Each year, all 32 NFL teams nominate one player for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
The award honors “a player’s commitment to philanthropy and community impact, as well as his excellence on the field.”
This year, the Cleveland Browns nominated linebacker Anthony Walker Jr.
His teammates and the Browns social media team had some fun in letting Walker know the news.
Check out this clip from the team’s Twitter account.
.@__AWalkJr thought we were bothering him with another unserious mini mic question and had no idea he was about to receive one of the league's biggest honors 😂👏@Nationwide | #WPMOY pic.twitter.com/NiDixCYWyi
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) December 5, 2023
We’ve seen teams from high school to the pros conduct the “mini-mic” interviews to form content for social media.
This was a sneaky set-up to surprise Walker, who clearly didn’t see it coming.
“He thought I was going to get him with a Thanksgiving question”, said now part-time interviewer Greg Newsome.
Hopefully, Walker did see the giant bear hug from David Njoku coming, though.
Kind of a hard guy to miss.
The reaction of both Walker and the locker room around him should tell you all you need to know about this award.
It’s one that is taken seriously by everyone around the league.
Even if not selected as the overall winner, just being nominated is a tremendous honor.
Walker is at the forefront of the Browns’ Stay in the Game! Foundation, which aims to keep kids going to school.
“I pride myself on giving back to my communities with an emphasis on youth education, as well as being a great teammate. I’m very humbled to be the Cleveland Browns Walter Payton Man of the Year recipient”.
The league-wide winner of the award will be announced on February 8, 2024, during Super Bowl week.
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