Who was the 2017 Walter Payton Man of the Year recipient?

The 2017 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year recipient was J. J. Watt of the Houston Texans.

Watt received the honor for his extraordinary charitable response to Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Houston and southeastern Texas in August 2017. Through his online fundraiser, he helped raise more than $37 million for storm-relief efforts, making it one of the largest athlete-led disaster-relief campaigns in U.S. history.

The award recognizes both excellence on the football field and meaningful community service. Watt was announced as the 2017 winner at the NFL Honors ceremony in February 2018, and he became the second Texans player to receive the award, after none before him; the franchise’s later winners include Whitney Mercilus as a nominee but not recipient.

A common mix-up is confusing the award year with the ceremony date: the 2017 honor was presented in early 2018. Another is mistaking Watt’s award for the 2016 co-winners, Larry Fitzgerald and Eli Manning. The award was renamed for Bears legend Walter Payton in 1999, honoring his legacy of humanitarian work.