NFL Honors 2012: Tim Tebow Is a Lock for Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

There may be no player more suited to dominate an award category over their career than Tim Tebow is for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

You better believe that he will be a favorite this year and a serious contender every season that he steps onto the field in the National Football League.

The award is given to the player that not only shows excellence on the field, but honors those that volunteer and do charity work. It is the only NFL honor to give credit to the players that do well for the community on and off the field and the winner is awarded $25,000 for their favorite charity.

This award sounds like it was designed to be given to Tebow.

While there is no question that Tebow is not the best mechanical quarterback in the NFL or even in the top 15, the man can rest his head easy at night no matter how he plays the game. He puts 110 percent effort into every snap and knows how lucky he is.

Tebow knows how lucky he is after spending much of his free time with those less fortunate.

In an interview that took place the week before Tom Brady and New England beat the Broncos down, Tebow tells ESPN’s resident snob Rick Reilly why it’s not distracting to help people before games:

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"Just the opposite. It's by far the best thing I do to get myself ready. Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. The game doesn't really matter. I mean, I'll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it's to invest in people's lives, to make a difference."

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You can give me the whole run-down about how he can’t pass the ball to save his life, but the man won games this year and proved every week that the charity and goodwill that he shows is not fake. He believes in what he does.

While Matt Birk, Philip Rivers and Charles Tillman are all worthy opponents in this category and deserve immense credit, there is no doubt that Tebow has used every ounce of his stardom to make people’s lives better.

For that, no one deserves to win this award until Tebow hangs up his cleats.

They award ceremony will be take place in Indianapolis during a two-hour primetime awards special called NFL Honors. You can watch it on Feb. 4 from 9-11 p.m. ET on NBC.

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