For 5th time, Cameron Heyward chosen to represent Steelers for Man of Year Award

It wasn’t a surprise to Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin that Cameron Heyward was announced Tuesday as the team’s choice as the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee.

It would have surprised Tomlin if any player other than Heyward had received the honor.

Heyward, the team’s 33-year-old defensive captain, was chosen to represent the Steelers for the fifth time in his 12 NFL seasons. Heyward also was the team’s nominee in 2021.

Heyward is still trying to become the first Steelers player since Jerome Bettis in 2001 to win the national award. Andrew Whitworth of the Los Angeles Rams won it last season.

“Just the totality,” Tomlin said when asked why Heyward should win it this year. “I know it’s an award that acknowledges work that is done in 2022, but much like his playing career, his work in the community — whether it’s in Pittsburgh or Atlanta where he’s from or Columbus where he went to school — any community he cares about, this guy contributes in a positive way.”

The award recognizes a player’s excellence on the field and dedication to community service away from it. Heyward has been named a first-team All-Pro on three occasions, and he’s earned five Pro Bowl selections.

“The totality of his resume in that area is indisputable,” Tomlin said. “He’s had over a decade of service.”

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All nominees received a $40,000 donation to the charity of their choice. The national winner receives a $250,000 donation.

Much of Heyward’s charitable work centers around his Heyward House foundation, but he expanded his efforts this season. He spearheaded a week of charitable giving in late September with what became known as “Cam’s Kindness Week.”

One of the initiatives during the week was introducing a new location for his “Craig’s Closet” campaign that is named after his father, who died of a brain tumor in 2006. The chosen location was the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies with the goal of having “Craig’s Closet” available in all 10 Pittsburgh Public Schools by the end of 2023.

Heyward also expanded his “Little Free Libraries” project throughout Pittsburgh.

“That is why I feel he needs no endorsement from me,” Tomlin said. “How he lives his life, how he conducts himself, how he cares about people and utilizes his platform in a positive way is all the endorsement he needs.”

Other Steelers players to win the national award are Franco Harris in 1976, Joe Greene in 1979 and Lynn Swann in 1981.

The winner will be announced during NFL Honors, a show on the eve of Super Bowl LVII.