Corey Peters nominated for Walter Payton Man of the Year

Mark J. Rebilas | USA Today Sports

A former Kentucky Wildcat and Louisville native is a candidate for one of the National Football League’s most prestigious honor.

Corey Peters is the Arizona Cardinals’ representative for the Walter Payton Man of the Year, given each year to a player in recognition of his “outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on it.”

Each year every team gets to nominate one player for the honor. It’s the second time Peters has received the honor, first nominated by the Falcons in 2011. A former standout at Louisville Central High School, Peters has been a team captain for the Cardinals over the last season, although the defensive lineman was sidelined in November of 2020 with a knee injury, the third season-ending injury in his career that’s spanned more than a decade.

“With the ups and downs of the season, being injured, COVID, everything like that,” Peters said, “this makes me feel good, something to smile about, to be happy about in a time when I’m a little bit down.”

Peters earned the honor for his contributions to Phoenix’s South Pointe School District. He started a bi-weekly book club, The Corey Peters Playbook, to promote literacy and improve social skills. He’s distributed care packages to families in need during the holidays and before the start of the school year. The school district sent him a thank you letter to inform him of the honor, causing an emotional response from Peters.

"Every team, school and person should have a Corey Peters."@CoreyPeters91 received an emotional 'thank you' letter from one of the many schools he helps on a daily basis.#WPMOYChallenge + Peters pic.twitter.com/QimzU3sK62

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) December 11, 2020

The Walter Payton Man of the Year will be announced at the conclusion of the NFL Honors ceremony during Super Bowl week. You can help Peters by voting for him on social media.

#WPMOYChallenge Peters pic.twitter.com/RJTeGv2Kk8

— Markus Golden (@markusgolden) December 10, 2020