The Colts on Thursday named cornerback Kenny Moore II, one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL and a man who fully embodies the idea of selfless compassion, as the team's 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee.

The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which recognizes an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field, is the most prestigious honor an NFL player can receive. The recipient of the 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award will be announced on Feb. 8, 2025. This is Moore's second time as the Colts' Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee; he was the team's nominee in 2021 as well.

From the moment Moore joined the Colts in Sept. 2017, the cornerback has made a profound impact on his Indianapolis community. As he drove around the city looking for an apartment the day after he arrived in Indianapolis, the Georgia native knew he had found a second home – and immediately felt an obligation to help his new community in any way he could.

"The one thing you're going to leave is an impression of the city, the impression on the youth," Moore said earlier this year. "I just want to make it a great one."

In 2018, Moore became close friends with "Mighty" Mason Garvey, a seven-year-old boy battling Stage 4 Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. The two developed the kind of brotherly relationship that Moore could only describe as the "perfect piece to the puzzle" for both him and Mason; it was "divine" to know Mason and the Garveys, he said.

Moore visited Mason over 40 times at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis to play video games and watch sports with him, bringing happiness and a sense of normalcy to the young boy's life. Moore became a regular visitor to the Garvey's home as well, playing basketball in the driveway with Mason and even having his own room so he and Mason could have sleepovers. Moore and Mason attended Pacers games and other events around Indianapolis together, and in 2019 the two ran out of the tunnel together at Lucas Oil Stadium before the Colts faced the Denver Broncos.

The memory of running out on the field with Mason still brings a wide smile to Moore's face, and the image of Moore and Mason in the tunnel together – Mason leaving his worries and sickness behind and running out to the field next to his best friend – is an incredibly powerful one.

Mason passed away in 2020, but Moore still makes a conscious effort to carry on his brother's legacy. He supports the Mighty Mason Fund for Palliative Care at Riley and serves on the board of A Kid Again, which provides children battling pediatric cancer cost-free and recurring opportunities to experience the joy of being a kid amidst their ongoing treatment.

Moore has connected with a plethora of young children battling cancer, largely because of the impact Mason had on him. Every time the cornerback suits up for a game, he adorns his wrists with stacks of rubber bracelets, each one representing a different child he formed a relationship with over the years.

He can list off every bracelet by heart, recalling the child's name and the cancer they battled. It's a small detail – Moore is certainly not the only NFL player to play with accessories – but the fact that he can recall each and every bracelet shows how much he truly cares about those children.

In 2022, Moore founded the Love One Foundation, which exists to help families and individuals overcome hardships by providing them with the tools needed to achieve success and fulfill their dreams with a focus on supporting underserved kids. The foundation works closely with both the Mighty Mason Fund and A Kid Again. In 2023, the Love One Foundation created the Kenny Moore Birthday Club, which offers foster kids – who aren't always afforded an opportunity to celebrate their birthdays – with a gift and cake on their birthday. The foundation has also worked with Firefly to donate coats and shoes to foster kids.

Moore has extended the reach of the Love One Foundation to Indianapolis schools as well; in 2023, he surprised the students at Northwest Middle School with an esports gaming room and helped expand the "Teacher's Treasures" room, which provides teachers with free school supplies to supplement their classrooms. This year, Moore began a partnership with Cardinal Ritter High School. A fixture on the school's campus over the last few months, Moore provides continual support to keep the children at the grades 7-12 school locked in on their education. Moore also hosted a back-to-school event this summer and was an honorary captain for a Cardinal Ritter football game on Oct. 11.

It's not just his adopted hometown of Indianapolis that benefits from Moore's kindness and selflessness, though – the cornerback's hometown of Valdosta, Ga. feels his love just as much.

For the last seven years, Moore has hosted an annual free youth football camp in Valdosta over the summer, with several teammates – including Pro Bowl defensive tackle and record-setting linebacker Zaire Franklin – in attendance. He also hosted a Love One Celebrity Softball Game that was well-attended by many current and former teammates, including defensive tackle Grover Stewart and former Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard.

In October, following the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene across much of Georgia, Moore partnered with Nick Harden, a restaurateur in Valdosta, to provide over 13,000 free meals to residents and first responders. Moore learned of the extensive damage to his community via texts from his mothers and sisters, who still live in Valdosta, and within 20 minutes he had contacted Harden and organized the relief effort.

"Whenever we need him, he's right there," Harden said. "He steps up. And we're so thankful for his giving spirit."

Over the course of the following days, as Valdosta remained without power, Moore's continued support and donations to the community helped Harden's restaurant, Big Nick's BBQ and Juke Joint, distribute meals to everyone in the area, including local senior care facilities.

All of this was happening as Moore was actively practicing and preparing to play football every week, but it was nothing new for him – a great deal of his community work occurs during the NFL season. Since joining the Colts off waivers prior to the 2017 season, Moore has become one of the league's top slot cornerbacks. He's one of four active players in the NFL with at least 500 tackles, 15 interceptions and 10 sacks, and is one of seven cornerbacks in NFL history with those numbers. He also has four defensive touchdowns, including two pick-sixes in one game in 2023.

Through 11 games in the 2024 season, Moore has registered 62 tackles, five passes defensed, half a sack, one interception and one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown. The Colts consistently lean on Moore's physicality and do-it-all mentality, allowing for flexibility in personnel and scheme. Moore has been voted a team captain in each of the last three years and is widely regarded as one of the most cerebral players on the team; his football IQ has proven invaluable to both his coaches and teammates.

"He's one of our captains for a reason, leader in the backend, tough," head coach Shane Steichen said. "It's been a pleasure to be around him."

Over the years, Moore has received plenty of recognition and praise for his philanthropic efforts and play on the field alike – he's viewed as Valdosta's "proudest son" – but that attention has never been his goal. All Moore has ever wanted is to play good football and give back to those in need, however he can. You wouldn't know about his charitable work unless you asked him, and even then, Moore talks about his experiences in the most humble and down-to-earth way.

"I'm blessed to be a blessing," he said.