Darius Slayton’s mom, Pamela, often told her son if he “ever made any money,” he’d better remember to give back.
“We actually ended up getting to that point a little faster than we thought,” Slayton, 27, said with a smile in the Giants’ locker room recently.
So Slayton took his mom’s advice, and now he is the Giants’ nominee for the 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award due to his numerous and meaningful contributions to the community.
“It means a lot for the organizations I work with to be in the spotlight,” he said. “So I’m happy about that.”
Slayon is active in New York and New Jersey, in his hometown of Atlanta and in his parents’ hometowns of Jackson, Ala., and Osceola, Ark.
Locally, he has invested himself deeply in the development of the New York Police Department-led Far Rockaway, Harlem and Bronx Giants program that was started in 2020 under former head coach Joe Judge.
The program’s goal is to improve police-community relations while providing youth with academic resources and guidance as they aim to graduate high school and college.
Slayton’s initial outreach happened on Zoom as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, it’s expanded from one borough to three.
Slayton has personally provided more than $100,000 worth of funding and resources to support 150 boys across 20 schools, and he has worked to raise a lot more.
Those students have completed 1,080 hours of after-school tutoring each year under the supervision of 30 NYPD officers running the programs.
And since its inception, no students have had to repeat a grade or take summer school, while more than 15 boys have graduated onto high school.
“It’s crazy that we’re in two other boroughs now with our program because at the time, we couldn’t even see people in person,” Slayton said. “We were just on Zoom because we started this during Covid.
“We never actually met the officers, met any of the kids, nothing,” he added. “We just would call in. So it felt like it was a thing but almost like a thing way over there. You couldn’t actually get face to face with somebody.
“So,” Slayton said, “the fact that it came to life now and expanded to two other boroughs — and the NYPD and State of New York are working to get us to all five — is pretty awesome.”
Presented by Nationwide, the NFL Man of the Year award is named for late Hall of Fame Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, who died in 1999. The award recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field as well as excellence on the field.
Each of the 32 teams has a Man of the Year who is eligible to win the league award.
The winner will be announced during the NFL Honors awards show on Feb. 6 in New Orleans prior to Super Bowl LIX. Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward won last year.
Quarterback Eli Manning is the only Giant ever to receive the award in its 54-year history as a 2016 co-winner alongside Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Each nominee will receive up to $55,000, and the award winner will receive up to a $265,000 donation to their charity of choice.
Slayton gets so involved for a couple reasons. For one, his parents impressed the importance of giving back from a young age, whether it was visiting the elderly or helping those in need.
“If there were sick or shut-in elderly at our church, my parents would always make sure to go and visit, whether it be at their homes or nursing homes,” Slayton said. “We had some elderly neighbors in the neighborhood, and my sister and [I] would check on people or see how they were doing, just making sure they were OK.”
Eddie Slayton, Darius’ dad, gave his son for following that example and taking it a step further.
“As parents, you try to set the right example for your children and it’s up to them the degree to which they take it and how far they’re willing to go with it,” he told the Giants. “We’ve expressed many times how proud we are of him.”
The other reason Slayton cares so much is because he knows what it’s like to be on the other side.
During the 2008 recession, the Slaytons lost their home. They moved into an apartment and relied on the help of others to fill some basic needs. It was a life change that influenced the future Giants receiver in a major way.
“I think it put a determination in him,” Pamela Slayton said. “He later told me, ‘Mom, I don’t ever want to see that look on your face again.’ I don’t remember what look I had, but I guess he saw some sadness or whatever. It built in him a determination to fight through and to never see his family in that situation again.”
So Slayton said this will always be a part of who he is.
In 2022, he started the ‘The Left-Hand Right-Hand Foundation, and his mother is the executive director. The Christian-based organization helps economically underserved communities with a focus on serving the youth and elderly.
His foundation annually hosts a free youth football camp in Atlanta and provides meals and household items to families during the holidays.
In addition, Slayton was recently named the Week 16 NFLPA Community MVP for contributing $50,000 to provide gifts and household needs to 24 New York families raised through his LHRH Foundation’s events.
He also hosted a Dec. 9 third annual holiday gift giveaway for eight underprivileged families in the three boroughs of Far Rockaway, Harlem and the Bronx Giants.
Plus, he hosts an annual car show in Queens attended by more than 50 drivers, an event he created for youngsters to learn about potential career paths outside of football. And he also has worked with the Giants to grow the game of girls flag football at field days.
“As long as you’re able, you should help, you should give, you should try to help other people do better, those types of things,” Slayton said. “That will always be something that’s part of my life.”
Of being nominated, Slayton said his reaction to the “tremendous honor” was “hard to even put into words.”
“[Former Rams tackle] Andrew Whitworth won [in 2021], and I remember he got up there and was telling a story about one of his last years in the league,” Slayton recalled. “He said a guy came up to him and [said], ‘I was one of those kids at the Boys and Girls Club and I made it big.’
“To me,” Slayton continued, “that’s the ultimate. There’s not really much you could do in your career … that would top that, having someone come up and say, ‘You inspired me and here I am.’ Even if it wasn’t the NFL, that would be the biggest accomplishment in the world.”