Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith named team winner of Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
The Steelers have their 2025 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award winner, and the player who will go on to be nominated for the overall award at the NFL Honors before the Super Bowl.
This year, the winner and nominee is linebacker Alex Highsmith.
"I am so humbled, honored, and grateful to be the Steelers' nominee for this year's Walter Payton Man of the Year," said Highsmith. "I truly believe that God has given me this platform to be a blessing to others, especially in the communities that I love. Walter Payton is one of the best football players of all time, but his true impact and legacy are felt today through the way he lifted up his community. I'm grateful to be able to make an impact off the field as he did."
He established the Alex Highsmith Family Foundation in three places: Pittsburgh, his home of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina, where he played his college ball.
The foundation helps kids through fitness, education, and community. Those programs have included the annual Alex Highsmith Youth Football Camp, which began in 2021 and has helped more than 100 young athletes.
He has also hosted the annual Back to School Bash, which provides more than 200 kids with resources they will need for the upcoming school year, including backpacks, haircuts, hygiene kits, books, and meals.
"It's so important, that's one of the core pillars of our foundation," said Highsmith. "Our foundation is giving back to youth through education. Knowing how important it is for kids to be geared up and ready to go for the new school year is so important. Being out there to help those kids means a lot to me."
Along with all of his work with his foundation, in 2024, Highsmith helped those in need in Pittsburgh after a fire tore through a homeless shelter. The residents of the shelter had nearly all of their personal items destroyed, and Highsmith stepped in to provide the shelter with new clothes, as well as serving dinner to each resident.
Since then, Highsmith has visited a Pittsburgh homeless shelter each month.
Back in 2024, Steelers captain and defensive tackle Cam Heyward was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year for the entire league.