Skip to content
Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles' Dawkins is a finalist for Walter Payton Award as NFL Man of the Year

Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown thinks news like Brian Dawkins' selection as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as NFL Man of the Year should get more publicity.

Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown thinks news like Brian Dawkins' selection as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as NFL Man of the Year should get more publicity.

"It's only fair that good guys get recognized, and not always the bad," Brown said yesterday.

Dawkins will be facing off against another finalist, Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, in Sunday's NFC Championship Game at Arizona. The third finalist is Vikings center Matt Birk, whom Dawkins and the Eagles played in the first round.

"It means so much to me," said Dawkins, who was named to his seventh Pro Bowl this season. "I know that there are so many guys that have won that award that I look up to, one being Troy Vincent [who won when he was an Eagle, in 2002], and how much he means to me. The award is named after someone that I respect tremendously. To know what it stands for, to know that I've been blessed with so many abilities, and so many things off the field, everything I do is from my heart. To receive this award would be a tremendous blessing that I would cherish."

Dawkins, 35, came to the Eagles as a second-round draft choice from Clemson in 1996. He was named "2008 Father of the Year" by the American Diabetes Association for his dedication to family and outstanding community work. After his twin daughters faced complications from a premature birth in 2007, Dawkins donated $10,000 to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, dedicating a neonatal unit in their names.

This season, Dawkins has worked with the Daily News and high school reporter Ted Silary to select a local high school football player who exhibits great character on the field and in the classroom, giving that player his home game tickets each week, and meeting with him after the game. *