The New York Jets have named wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery the 2007 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. Through his Cotchery Foundation and the New York Jets Community Relations Department, Jerricho has impacted many lives throughout the tri-state area and in Alabama. As the Jets award winner, Jerricho will receive $1,000 to donate to the Cotchery Foundation, his 501(c)(3) organization of choice. He is eligible to win the national Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award and to be recognized at a news conference during Super Bowl week in Arizona. The national winner will receive $25,000 to donate to the 501(c)(3) organization of his choice. Since 1970, the NFL has awarded the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award to recognize a player’s off-the-field community service as well as his playing excellence.

NFL Charities require a panel of at least six people to vote for the Man of the Year winner. Two-thirds of the panel must be from outside the Jets organization, including one media representative and one non-profit/government representative. This year’s panel included Dan Leberfeld, Editor in Chief of Jets Confidential; C.J. Papa, Sports Director of WLNY-TV 55; Brooks Thomas, Director of Sports Special Events for the New York March of Dimes; Laura Dyer, Assistant Vice President, Strategic Events and Community Relations for Davis Vision, and two representatives from the Jets Community Relations Department.

Jerricho and his wife, Mercedes, created the Cotchery Foundation in January 2007 as a not-for-profit organization to benefit underprivileged youth. The foundation’s mission is to inspire children to conceive and achieve goals by providing programs and services designed to enhance their futures. The Cotchery Foundation hopes to plant seeds that bridge the gap between what you have and what you hope for, ultimately demonstrating that the two can be one and the same.

For each Jets home game, Jerricho gives 10 tickets through his foundation to residents from MercyFirst/St. Mary’s Children and Family Foundation, a foster home for troubled youth located on Long Island. On Dec. 3, Jerricho hosted the grand opening of Lulu Couture at Americana Manhasset, where 20 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Cotchery Foundation.

On May 23, Jerricho and Kerry Rhodes hosted the Cotchery Foundation/Rhodes Foundation first annual Skills & Drills Football Clinic for underprivileged youth in Alabama. The event was open to students from the ages of 11-15. It was an amazing experience for all participants. There were opportunities to take photographs with and receive autographs from NFL players, in addition to learning skills that foster physical, mental and emotional growth. Most important, the participants were in the presence of individuals who share similar backgrounds but have exercised opportunities to shape their futures.

In September Jerricho and Mercedes adopted a newborn baby. Unable to have children, the couple turned to adoption after weighing numerous options. The couple came to this conclusion in February in California at the Professional Athletes Outreach, an annual NFL-affiliated spiritual retreat.

Jerricho has participated in many Jets community events and is scheduled to attend more. In May he was present at the Jets Taste of the NFL event to benefit Shop Rite Partners in Caring. At the event, Jerricho auctioned off one-on-one experiences with himself to help raise additional funds for charity. He also played in the Jets' annual golf outing. On Nov. 12, he supported Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum at the Hofstra Saltzman Community Services Center Benefit Dinner honoring Tannenbaum. In December he attended the Marty Lyons Foundation Holiday Party to meet and greet wish kids from the foundation.

Jerricho was selected by the Jets in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. In the 2007 season he had 82 receptions for 1,130 yards and two touchdowns, raising his career regular-season totals to 189 receptions for 2,402 yards and eight touchdowns.