Denver Broncos tackle Garett Bolles has been named the team’s nominee for the 2025 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. The announcement was made Thursday by the organization.
The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award is regarded as one of the league’s top honors, recognizing players for leadership on and off the field. Each NFL team selects a nominee, with all 32 recognized in the week leading up to Super Bowl LX. The national winner will be announced during NFL Honors on February 5.
Bolles, a two-time club nominee, was drafted by Denver in 2017 from the University of Utah and has started every game over his nine seasons—128 in total. His community work focuses primarily on mentoring youth with learning differences and those involved with the justice system.
This year, Bolles partnered with speech-language pathologist Jennie Bjorem to launch an education initiative aimed at supporting children with speech or language-based learning differences. He also funded a new training center in Colorado inspired by his son’s diagnosis with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). The center provides resources and training for educators, specialists, and families.
Bolles works closely with Vertical Skills Academy, which serves students facing dyslexia and other language-based challenges. He visits classrooms, funds resources, and invites students to Broncos facilities for mentorship activities.
He also participates in mentorship programs within Arapahoe County’s juvenile probation court system and regularly visits Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center. Through these efforts, he offers personalized support to young people involved in the justice system—including recording messages of encouragement based on letters sent to him—and attends court hearings to provide additional backing. Bolles helped redecorate a juvenile courtroom to create a more positive environment for youth.
In recognition of his contributions to juvenile justice outreach, Bolles received the Raymond C. Frenchmore Juvenile Law Award from the Arapahoe County Bar Association in 2023.
His charitable work is organized through his GB3 Foundation, which aims to empower youth with learning disabilities through educational strategies and holistic support focused on mental wellbeing and physical health.
Previous Broncos nominees include Alex Singleton (2024), Dalton Risner (2022), Justin Simmons (2019-21), Von Miller (2018), Chris Harris Jr. (2017), and John Elway (1992)—the only Bronco so far to win nationally since its inception in 1970.
Each team’s nominee will wear a helmet decal through season’s end; past national winners continue wearing a patch throughout their careers. Nominees receive up to $40,000 toward their charity; this rises to $250,000 for the national winner via donations from both NFL Foundation and Nationwide Foundation.
Fans can participate in Nationwide’s Charity Challenge by voting online or posting #WPMOYChallenge plus their chosen player’s name or handle on X/Twitter or directly at https://www.nfl.com/manoftheyear/. The charity linked to the player who receives most votes gets an extra $35,000 donation from Nationwide; second- and third-place finishers’ charities receive $10,000 and $5,000 respectively. Voting runs December 4 through January 5.
More details about this award are available at https://www.nfl.com/manoftheyear/.
