Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce may be having a down year on the stat sheet, but he remains one of the sport’s most popular players on and off the field.
In addition to the attention that comes with being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, the 35-year-old All-Pro tight end is the Chiefs’ 2024 nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award — the second nomination of his 12-year NFL career.
On Friday, the NFL announced an update on the race as fan voting is underway. However, as a new wrinkle in 2024, fans also get to vote online for the Nationwide Charity Challenge, which will award one of the league’s 32 nominees $35,000 to give to the charity of their choice.
Kelce topped the leaderboard as of Friday as the league heads into Week 15 with just four regular season games left to play. Voting wraps up on Jan. 6, the day after the Week 18 regular season finale.
Rounding out the top five current vote-getters behind Kelce are Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans, Washington Commanders LB Bobby Wagner, Philadelphia Eagles DE Brandon Graham and Los Angeles Chargers K Cameron Dicker.
“Being able to give back to the community here in Kansas City as well as show love to my hometown is not something I’ll ever take for granted,” Kelce said after his second WPMOY nomination. “I’m forever grateful to represent Kansas City, the Hunt family, our fans and my foundation, and it’s an honor to be nominated.”