The Los Angeles Rams announced today Tremayne Anchrum Jr. as their nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide. Considered one of the league's most prestigious honors, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year 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.
The Rams and the NFL's 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year, Andrew Whitworth, surprised Anchrum Jr. with the news last night while he was volunteering at the Hollywood Food Coalition, a local non-profit whose mission is to feed and serve the immediate needs of the hungry every day of the year so they can build better lives. Anchrum Jr. began volunteering with Hollywood Food Coalition regularly during the pandemic several times a week and has continued as a weekly volunteer.
In December of 2020, Anchrum also began volunteering at the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club in East Los Angeles. During the offseason, Anchrum Jr. was driving nearly 50 miles (4-5 days a week) to the Boys and Girls Club and spending 4-5 hours per day volunteering and working with youth. Tremayne continues to volunteer with them and recently took a group of 15 youth from Boys and Girls Club Los Angeles to the LA Holocaust Museum after demonstrators on a major highway in Los Angeles exercised antisemitic messages.
Additionally, Tremayne has become a supporter of Jenesse Center, a nonprofit domestic violence intervention and prevention organization. Last month, he introduced bi-monthly yoga sessions for their residents.
This year, Tremayne also brought "My Chemo Fairy" to Cedars-Sinai to carry on the legacy of his former high school coach who passed away from cancer. "My Chemo Fairy" gives a child and their family something positive to look forward to when it comes time for their chemotherapy treatments, or any cancer treatment, and is a way for others to show their support and encouragement.
Anchrum Jr. is also actively involved as an ambassador of Set the Expectation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending sexual and interpersonal violence through advocacy, prevention work with men, and engagement with agencies servicing survivors and their families.
Earlier this year, Anchrum Jr. supported the U.S. Vets gala to raise money to address veteran homelessness. He also connected with The People Concern in Santa Monica and volunteered at their facility in an effort to help serve individuals impacted by the effects of homelessness, poverty, mental and physical illness, abuse and addiction. Leading up to the holidays, Tremayne will assist in a coat donation drive and distribute winter coats to individuals in need, partner with the Hollywood Food Coalition to distribute holiday meals to Angelenos battling food insecurity, and volunteer at the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles.
Anchrum Jr. has also participated in team-led community initiatives such as Rise with the Rams, a program designed to harness the unifying power of sports and build relationships between local high school football teams with a cross-section of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds to break down barriers and build leadership and cultural competency skills for student-athletes, coaches and LAPD officers. He has also teamed up with Operation Progress LA to lead a virtual character development session for middle school students in Watts.
"I am honored to be nominated for this amazing award, and to even be in the conversation amongst so many people that are doing so many great things around the country and around the world," said Anchrum Jr. "I'm also thankful for the people who have given me an opportunity to serve because I want to make a difference. It doesn't matter if it's me or someone down the street, whether I win the award or not, it's about coming together to help each other and our community. It doesn't have to be anything big, but meaningful actions taken from the goodness of your heart. If we all came together and asked how we can make the world a better place, I think we would get a really good result."
"There are so many different ways that you can affect your community. You can do it through donating your money, your time, your service, your advocacy and your voice, but when you think about Tremayne, it's all the above," said 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year, Andrew Whitworth. "He doesn't care who knows that he's doing it. Most of the time no one know he's doing it, and that's the most impressive part. It's just who he is on a daily basis and wanting to make his community better, wanting people to know that they aren't living life without him and that he thinks about them each and every day. He shows up and I think sometimes in life that's the best thing we can do, just show up. Tremayne Anchrum Jr. does that."
All 32 team winners will be highlighted as nominees and recognized for their important work during the weekend leading up to Super Bowl LVII. The 2022 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air the Thursday before Super Bowl LVII, on NBC.
All 32 nominees will receive up to a $40,000 donation in their name to their charity of choice. The winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award will receive up to a $250,000 donation to the charity of his choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide's 8th 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 or Twitter handle. The player whose unique mention is used the most between Dec. 6 and Jan. 8 will receive a $25,000 contribution to his 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 nfl.com/manoftheyear.
Learn more about Tremayne Ancrhrum Jr. here.
