Mega Watt

Awards for individual efforts are generally thought of as nice by players who earn them, although most will quickly say they'd rather hoist a championship trophy any day.

The National Football League announced its different winners today, honoring players who excelled in different categories as well as first-year players who stood out compared to their fellow newcomers. Almost all of these awards include the word "player," as in "Defensive Player of the Year," and others. But the NFL gave one award this year to a player for work off the field, honoring Houstan Texans' defensive end J. J. Watt for being instrumental in raising $37 million for relief in the Houston coastal area after Hurricane Harvey it it in August. Watt's initial goal had been $200,000, but he got an easy Category 5 response to his appeal and hit the eight-figure amount.

The award given to Watt was named after Chicago Bears' running back Walter Payton, whose liver disease diagnosis in 1999 sparked him to campaign for organ donation awareness, especially among minorities and other populations where transplant patients have difficulty finding matching organs because of genetic mismatches. It is named, quite simply, the "Walter Payton Man of the Year" award, beginning in 1999 after Payton's death. Before that it was the "NFL Man of the Year Award," the title it had when Payton himself won it in 1977.

Watt's co-finalists were players who helped launch a cutting-edge heart research center and led public awareness and fund-raising drives to combat human trafficking.

No mention is made of yardage, tackles, receptions and the like. The Walter Payton award winner need not be an exceptional player. He just has to be an exceptional man -- and kudos to those who demonstrate themselves worthy of the honor. Not for the award's sake, but for what they did that brought it their way. Bravo, Mr. Watt.