Chad Greenway nominated for Man of the Year award

The NFL's 32 nominees for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award were announced on Wednesday, and linebacker Chad Greenway was selected from the Minnesota Vikings.

Greenway's bio on the NFL's official website highlights his "Lead The Way Foundation" and some of his other work:

For 7 years, Greenway's "Lead The Way Foundation" has raised more than $1.5 million and touched the lives of hundreds of thousands. "Chad's Locker," an electronic hub with iPads, portable gaming devices, laptops, Xboxes, DVDs and more, are available in 7 children's hospitals. The hub is intended to help distract and delight children during overnight treatments and provide families a link to the outside world. In an effort to support the entire family, the Greenways also host an annual TendHER Heart Luncheon for 200 mothers of chronically and critically ill children to dine, find support in one another and be pampered.

This past year, Chad and Jenni hosted 15 families at the Mall of America for an all-expense paid experience, including a shopping spree, meals and a weekend full of activities. Illness hit home to Chad when his father Alan passed after a battle with cancer. Chad will have Alan's legacy live on through the newly established "Lead The Way Fund" which will provide families with critically ill children financial support and allow them to focus on the needs of their sick child.

A seven-person panel -- including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Connie Payton, Walter Payton's widow -- will announce three finalists in January 2016 and the winner will be named at the NFL Honors awards show on Super Bowl Sunday Eve. Each nominee receives a $5,000 donation to the charity of his choice; the winner gets an additional $50,000 ($6,000 for runners up).