Our View: Ham has long been Duluth's 'man of the year'

Long before the Minnesota Vikings figured it out, Duluth has known just how impactful and world-class C.J. Ham is — both on and off a football field.

This month, the Vikings named Ham , the onetime Duluth Denfeld High School gridiron standout, its nominee for the 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. The award is the most prestigious honor bestowed by the league, annually recognizing one player’s impact on his community.

Ham has been a longtime volunteer for and supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs after spending considerable time at one as a youth in Duluth whose parents worked late. He and his family also support the American Cancer Society, especially since his mother was diagnosed in 2020 with pancreatic cancer. When she died a year later, Ham and his wife started Pamper Her Purple, an annual event for women who’ve survived cancer or who are being treated.

In addition, following the murder of George Floyd, Ham started the Ham Family Scholarship Fund. And every year back home in Duluth he runs a youth football camp, its profits donated to an academic scholarship fund for Duluth students of color.

"We're blessed to be a blessing. That's something my folks taught me a long time ago," Ham said, according to the Vikings, his team for nine seasons, including one ending with a Pro Bowl nod for the fullback. “If I wasn't playing football, I would still have that same mindset. Even back in college, going to volunteer at the Boys & Girls Clubs, taking time to talk to kids with special needs, that's always been my M.O.

"But I'm blessed to be able to play football and have the resources — and the platform — to be able to do things in an even bigger way. … Our faith is what really can get us through. You can try to lean on other things, but it doesn't work. It's just superficial. It falls apart quickly. You find yourself in these dark places sometimes, but having a faith to know that things happen, everything happens for a reason, and that God has a plan, that gives hope. … My mom's love was the closest that I had to Jesus' love. And I don't think I can love in quite the same way Mom did, but I'm sure going to try."

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell wasn't surprised when his teammates chose Ham as a captain — or when they voted by secret ballot to choose him as their man of the year.

"C.J. is one of my all-time favorite players,” Coach O'Connell said in a statement released by the team this month. "The way he works every single day, the way he is a true captain from a standpoint of everything you want as a head coach to know that your players are cared for. … He never leaves a man behind, and he always has every guy's best interest at heart with every step he takes in this building. He truly is Minnesota's favorite, and rightly so. And he doesn't take that for granted, either. … Him having such a dynamic impact on our community, and his kids and his family being right there with him. I think they're great representatives of what we want our organization to be."

Each of the NFL’s 32 teams nominates one player for the Walter Payton trophy. This year’s winner is to be announced at the NFL Honors event on Feb. 6.

Fans in Duluth and beyond can vote for Ham at NFL.com/ManOfTheYear . The player with the most fan votes receives an additional $35,000 for charity.