2015-16 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award: Full List of Nominees and Reaction

The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is among the most prestigious honors in sports, and all 32 NFL teams revealed their nominees for the 2015-16 edition Wednesday.

NFL.com provided a list of the players who will have an opportunity to succeed 2014-15 winner Thomas Davis of the Carolina Panthers:

Player	Team
Patrick Peterson	Arizona Cardinals
Patrick DiMarco	Atlanta Falcons
Steve Smith Sr.	Baltimore Ravens
Eric Wood	Buffalo Bills
Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers
Matt Forte	Chicago Bears
Carlos Dunlap	Cincinnati Bengals
Gary Barnidge	Cleveland Browns
Brandon Carr	Dallas Cowboys
David Bruton Jr.	Denver Broncos
Stephen Tulloch	Detroit Lions
Sam Barrington	Green Bay Packers
J.J. Watt	Houston Texans
Dwayne Allen	Indianapolis Colts
Zane Beadles	Jacksonville Jaguars
Eric Berry	Kansas City Chiefs
Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins
Chad Greenway	Minnesota Vikings
Devin McCourty	New England Patriots
Benjamin Watson	New Orleans Saints
Eli Manning	New York Giants
Eric Decker	New York Jets
Justin Tuck	Oakland Raiders
Connor Barwin	Philadelphia Eagles
Cameron Heyward	Pittsburgh Steelers
Darrell Stuckey	San Diego Chargers
Anquan Boldin	San Francisco 49ers
Richard Sherman	Seattle Seahawks
Chris Long	St. Louis Rams
Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans
Ryan Kerrigan	Washington Redskins

The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award recognizes the NFL player who is deemed to have the greatest philanthropic influence within the community his team represents.

Per NFL.com, the winner will be announced during the NFL Honors awards show Feb. 6, but every nominee will receive a $5,000 donation to a charity of his choice.

Following the announcement of the nominees, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement regarding the importance of the league's players contributing to their respective communities.

"Serving their communities and philanthropic causes is a strong and long-standing tradition of NFL players," Goodell said. "These outstanding young men embrace and represent that important commitment of giving back to our communities. We salute and thank our players for their leadership."

The NFL's Man of the Year Award has been in existence since 1970, but it took on even greater meaning in 1977 when it was renamed after legendary Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton.

Payton is someone many players strive to be like both on and off the field, and having their name attached to his is a massive honor in addition to the personal satisfaction they get for contributing in the community.

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