apartments of their own after they've been incarcerated, in rehabilitation centers or in domestic violence shelters. His donation helped support funding for appliances such as refrigerators, as well as other necessities such as mattresses or towels, to outfit the new apartments.

In support of youth education, Wagner created a Tackle Everything Tech Tour. The tour took students along to visits at companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Snap, Boeing, Bessemer Ventures, Marcy Ventures, and many others, in an effort to show them a wide variety of career opportunities they could pursue in the future.

Behind the scenes and often without fanfare or recognition, Wagner frequently offers community support privately through providing grocery gift cards or holiday meals for those in need. For the past several years, he has also privately paid off student lunch account debts at local schools.

As a nominee, Wagner will wear a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year helmet decal through the end of the season in recognition of his accomplishments on and off the field. All 32 nominees will be recognized for their achievements during the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII. The 2023 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year winner will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air nationally on CBS on Thursday, Feb. 8.

Each nominee will receive up to a $55,000 donation, and the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award winner will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of his choice. All donations are made possible by the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.

This year, 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 (formerly Twitter) by posting #WPMOYChallenge along with the 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 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 Dec. 5th to Jan. 8th.