TAMPA, Fla. — With sports, we often measure a player’s success by how they play on the field. But every year, the National Football League has another measuring stick: the Walter Payton “Man of the Year” award.
This year, the Buccaneers player up for the award is defensive lineman William Gholston.
“One of the things I believe in most wholeheartedly is I have enough, so why not take the opportunity to use the platform and put a smile on someone's face?" Bucs Defensive Lineman William Gholston said. "I know what it's like being on the other side."
He didn't grow up with much in his native Detroit. Football was his ticket out.
Now, Gholston makes it his mission to help those in the community. He gives out Bucs gameday tickets to underprivileged kids in Tampa as part of his "Gholston's Crusaders" campaign.
Along with the tickets, every Thanksgiving, the defensive linemen, which Gholston is a part of, donate enough turkeys and food for nearly 1000 Tampa Bay area families.
“I remember I had a conversation with my head coach in high school, and he was talking to me about college," Gholston said. "I was like, 'Man, I don't think I'll be able to go to college. I don't have no money. I don't know how I am going to be able to do this.' And he said, 'They're going to take care of you, but just remember to pay it forward,' and I've been trying to do that ever since."
This year, the NFL took notice and named William Gholston as one of their 32 candidates for this year’s Walter Payton NFL “Man of the Year” Award, one of the league’s most prestigious honors for a player’s community work off the field.
Gholston clearly gets his generosity from his mother, Dawn Ward. She isn't shy to tell the world that Will is her son.
ABC Action News anchor Jamison Uhler met up with Ward last week, who was with Gholston’s teammates handing out food in East Tampa as part of the Bucs' mobile food pantry program.
Ward never misses a game or a chance to brag on Will, the man outside of football.
“Being nominated for this, it actually tells you about the person you are," she said. "The human being you've become. You guys only know this part, so to watch him as a kid, and this is what he has blossomed into. It's wonderful."
Gholston’s mom also said when he was nominated, she was right there and started to tear up. He told her, “Don’t cry, mom,” but she said if he wins the award this year, she is definitely crying.
While Gholston's mindset is always to win, he knows loss too. He lost his father and uncle to cancer and watched his mom beat breast cancer.
In their honor, he donated $225,000 to Moffitt Cancer Center’s George Edgecomb Society in 2021 to support cancer research in the diseases that disproportionately affect Black men and women.
And while the NFL's Man of the Year Award can only go to one player, Gholston will tell you this Bucs team is loaded with players who could win this award for their work in the Tampa Bay area community
“I feel like I've already won. This is enough for me, to be honest with you,” said Gholston.
The winner of the Walter Payton Award will be announced at the NFL Honors on Feb. 9.
