The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is among the most prestigious honors in sports, and all 32 NFL teams revealed their nominees for the 2015-16 edition Wednesday.
NFL.com provided a list of the players who will have an opportunity to succeed 2014-15 winner Thomas Davis of the Carolina Panthers:
| Player | Team |
| Patrick Peterson | Arizona Cardinals |
| Patrick DiMarco | Atlanta Falcons |
| Steve Smith Sr. | Baltimore Ravens |
| Eric Wood | Buffalo Bills |
| Greg Olsen | Carolina Panthers |
| Matt Forte | Chicago Bears |
| Carlos Dunlap | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Gary Barnidge | Cleveland Browns |
| Brandon Carr | Dallas Cowboys |
| David Bruton Jr. | Denver Broncos |
| Stephen Tulloch | Detroit Lions |
| Sam Barrington | Green Bay Packers |
| J.J. Watt | Houston Texans |
| Dwayne Allen | Indianapolis Colts |
| Zane Beadles | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Eric Berry | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Ryan Tannehill | Miami Dolphins |
| Chad Greenway | Minnesota Vikings |
| Devin McCourty | New England Patriots |
| Benjamin Watson | New Orleans Saints |
| Eli Manning | New York Giants |
| Eric Decker | New York Jets |
| Justin Tuck | Oakland Raiders |
| Connor Barwin | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Cameron Heyward | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Darrell Stuckey | San Diego Chargers |
| Anquan Boldin | San Francisco 49ers |
| Richard Sherman | Seattle Seahawks |
| Chris Long | St. Louis Rams |
| Vincent Jackson | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Delanie Walker | Tennessee Titans |
| Ryan Kerrigan | Washington Redskins |
The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award recognizes the NFL player who is deemed to have the greatest philanthropic influence within the community his team represents.
Per NFL.com, the winner will be announced during the NFL Honors awards show Feb. 6, but every nominee will receive a $5,000 donation to a charity of his choice.
Following the announcement of the nominees, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement regarding the importance of the league's players contributing to their respective communities.
"Serving their communities and philanthropic causes is a strong and long-standing tradition of NFL players," Goodell said. "These outstanding young men embrace and represent that important commitment of giving back to our communities. We salute and thank our players for their leadership."
The NFL's Man of the Year Award has been in existence since 1970, but it took on even greater meaning in 1977 when it was renamed after legendary Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton.
Payton is someone many players strive to be like both on and off the field, and having their name attached to his is a massive honor in addition to the personal satisfaction they get for contributing in the community.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
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