Defensive end Cameron Jordan named Saints’ nominee for 2021 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan has been named the club’s 2021 Man of the Year, making him the club nominee for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide. It is the second time that he has been selected by the team with this honor, first receiving it in 2017. The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide is given annually by the NFL honoring a player’s volunteer and charity work as well as his excellence on the field. Team nominees for all 32 clubs have been announced (see below).

“Cameron’s service has been driven by love for this community since he first joined the Saints family ten years ago,” said Owner Gayle Benson. “He has a love for this community that rubs off in all of his initiatives. He is fully committed to all that he does – both on and off the field. He is a longtime team leader, devoted husband and father, and selfless servant to our community.”

Jordan has been a cornerstone both on and off the field for the Saints since being selected by New Orleans with the 24th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft out of the University of California. On the field, he’s been voted as a team captain the last seven seasons, has played in all 172 career games with 171 starts, with his games played streak the longest running for a position player. In eleven seasons, he has posted 645 tackles (403 solo), 98.5 sacks, second in club record books, two interceptions, 56 passes defensed, 12 forced fumbles and ten fumble recoveries. In 2021, Jordan leads the Saints defensive line with 40 tackles (22 solo), is tied for second on the team with four sacks and had added four passes defensed and one forced fumbles as the only member of the line to open all 16 contests. Jordan has been selected to six Pro Bowls, the most by a Saints defensive lineman, three Associated Press All-Pro honors and was voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors 2010’s All-Decade team.

Off the field, Jordan has been respected both regionally and nationally for his community service, centered on education, physical fitness and social justice causes, also actively supporting the foundation and charitable activities of teammates as well as expanding the reach of his and his wife Nikki’s God Iz Love Foundation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jordan continued to remain engaged in activities with youth, often through virtual mechanisms, resuming in-person initiatives in 2021. However, looking at regional and national events, Jordan further expanded the reach of his commitment to New Orleans and the Gulf South.

In 2021, Jordan focused his community efforts on a groundbreaking partnership with local law enforcement and providing relief to those in need affected by Hurricane Ida.

Late in 2020, Jordan established a community partnership that would take place throughout 2021 with Crescent City Corps, a New Orleans-based nonprofit that equips police officers with leadership development, racial equity and community engagement training so they can work alongside citizens to build a more just, safe, and inclusive city.

Jordan became aware and heavily involved in support of Crescent City Corps following discussions with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Crescent City Corps began its Anti-Racism and Community Engagement Training Program for New Orleans police officers in 2019. While the program was put on hold due to COVID-19, Jordan announced his partnership with the organization in December, 2020, with his God Iz Love Foundation donating $120,000 to fund the expansion of the program into its current second class and commitment to educating 80 New Orleans Police Department officers to bridge the gap between the community and the police.

For several months thanks to Jordan’s financial support, as well as his active participation spent with officers, the second round of participants engaged in 80 hours of intensive training and community conversations at Loyola University New Orleans, exploring topics like leadership, racial equity, and trauma-informed policing to help the New Orleans Police Department better understand what citizens want from law enforcement. Jordan spent time with the officers who participated and attended several training sessions in order to observe and learn, to allow him to be a part of the process and engage in meaningful conversations surrounding the training. A graduation ceremony took place in October, where Jordan attended and congratulated participants, continuing to pledge support of them as they bring their enhanced skills into their careers and the community they serve. The hope of Jordan and the NOPD are that these experiences will help officers and citizens begin a collaborative conversation to re-imagine what community safety might look like in their city and the nation.

To work to continue to bring attention to this important initiative, Jordan served as an executive producer of a four-part docuseries chronicling the Crescent City Corps training process, results and Jordan’s engagement that was nationally televised on the NFL Network this fall, educating viewers and bringing them behind the scenes on an important project that documents how it first took root a year ago and promises to produce dividends in police-resident relations locally and eventually nationally.

As Hurricane Ida hit the Gulf Coast in August, despite the team being forced to be evacuated for a month to start the season, Jordan immediately stepped up to pledge a $40,000 dollar donation to Second Harvest Food Bank that helped produce 10,000 meals, a $50,000 donation to the United Way of Southeastern Louisiana and a $10,000 donation to Giving Hope for a total of $100,000. Jordan has also pledged a donation of $1,000 for every sack he or a teammate makes in 2021 to local nonprofits for Ida relief including the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

As a nominee, Jordan 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 fourth 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 LVI. The 2021 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air the Thursday before Super Bowl LVI, on ABC.

All 32 nominees will receive up to 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 his choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s seventh 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 or Twitter handle. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 7 and Jan. 17 will receive a $25,000 contribution to his 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.

NFL ANNOUNCES 32 NOMINEES FOR WALTER PAYTON NFL MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE Winner to be Announced at NFL Honors the Thursday Before Super Bowl LVI

The NFL announced today the 32 nominees for the WALTER PAYTON NFL MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE. Representing the best of the NFL’s commitment to philanthropy and community impact, each player was selected as his team’s Man of the Year and is now eligible to win the national award. Considered the league’s most prestigious honor, 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. First established in 1970, the national award was renamed in 1999 after the late Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back WALTER PAYTON.

“The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award is the League’s most prestigious honor and these 32 men represent their many teammates who do incredible things in their communities,” said NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. “Their unwavering commitment to their hometowns and team communities embodies Walter’s spirit of giving back in a way that makes us all incredibly proud of the work they are doing every day.”

For the fourth year in a row, all 32 team winners will be highlighted as nominees and recognized for their important work during the week leading up to Super Bowl LVI. The 2021 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air nationally the Thursday before Super Bowl LVI on ABC.

All 32 nominees will receive up to 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.

“The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominees continue to impress and inspire us, and Nationwide is proud to recognize their exemplary commitment to giving back and making a difference,” said RAMON JONES, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Nationwide. “It is an honor to showcase their stories and support the charitable organizations that benefit from the extraordinary efforts of these community champions.”

Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s 7th 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 or Twitter handle. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 7 and Jan. 17 will 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

Beginning in 2017, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year trophy silhouette came to life in uniform elements to further recognize past award winners and current nominees. The three current players who have won the award—J.J. WATT, CALAIS CAMPBELL and RUSSELL WILSON —continue to wear a Man of the Year patch on their jerseys to recognize their outstanding contributions to the game and to their communities. All 2021 nominees will wear a Man of the Year helmet decal beginning Week 14 and continuing through the end of the season in recognition of their accomplishments on and off the field.

Each of these players support many different causes, ranging from social justice work, supporting veterans, fighting homelessness and more. For more information on the nominees and the award, visit NFL.com/manoftheyear.

Below is a list of the 2021 nominees: