Allen Park, Mich.— The Detroit Lions announced today DE Trey Flowers as the team's nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year presented by Nationwide. Considered one of the league's most prestigious honors, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field. Each of the league's 32 nominees were announced today.
LIONS DE TREY FLOWERS
"Walter Payton was a great person, what he stood for. A legacy lives on forever. It's about the things that you do with the time that you have on this Earth. I just hope that a long time from now, people can remember the impact that I had on their lives and the impact that I had on the community. I hope that my foundation can continue to do great things in the community. I just want to inspire, I want to encourage because I know how important it is. This world, in order to get better we have to inculcate the things that we've experienced and the knowledge that we have on to the youth, which leads them to be even better."
In April 2019, Flowers founded Flowers of the Future Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization with the mission of establishing community engagement, promoting physical fitness, developing positive values and engaging in philanthropic endeavors that aid in the overall betterment of the youth in an effort to plant seeds that continuously grow 'flowers for a better tomorrow.' Currently the foundation supports these efforts in Flowers' hometown of Huntsville, Ala. and Detroit, with plans to expand nationwide.
During his time with the Lions, the Flowers of the Future Foundation has donated $15,000 to the Huntsville Inner City Learning Center; hosted a Community Day with Trey at the Detroit Ford Resource Engagement Center where he provided backpacks, free haircuts and food; hosted a Painting with a Twist breast cancer awareness event with the Sisters Network of Detroit; hosted a holiday giveback event with the Methodist Children's Home Society in Detroit; as well as started a scholarship for Huntsville high school students.
The focus of Flowers' philanthropic work in 2020 has pivoted to COVID-19 relief starting with a meal distribution feeding 750 in northern Huntsville and speaking to children and providing meals to the Boys and Girls Club of North Alabama. In Detroit, Flowers fed 4,000 frontline workers at Henry Ford Hospital and provided 7,000 headphone sets to aid in virtual learning to Detroit Public Schools Community District students.
Notably, Flowers was also vocal in the Detroit Lions Inspire Change Detroit Votes initiative, including participating in the Lions Virtual Voter Education and Registration Town Hall with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and RISE to Vote, and acting as moderator in the Players Coalition and Michigan Voting "Your Vote Matters: How to Cast Yours in Michigan" Virtual Town Hall with Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist.
Other community programming Flowers has been committed to since joining the Lions include participating in the team's Crucial Catch, Character Playbook and Detroit Lions Season of Sharing events.
As a nominee, Flowers 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.
For the third year in a row, all 32 team winners will be highlighted as nominees and recognized for their important work during the weekend leading up to Super Bowl LV. The 2020 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air the week of Super Bowl LV, on CBS.
All 32 nominees will receive a $40,000 donation in their name to their charity of choice. The winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of their choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide's 6th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote on Twitter by using #WPMOYChallenge followed by their favorite nominee's last name. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 10 and Jan 17will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice, while the second and third place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, all courtesy of Nationwide. Hashtag information and official rules can be found at nfl.com/manoftheyear. New this year, fans can win NFL Shop gift cards and additional money for their favorite nominee's charity. Each Monday during the #WPMOYChallenge, Nationwide will ask fans to respond on Twitter with their favorite nominee and one randomly selected fan each week will win a $100 NFL Shop gift card and $2,500 for their favorite nominee's charity.
More information about the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award can be found at http://www.nfl.com/manoftheyear.
