The 2022 season for Arizona Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz ended disappointingly on the field with a knee injury that ended his season. However, off the field, it has been good.
After becoming a father for the first time this year, he now the Cardinals’ 2022 nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the team announced Tuesday.
It is the highest honor a player can receive for community work.
From the Cardinals’ press release:
The award is in recognition of outstanding community service activities off the field as well as excellence on the field. As a nominee, Ertz will receive a donation of up to $40,000 in his name to a charity of his choice.
“As outstanding as he’s been on the field throughout his career, Zach’s commitment to giving back is even more exceptional and makes him such a fitting selection for this award,” said Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. “Whether in Philadelphia or now in Arizona, Zach and Julie Ertz are making a meaningful difference in so many areas. Among the most notable is their passionate commitment to fighting hunger and food insecurity, a cause they championed almost immediately upon arriving in Arizona last year. We appreciate them and all of our players who go above and beyond to get involved in our communities to make them better.”
Ertz is one of 32 NFL “Man of the Year” recipients to qualify for the league’s national 2022 “Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year” award. For the fifth consecutive year, all 32 team winners will be highlighted as finalists and recognized for their important work during the week leading up to Super Bowl LVII. The 2022 “Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year” will be announced during NFL Honors, an awards special to air on NBC the Thursday before Super Bowl LVII. The winner will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of his choice.
All “Man of the Year” nominees will wear a helmet decal beginning this weekend through the end of the season to recognize their accomplishments on and off the field. Cardinals defensive lineman J.J. Watt and the two other current NFL players (Calais Campbell and Russell Wilson) who have previously been named the national “Man of the Year” will continue wear a jersey patch to recognize their outstanding contributions to the game and community.
In his second season with the Cardinals, Ertz along with his foundation (The Ertz Family Foundation) and The Athletes’ Corner have teamed up again to fight hunger through the on-field performance of the team. The two foundations brought back their “Score More n’ Feed More” initiative where they will help provide meals to Arizona food banks for every touchdown the Cardinals score this season. Last year, the “Score More n’ Feed More” initiative helped provide a total of 150,000 meals to food banks in Arizona. This year, Zach and his wife, Julie have pledged to help provide 500,000 meals to food banks. This is the third year that the Ertz Family Foundation has partnered with The Athletes’ Corner to help fight hunger. Through their campaigns the two foundations have helped provide a total of 1.4 million meals to families in need with the help of Feeding America.
In 2018, Zach and Julie – driven by their faith and a desire to use their success as athletes to better the world – launched The Ertz Family Foundation. Their foundation’s mission statement is to empower others by sharing faith, learning through sports and advancing education to build supportive communities. As world champions – Zach as a Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles and Julie as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team – have both seen the ways that sports can bring people together.
In addition to making the local Phoenix community a better place, Ertz is still giving back to his previous home of Philadelphia. He recently began working on the House of Hope in North Philadelphia that will create a safe space for local youth. Zach and Julie donated $100,000 to the project, which was matched by their foundation to get the House of Hope underway. They are also working on the House of Hope in Hunting Park, PA which is an old church that is being completely revamped, turning it into a church on Sundays and a Wi-Fi café during the week. The goal is to raise $1.2 million; they have raised $750,000 so far. Zach and Julie have donated $100,000, with the foundation donating another $100,000 to this project as well.
Ertz feels honored for the recognition.
I am Honored to be the @AZCardinals nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year. Julie and I strive to make a significant impact in the communities that we play in and understand this nomination would not be possible without the help of those who support the @ErtzFoundation pic.twitter.com/GJHah1plnD
— Zach Ertz (@ZERTZ_86) December 6, 2022
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