Green Bay Packers fan Tom Grossi is NFL Fan of the Year
Green Bay Packers fan Tom Grossi, who raised $500,000 for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital by visiting all 30 NFL stadiums in 30 days in 2023, is the NFL Fan of the Year.
Grossi's award was announced during Thursday night's NFL Honors event in Las Vegas, televised on CBS and NFL Network. Immediately after the award was announced, Grossi helped present the NFL Coach of the Year award to Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Grossi was the first Packers nominee in 13 years to receive the award.
Grossi, a former social studies teacher who lives in New York, makes a living now off his YouTube channel, which in addition to including his Packast podcast, provides content on all the NFL teams, in one form or another. In addition to analysis of the Packers and other teams, Grossi's channel has a large dose of comedy, particularly evident in the "If the NFL was scripted" and fan reaction videos. His YouTube channel has more than 600,000 subscribers.
Grossi was the last man standing from among 61,000 nominees and 32 finalists. He was lured to NFL headquarters in New York last week, where NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell surprised him by informing him he was the winner.
Overall, Grossi raised more than $720,000 for charities, including $512,707 for St. Jude's, $51,000 for the Sunshine Kids Foundation and $62,000 for Friends of Animals.
Grossi spent $50,000 of his own money on the 30 in 30 project. He met with fans in each city and posted daily videos of his progress. He was accompanied by videographer Johnny Barks.
Of course, he started at Lambeau Field.
The campaign included 25 airline flights and a couple of audibles, such as when he overslept after a particularly grueling day in Buffalo and had to drive to Boston to make it in time for his appearance there.
"In Buffalo, I jumped through a table. That didn’t feel good. I tore my elbow, messed up my back," he said in a November Press-Gazette interview. "I can’t walk. I hope my elbow is not infected, but we got there on time. That was day six going into day seven. I had 24 days to go."
His videos work, whether they are about the Packers, the NFC North or the rest of the NFL, because Grossi does not take himself too seriously, and while his comedy segments sometimes have an edge, they are not demeaning.
"There's no need to be vicious," he said.
Two Packers players were nominated for awards but did not win. De'Vondre Campbell was nominated for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which went to Cameron Heyward, defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Jones was nominated for the Salute to Service award, which went to Joe Cardona, long snapper for the New England Patriots.
Two players who played part of their careers with the Packers will join the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including Julius Peppers and Steve McMichael. Peppers played for the Packers in 2014-2016, and McMichael was on the team in 1994.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Packers fan Tom Grossi is NFL Fan of the Year
