The NFL is introducing new compliance requirements for its most prestigious honor, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, following revelations of widespread nonprofit mismanagement tied to past winners. Beginning in 2025, all charities associated with award nominees must demonstrate compliance with state and federal nonprofit laws before players can be considered for the honor.
The award, which recognizes players for excellence on and off the field, has long carried symbolic and financial weight: winners receive a bronze statuette, a permanent jersey patch, and a donation of more than $250,000 to their charity of choice. Other nominees receive up to $55,000. But an Arizona Republic investigation exposed that many of these player-founded nonprofits were mismanaged, in some cases spending less than half of their budgets on actual charitable work.
Under the new policy, as explained by Alexia Gallagher, NFL vice president of philanthropy, nominees and their charities will be required to:
This marks the first time the NFL has formally tied eligibility for its highest humanitarian award to nonprofit compliance standards. Maintaining high program spending and low overhead spending was not reported in the article as being included on the NFL’s new list of requirements.
The reforms were prompted in large part by the investigative work of Jason Wolf of The Arizona Republic, who consulted with CharityWatch throughout his research. Wolf’s five-part series, “Mismanagement of the Year,” revealed widespread failures among player-run foundations. CharityWatch helped by analyzing charity tax filings and contributing expertise and commentary for the series.
In a recent Arizona Republic follow up article (also published by The USA Today Network) CharityWatch CEO, Laurie Styron, weighed in:
“‘Data on this compliance issue wasn’t buried in a vault,’ said Laurie Styron, the executive director of the independent charity watchdog group CharityWatch. ‘A 30-second search of a free online government database quickly returned an expired filing status.'”
“Styron, the executive director of CharityWatch, said proper vetting of nominees’ nonprofits by the NFL would provide an incentive for ‘players and their marketing teams to take compliance issues, good governance, and financial efficiency seriously in order to not be excluded from consideration.'”
“‘It could fix the problem practically overnight.'”
Former award winner Anquan Boldin co-founded Sport For Impact, an initiative designed to educate players on nonprofit best practices, after the Arizona Republic’s exposé. Supported by the NFL and NFLPA, the organization works to provide athletes with the tools and knowledge they need to avoid pitfalls and maximize charitable impact.
Experts note that many players launch charities with little nonprofit guidance, often under the influence of agents or marketing professionals more focused on optics than governance. The new rules, they argue, will incentivize compliance and accountability, while helping direct charitable dollars to genuine solutions.
NFL leaders, past winners, and nonprofit professionals agree that the reforms are overdue. As CharityWatch executive director Laurie Styron put it when interviewed for Wolf’s recent article, “Proper vetting … could fix the problem practically overnight.”
The NFL hopes that the new standards will preserve the integrity of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, ensuring that the honor continues to reflect not only the values of philanthropy but also the accountability and transparency expected of high-profile charities.
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