Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has officially been named the club winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is known as the NFL’s most prestigious honor. It recognizes players who demonstrate on-field and off-field excellence and a steadfast commitment to creating a positive impact in their communities beyond playing football. Kelce is joined by 31 other club winners, with a selection from each club. Being named the club winner nominates Kelce for the national Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

All 32 club winners will be recognized for their achievements during the week leading up to Super Bowl LX during the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 5. The charitable beneficiary of each team’s club winner will receive $40,000, and the nonprofit chosen by the overall national winner will receive $250,000.

“Travis Kelce has been an influential part of the Kansas City community since his arrival 13 years ago,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said, via press release. “He is a leader in every sense of the word. Over the course of his career, Travis has rewritten the franchise record book and earned an unprecedented ten consecutive Pro Bowl selections. During that time, he has united our community and inspired our fans while making a tangible difference in the lives of others. His Eighty-Seven & Running Foundation and his work with Operation Breakthrough and the Ignition Lab have helped to shape a brighter future for the next generation throughout Chiefs Kingdom. The entire Chiefs organization and the greater Kansas City community are proud to once again have Travis as the club’s selection for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.”

Kelce has done a lot for his community in Kansas City since joining the team via the 2013 NFL Draft. In 2015, he established his foundation, Eighty-Seven & Running, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of empowering disadvantaged youth in the Kansas City community by providing resources and community support to showcase their talents in the areas of education, business, athletics, STEM, and the arts. His foundation has also partnered with Operation Breakthrough, which provides support and extra-curricular activities to Kansas City youth in an after-school educational environment. In 2021, Eight-Seven & Running, in collaboration with Operation Breakthrough, turned an abandoned muffler shop in Kansas City’s North Hyde Park neighborhood into what’s now known as the Iginition Lab.

At the Ignition Lab, high school students gain skills they seek beyond the classroom, including culinary arts, automotive technology, graphic design, and more. Students can earn wages for the work they do while also receiving education through financial literacy courses, which are required. In addition, students consistently mentor Operation Breakthrough students throughout the summer, completing more than 25,000 hours of mentoring. But wait, there’s more. Students have opportunities to earn real-world certifications across a range of different skills and studies.

A total of 96 industry certifications were awarded to students by Ignition Lab during the 2024-25 school year. Since its inception, students from Ignition Lab have gone on to open businesses thanks to the skills they have learned. That list includes a food truck, a hydroponic farm, a digital media studio, and an upcoming tech repair shop. Students also have access to and have completed over 400 client-connected projects in the local Kansas City community.

“To be chosen as the team’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year is such a great honor. I have so much love for Kansas City and the Chiefs organization, and to be selected once again means everything to me,” Kelce said, via press release. “The opportunity to be involved and help kids through Eighty-Seven & Running and working with Operation Breakthrough as well as Ignition Lab has been such a tremendous experience. Coming from Cleveland Heights and having a strong support system has taught me the importance of having the right people around, that show up for you and want to see you succeed. Being able to give back to Kansas City and to my hometown, places that have done so much for me, has been a dream come true, and I’ll never take that for granted. Representing the team, the Hunt family, our fans, and my foundation is incredibly special and I’m very grateful.”

At age 36, with Kelce’s football-playing future in question, this could be one of the last opportunities that Kelce has to earn this award. This is Kelce’s second consecutive nomination for Walter Payton Man of the Year. A Chiefs player has not won the award since Brian Waters in 2009.

Beginning in Week 14 against the Houston Texans and continuing through the end of the season, Kelce will wear a special Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year helmet decal in recognition of their accomplishments on and off the field. Here’s a look at the decal from last season:

Vote for Travis Kelce in the Nationwide’s Charity Challenge

Fans can show their support for Kelce by participating in Nationwide’s annual social media and online contest. Fans can vote on X/Twitter by posting #WPMOYChallenge along with the last name/X handle of Travis Kelce (@tkelce) or by voting directly on NFL.com/ManOfTheYear. Suppose Kelce receives the most collective hashtag mentions and online votes. In that case, he 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. 4, through Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.

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