LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Muhsin Muhammad has been selected as one of three finalists for the 20th annual Bart Starr Award, which honors NFL players who show exemplary character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.

The Bears wide receiver operates the M2 Foundation For Kids, an organization he founded in 1999 that is dedicated to enhancing the educational, physical and spiritual development of children.

Through creative and positive interaction, the foundation’s goal is to motivate and help young people improve educational achievement and develop personal competencies for becoming healthy, productive adults.

Since joining the Bears in 2005, veteran wideout Muhsin Muhammad leads the team with 164 receptions and 2,183 receiving yards.

Muhammad created the M2 Foundation in Charlotte, N.C., when he played for the Carolina Panthers. In its first two years of existence, the organization provided football camps and seminars to young people throughout the Charlotte area. But in 2001, the purpose and the mission of the foundation changed.

“At that time I decided that I wanted to have more of a personal relationship with the young men in the community,” Muhammad says on the organization’s web site. 

“I believed that I could have an impact on our young men’s lives, an impact beyond what a day on the football field could provide. Being a great athlete is special, but being a great person is even more special. I wanted to help mold our young people’s character by assisting them with their educational and spiritual development.

“Through our partnership with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Charlotte, we have been able to mentor at least 15-20 young men at a time. The M2 Foundation For Kids has watched our young men graduate from middle school, high school and college.”

Muhammad, whose first name is Arabic for “charitable” or “one who does good deeds,” is active in other causes as well. In 2005, he partnered with three former Panthers teammates to open the Ruckus House Learning Center, a 15,000-square foot state-of-the-art child development facility in Harrisburg, N.C.

The veteran receiver served as the local spokesperson for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Charlotte, and his five-year relationship with the MDA helped to raise funds and awareness.

Muhammad and his wife, Christa, recently expanded their family—which already included three daughters and one son—by adopting a young boy and girl from an orphanage in Ethiopia. Muhammad’s trip to O’Hare Airport to greet Christa and the two children was chronicled by ChicagoBears.com.

The two other finalists for the Bart Starr Award are San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner. The winner will be announced at the annual NFL-sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast, hosted by Athletes in Action, on Saturday, Feb. 2, the day before Super Bowl XLII.

The program will be hosted by the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa and feature NFL athletes and coaches, including Colts coach Tony Dungy and Hall of Famers Bart Starr and Anthony Munoz.

The winner of the Bart Starr Award is determined by NFL player balloting at the end of the regular season, making the award one of the few individual honors selected by the players themselves.

Past winners include Bears Hall of Fame middle linebacker Mike Singletary and current Bears assistant coach Gill Byrd, who played 10 seasons with the San Diego Chargers from 1983-92.