BEN JONES NAMED TITANS’ NOMINEE FOR WALTER PAYTON NFL MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE
Winner to be Announced at NFL Honors Night Before Super Bowl LIV
NASHVILLE, TENN. – December 12, 2019 – The Tennessee Titans announced today that Ben Jones is the team’s nominee for the WALTER PAYTON NFL MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE. Considered one of the league’s most prestigious honors, the award presented by Nationwide recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field. Each of the league’s 32 nominees were announced today.
Ben Jones and his wife, Alex, established The Jones Mission in 2017, to provide at-risk youth with opportunities they might otherwise not have through grants, additional resources and educational opportunities. Each year they host the Ben Jones Celebrity Clay Shoot, a skeet shooting tournament, to raise money for local non-profit organizations that serve the youth. Through the 2019 clay shoot, The Jones Mission was able to donate $40,000 to Endure Athletics and $45,000 to Preston Taylor Ministries, the latter of which was able to open a new location for afterschool programs. Additionally, each year Jones sponsors a trip to a Titans game for the seniors on the football team of his former high school, Bibb County High School, in Centreville, Ala. The experience includes round-trip transportation, tickets, a private tailgate, swag bags, a meet-and-greet with Jones, as well as a tour of the Titans practice facility. Jones also hosts a free ‘Friday Night Lights’ youth football camp in Centreville every June for kids ages eight through 14, and sponsors Christmas shopping events for families in Centreville and in Nashville.
“It’s an honor to be nominated as the Titans’ Water Payton Man of the Year,” said Jones. “It’s incredibly important to me to help kids in need and to show them that anything is possible through hard work, determination and prayer. I have been fortunate that my foundation has been able to impact the lives of kids in Nashville and Alabama.”
As a nominee, Jones will wear a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year helmet decal through the end of the season in recognition of his accomplishments on and off the field.
For the second year in a row, all 32 team winners will be highlighted as nominees and recognized for their important work during the weekend leading up to Super Bowl LIV. The 2019 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on Feb. 1, the eve of Super Bowl LIV, on FOX. NFL Honors will be at the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami.
All 32 nominees will receive a donation of up to $50,000 in their name to their charity of choice. The winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of their choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s 5th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote on Twitter by using #WPMOYChallenge followed by their favorite nominee’s last name. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 12 and Jan. 12 will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice, while the second and third place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, all courtesy of Nationwide. Hashtag information and official rules can be found at http://www.nfl.com/manoftheyear.
More information about the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award can be found at http://www.nfl.com/manoftheyear.
