The Byron ‘Whizzer” White NFL Man of the Year Award has been awarded by the National Football League Players Association continuously since 1966. The Most recent winner, for the 2008 season, is Brian Dawkins, then of the Philadelphia Eagles. Dawkins is the 43rd winner who the NFLPA honors for work in the community as the NFL player who best served his team, community and country in the spirit of White, who was a Supreme Court justice, pro football player and humanitarian. Past winners included Warrick Dunn, Gale Sayers, Bart Starr, Peyton Manning, Troy Vincent, and Ken Houston[1]
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Namesake
Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football running back and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. White attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and became an All-American star football player he earned a degree in 1938 and his nickname "Whizzer". He won a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford and, after having deferred it for a year to play football, he went on to attend Hertford College, Oxford. He took a year off to study at the University of Oxford returned in time to play for the Detroit Lions from 1940 to 1941. In three NFL seasons, he played in 33 games. He led the league in rushing yards in 1938 and 1940. During World War II, White served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy stationed in the Pacific Theatre. After World War II, he attended Yale Law School, graduating magna cum laude in 1946. White was appointed to the high court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement. White was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, and died in Denver at the age of 84
Byron “Whizzer” White NFL Man of the Year winners
See also
- Walter Camp Man of the Year
- Walter Camp Distinguished American Award
- Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
- Amos Alonzo Stagg Award
- National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
- National Football Foundation Gold Medal Winners
- Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
- Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
- Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award
References
- [1]Warrick Dunn Foundation (Archived 2009-05-27)
- NFL Join the Team
- NFLPA.com
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