For Travis Kelce, the work doesn’t stop when the stadium lights go out. For the third time in his career, the Kansas City Chiefs have recognized his commitment and nominated the star tight end for the NFL’s most prestigious off-field honour, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. Every team put forward one name, and for the Chiefs, this year’s choice was as predictable as it was deserved. And Tavia Hunt loved the news.

Kelce posted the news through a joint message with the Chiefs and his New Heights podcast. Clark Hunt’s wife, Tavia Hunt, made sure everyone knew how thrilled she was, sharing and liking the announcement the moment it hit Instagram.

“Just wanted to say thank you and how honored I am to be Kansas City Chiefs’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee again this year. I cannot say enough about what this community means to me. It’s such an honor year in year out. But I think all the credit goes to this community,” Kelce said.

All 32 nominees will be celebrated during Super Bowl week in the Bay Area, with the national winner revealed at NFL Honors on February 5, 2026. The stakes are pretty big. Every club nominee directs a $40,000 donation to a charity of their choice, while the national winner’s selected nonprofit receives $250,000. The NFL Foundation and Nationwide Foundation fund the awards.

Clark Hunt put it simply, summing up why Kelce was the obvious choice again.

“Travis Kelce has been an influential part of the Kansas City community since his arrival 13 years ago,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. “The entire Chiefs organization and the greater Kansas City community are proud to once again have Travis as the club’s selection for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.”

And this isn’t the first time Kelce is the Chiefs‘ nominee for this award.

What makes Travis Kelce the Chiefs’ winner yet again?

This is the third time Travis Kelce has been the Chiefs’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, and at this point, it’s hard to argue anyone else should be in that spot. The Chiefs could spread the honor around, sure, but the breadth of Kelce’s work in the community keeps pulling the spotlight back his way.

Kelce launched the Eighty-Seven & Running Foundation in 2015 with a simple mission: create real opportunities for kids who’ve had very few. Since then, it’s grown into a force, helping underserved youth find a lane in education, business, athletics, STEM, and the arts. It’s become the backbone of everything he does off the field.

A big part of that impact has come through his partnership with Operation Breakthrough, the after-school program that’s been a lifeline for so many families in the city. In 2021, that partnership led to the opening of Ignition Lab, a project that started as an abandoned muffler shop and turned into something meaningful.

It’s now a place where high schoolers can roll up their sleeves and learn skills they can actually take into a career. Three years later, more than 1,000 students have walked through those doors. They’ve cooked in real kitchens, fixed cars, designed graphics, and picked up the kind of practical experience that school alone can’t always offer.

Kelce’s impact has never been about the cameras or the praise. It’s about giving kids a path, a plan, and a chance. And that’s why, once again, he’s the one representing the Chiefs for the league’s most meaningful award.