As a night of fundraising for his Nigerian American Football Foundation wound down at his New Jersey home in the middle of October, Bobby Okereke posed for a photo op in front of his family and benefactors. Vice President of Community and Corporate Relations Allison Stangeby and Ethan Medley, Director of Community Relations and Youth Football, handed a helmet to the linebacker for the cameras.

The back of the helmet had his usual decals of the green dot, American flag, Nigerian flag, and his number 58. But something new had been applied, a bronze silhouette of a football player in a sideline cape.

Then it clicked.

The three-time team captain would be wearing it for the rest of the season as the Giants' club winner for the 2025 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

"When they surpris

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