The Bears announced Thursday that receiver DJ Moore is the club's winner of the 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide. Through his Moore2Life foundation, Moore and his family help empower inner-city youth through health, wellness, education and recreation to create lasting socioeconomic change.
"What you do off the field is your true legacy."
Jarrett Payton understands that sentiment better than most. As the son of the legendary Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, Jarrett carries forth his father's legacy as not only one of the greatest football players of all time, but one of the greatest people.
The duality of Sweetness, who passed away in 1999 when Jarrett was just 18 years old, is celebrated each year with the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide, which allows each team to choose one player who has had a significant and positive impact on his community before a league-wide winner is selected at the end of the season.
So when Payton visited Halas Hall last week to surprise Moore and let him know he was named the Bears' winner of this year's award, he shared that sentiment with the eighth-year pro, who embodies excellence both on and off the field.
"I think he truly understands that what he does in the community is the rent that he's paying while he's on this Earth," Payton said. "He's been blessed, so his gift is to be able to give it back and pay it forward, and that's what I see him doing. He doesn't get a lot of off days as a football player, it's rough, but just talking to his family, those off days are filled with either things with his family or out there in the community.
"I think people don't always understand the life of a football player. It's a lot, it's demanding, but he finds ways to still give back."
In addition to his stellar on-field play since entering the league with the Panthers in 2018 – he recently surpassed 8,000 career receiving yards – Moore has made time for the community through his Moore2Life Foundation's annual efforts such as hosting drives for holiday toys, Thanksgiving meals and school supplies, all of which helped him earn his first Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination in 2021 in Carolina.
While that honor had its own special meaning because it was his first nomination, Moore knows that in Chicago, the Man of the Year Award holds even more weight.
"It means a lot as a Bear because of how special it is to this organization," Moore said. "Walter Payton was the best to do it and I get to try and follow in his path. Just being a part of Walter Payton's legacy with this nomination, and hopefully one day to win it, it's a blessing. I get to bless others with my family and my foundation, so I'm very excited."
This season, Moore and his foundation partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Lake County to host a back-to-school shopping spree, inviting students to select new clothing and school supplies for the upcoming school year. Ahead of Thanksgiving, he also year's with One Family Illinois to serve meals to more than 150 children and families. As part of this season's My Cause My Cleats initiative, he continued his longtime support of the Susan G. Komen organization, a cause close to his heart due to his grandmother's battle with breast cancer. He has also teamed up with Advocate Health Care for multiple events, including surprising 11-year-old Emiliano Covarrubias with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bears' win over the Vikings in Minneapolis Nov. 16, and been a part of the Bears' ongoing support around girls flag football.
Another meaningful layer to Moore's nomination this year included his family being able to keep the secret from him for a whole 24 hours.
The Bears had contacted Moore's wife, Raven, last Tuesday and asked her to help surprise him alongside Payton the following day. Raven "scheduled" a doctor's appointment for one of the kids at the same time Moore would be at Halas Hall wrapping up the team's walk-through and preparing for practice.
Between the two on-field activities, Moore was told he needed to shoot a quick interview with the Bears' content team about giving back during the holiday season. Within the first minute of the interview, Raven, their three kids — Ari, Bubba and Chi — and Raven's mother, Mimi, emerged from a side door alongside Payton and his two children.
Moore was caught off guard at first, but quickly put the pieces together.
"I'm really mad at them," Moore joked. "This is the first secret they could keep from me, so I'm proud. It means a lot."
It's fitting that Moore's family was there to help surprise him with the honor. While giving back is ingrained in Moore as a Philadelphia native who grew up understanding that community service in inner-city neighborhoods was a necessity, his family is what now further inspires him to dedicate time and resources to changing people's lives.
Back in Carolina when Moore was nominated for the first time, Ari, his first-born, was just two years old. Becoming a father shifted his priorities, especially as it related to community service, and led him to focus more on youth and families in need.
"I'm very proud of him," Raven said. "He works so hard. People don't see the hours he puts in outside of football. Even on his off days, he likes to go and help in the community, whether it's downtown Chicago or around the Halas Hall area. He's so deserving of it, and we know it's a huge deal to be nominated for the Bears."
Raven, Ari, Bubba and Chi aren't just a source of inspiration for Moore; they are just as involved in the Chicago community as he is. Since all three kids were born — Ari in 2019, Bubba in 2023 and Chi in 2025 — Raven and Moore have brought them to most, if not all, of his community events.
That level of family involvement has always been intentional. While the Moores know their children are growing up with a different life than most, they want to ensure all three understand how to pay that forward.
"Ari was around when DJ was nominated the first time," Raven said, "so the second time around, having all the kids be here, and Ari showing her brothers the way of donating and spending time with others, it just means so much to our family.
"And it's already showing in our kids. Ari's in the kindness club at kindergarten, so she's a part of the leadership group that focuses on making sure all kids are treated with kindness."
When Payton looks at the Moore family, he sees his own. It's what makes this year's nomination so special for the Payton family.
As a dad himself and the son of Walter Payton, Jarrett sees Moore as a father trying to make a positive impact on families and children around Chicago as well as on his own children, which is why he hopes Moore will become the sixth-ever Bear to earn the NFL's ultimate honor.
"I just got chills thinking about it, because that's all we did," Payton said. "My dad and my mom, they both raised us to give back in service. We were at everything, whether it was around this time — Thanksgiving to Christmas, where there were turkeys or Christmas presents. We were there, and we were helping.
"It's something that's been a part of the fabric of our family forever. So to see DJ and how involved his family is, it brings back memories of when I was a kid. To know that that's what we're about, what DJ's about, and also what this Bears organization is about, it comes full circle for all the great things that DJ's doing here in Chicago."
