On Saturday night at NFL Honors, Greg Olsen, Benjamin Watson or J.J. Watt will be recognized as the winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Despite who wins, all three, along with the league's other 29 nominees should be recognized for their work in the community.

Olsen made a notable time investment into charity work after his son, T.J., was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome just over five years ago.

"Shortly thereafter, we launched what we call, 'The HEARtest Yard program,'" Olsen says of the fund he and his wife founded in early 2013. "It's a health services program, privatized in-home care that we give to families with kids with congenital heart disease. From that experience, it's really grown into something bigger than we ever could have imagined. With some of our partners this week, leading up to Walter Payton Man of the Year, we just thought it was very fitting to highlight some of the partners that we've worked with and one of the biggest ones was Coca-Cola and their local Charlotte bottler. The last two years working with them, we've done some really unique programs in the community, both with the children's hospital, but also with their 'Big Hearts' mini cans program with some returning veterans, some rescue missions around the holidays, giving out free meals."

Along with being a football idol in the Charlotte community -- Olsen, 32, has been with the Panthers since 2011 -- he is now a mentor in charity work. The rewards have paid dividends 8-yard out routes can't replicate.

"We've lived it," Olsen says. "We know what it's like to be in those families' shoes. To have those families come up to us and just tell us what an impact that our program has made on their lives, the health of their baby, the health of their family, it's just incredibly satisfying. It's something we're passionate about, it's something that we're constantly looking for new ways to grow."

T.J. turned 5 this past October. Is he starting to recognize how much his mom and dad are helping others?

"He is. He knows that we try to help his 'heart friends.' He knows that we are trying to really impact that cardiac community. It's not just in the Carolinas, but across the country. He's starting to get a little bit more involved, he's starting to understand a little bit more about why Mom and Dad work on all of this stuff and I think he enjoys it."

The HEARTest Yard Fund provides $25,000-$30,000 worth of nursing care for the first six month of a baby in need's life. The fund has spread out $1.7 million since its inception.

Olsen is also the founder of Receptions for Research: The Greg Olsen Foundation, which he founded in 2009 after his mother survived breast cancer.

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