New York Jets: Kelvin Beachum is Man of the Year nominee

The nominees for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award have been announced. For the New York Jets, the choice is left tackle Kelvin Beachum.

As we head into the final quarter of the 2018 season, we once again enter the faze of the year where the New York Jets start to play out the string.

I know, the Jets have been playing out the string for too many years now. If Sam Darnold can stay healthy, hopefully that will change soon.

While we go through that, we look at what else is going on in the league. We start to prepare for the NFL draft. It’s also time for post season awards to begin their processes.

One of those is the NFL Man of the Year award.

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To be more specific it’s the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, named after the great “Sweetness”.

Each year, every team puts up a nominee that has done particularly well in the community, and just before the Super Bowl a winner is chosen.

For anyone who has forgotten, last season J.J. Watt was the winner, after all of his work with Hurricane Harvey and the huge crowdfunding donation he was able to give.

This year, the Jets nominee for the honor is starting left tackle, Kelvin Beachum.

First we bring you Beachum’s reaction, in part, to the honor, in his own words:

"It is a tremendous honor to be nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award and a definite highlight of my NFL career. The late Walter Payton was one of the NFL’s most explosive players and one of the community’s most charitable leaders…As a Christian, father, son, and professional athlete, I feel a strong responsibility to speak up and take action for those who are underprivileged and those who are marginalized. My experiences have provided a feeling of gratitude toward society and compassion toward those who need help. My ultimate hope is to help bring my team and city a championship, inspire others to give, be a catalyst for positive change, and glorify God every step of the way. This nomination means everything to me, and I am eternally grateful to those who saw fit to select me."

Being mentioned in the same breath as the great Walter Payton is an honor for any player. To be compared as a player is one thing. A comparison as a MAN is a totally different level.

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For anyone who doesn’t know, Beachum’s work is extensive. His family benefited from help when he was growing up so he is more than paying it forward. Beachum has a hand in helping feed hunger, clean the water supply and education.

Congratulations to Beachum as he is well deserving of this nomination. We will see early next year if he wins the award.

The last time a Jets player won was back in 1995 when Boomer Esiason won the honor. Before that, it was 1984 and Marty Lyons.

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