Former Mississippi State and current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is this year’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
The award, named after Mississippi native and NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton, annually recognizes one player for outstanding community service work.
Through his Faith Fight Finish Foundation (FFF), Prescott works to implement solutions to issues that are currently plaguing the nation such as cancer research and bridging the gap between law enforcement and communities.
Prescott also uses FFF to focus on mental health, something that hits close to home for the 29-year-old. In 2020, his brother, Jace, committed suicide after a long battle with mental health, prompting Prescott to express that Jace’s life will be “a life taken to save millions.”
“Thank you to the NFL, to Commissioner Goodell, to Nationwide for recognizing the impact that we as NFL players can have off the field,” Prescott said upon receiving the award Thursday night. “I hope that when I finish this game, they can say, ‘he was a helluva player, but he was a much better person.’”
Prescott is the first graduate from a Mississippi university to win the award since Eli Manning in 2016 and the fourth Cowboys player to receive the honor, following Hall of Fame quarterbacks Roger Staubach (1978) and Troy Aikman (1997), and former teammate Jason Witten (2012).
