FRISCO, Texas – Cowboys DT Solomon Thomas is the team's 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year Club Winner, showcasing exemplary philanthropic work and a strong impact for the community off the field.
Thomas, who was the Jets' nominee in all three of his previous seasons in New York, now earns his fourth-straight nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and his first in Dallas thanks to the work he does with his foundation, The Defensive Line.
The team surprised Thomas with the announcement in a video on X, with 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominee Zack Martin returning the Frisco to give Thomas the news. Brian Schottenheimer, Aaron Whitecotton, Dak Prescott, Jake Ferguson and Thomas' family were there to surprise him as well.
The Cowboys have had four players in franchise history bring home the NFL's biggest honor. Roger Staubach won it in 1978, Troy Aikman in 1997, Jason Witten in 2012 and Dak Prescott most recently in 2022.
The Defensive Line, which he launched in 2021 with his parents Martha and Chris Thomas, works to end the epidemic of youth suicide. It was created in honor of his late sister, Ella, who tragically passed away by suicide in January of 2018.
Since his arrival back in Dallas, Thomas has wasted no time getting into the community and using his foundation to help others. Thomas, who is a native of Coppell, Texas, continued hosting his sixth annual free youth football camp at his alma mater, Coppell High School.
The camp had a unique twist included within it: Before any football began, Thomas opened with a speech to all the campers about the importance of mental health, and led them through a mediation session.
"When you look at the statistics of mental health and when kids start dying by suicide or start struggling with mental health, they start ages as early as late elementary school, fifth, sixth grade. These are the age groups that are coming to my camp…" Thomas said in July. "Some of them might be high anxiety kids, high stress kids, they may feel like life can never calm down. So teaching them how to meditate and be centered is something that I want to do for them…."
"It's always been my favorite part just to see kids try it for the first time and try to breathe and close their eyes. And it may be a little weird or awkward the first time, but you get more of a hang of it and it can be a really useful tool. I just try to pass on tools and resources to them just like I was given later in my life, just so they can get it earlier."
In November, the Cowboys tragically lost their teammate, Marshawn Kneeland at just 24 years of age. It was an extremely emotional time, and the Cowboys are still grieving the loss of their teammate, including Thomas.
Just days after the tragedy, Thomas invited several of his teammates to join him at a non-profit social services organization, just to be together and be able to grieve the loss with one another. And while they did that, they gave back to their community by packaging bags of food for the homeless. It was a feeling that hit close to home for Thomas, having lost Ella, and he wanted to be there for his teammates.
"It's definitely hard because it's very triggering for me having lost a sister to suicide," Thomas said in November. "And then losing Marshawn is just hard in its own way, hard for losing a teammate, a brother. Hard for the feelings that are brought back up from my sister, but definitely have a responsibility to be here for my teammates to let them know that there's help available, that there's love out there, and that there's a way to move through this together in a way of honoring Marshawn and honoring our own feelings at the same time."
Fans can vote on X/Twitter by posting #WPMOYChallenge along with the full name/X handle of their chosen player or by voting directly on NFL.com/ManOfTheYear. The charitable beneficiary of the player who receives the most collective hashtag mentions and online votes will win an additional $35,000 donation from Nationwide, with the nonprofit partners of the runner-up and third-place finishers receiving $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. Charity Challenge voting takes place from Dec. 4 through Jan. 5, 2026.
The Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner will be announced during the NFL Honors on Thursday, Sept. 5, and all 32 club winners will be recognized during the week leading up to Super Bowl LX in San Francisco.
