CHARLOTTE — Austin Corbett will go anywhere. Austin Corbett will do anything. The point is the going and the doing, with and for others.

This is a story about Austin Corbett the football player.

This is also a story about Austin Corbett the husband and father.

And this is also a story about Austin Corbett the leader in the community.

That's why Austin Corbett was named the Panthers' nominee for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award Thursday, in a move endorsed by players and coaches on the football field, children and families, and veterans across two states, and even by Metallica, who gave him the news in a recent team meeting.

That's a lot, but Austin Corbett is a busy man.

"My wife and I have always talked about, we've been called to serve just people," Corbett said. "And it doesn't matter who that is, where that is, when that is. We just want to help, and we've always been about that. So many people just kind of write a check and move along, and that's great. You're doing it, you're blessed, that's how you want to do it.

"But we're fully in on our time in showing up and doing the work, that's where we find value."

In those six sentences, Austin Corbett just explained a lot about the way he's lived his life and played his football.

Offensive linemen are protectors by nature, so part of this is latent in his personality. But beyond that, he's always existed to give.

When he came here in 2022 after a successful stint with the Rams, he talked from the start about building something here. That was on the field, and off, as he immediately became one of the team's most active players in community events. The on-field wasn't smooth, as he suffered a torn ACL in the final game of his first season here, and has battled through subsequent knee injuries and a torn biceps tendon, always continuing to push back.

But he walks with a spirit of gratitude, because he's seen what football means to him, and to others.

Don't tell anybody, but he chokes up a lot when he talks about all of this. He's kind of a softie, really. It means something to him, the football and the community, because it's all part of what he considers his responsibility.

And he's not afraid of the hard work, whether it's joining a rebuilding team after winning a Super Bowl, or pushing through his own pain, or passing out school supplies while wearing a brace.

"I knew when I came here, it was going to be tough, and that's what I wanted to be a part of," Corbett said. "I wanted to be a part of the grind and helping young guys set a foundation of what it means just to love the game of football and fight every single game."

And having lost that for himself, he's poured back into others just as consistently. Even as he's dealt with some difficult times the last three years with his own injuries, he's remained active with the team and the community, showing the power of being engaged with both.

He knows what football means to him, and he understands what the team means to his community. So he approaches both sides of the equation with equal energy and humility, and all of it with a smile on his face.

Having had the sport taken from him too often the last few seasons, he's come to appreciate every game, every snap, every practice.

That's why he's the one so often making goofy faces on the practice field or in a celebratory locker room. It means a lot to him, but he also knows it's a game, so he insists on maintaining perspective.

Still, he'll often get emotional after games and will describe the pain and sacrifice by saying, "Football sucks... I love it so much."

This year, he went from starting the regular season opener at center to another stint on injured reserve to coming back in a less-defined role but then filling in at all three interior positions in the last six weeks and being a backup when that was the week's responsibility.

While he was on the sidelines, he mentored the guy who replaced him in the starting lineup, Cade Mays. That's not easy for anyone, because this is a business. But for Corbett, he's always treated it like a calling, and being part of the team was bigger than any individual on it. When you're a walk-on, that's just how you see life.

"We've got four games left, what do we need to do to win the division, and that's what it's going to take," he said. "There's nothing to raise your arms or throw a fit about it now. Let's go do the thing."

That kind of team-first mentality, whether he's playing or not, is like gold for Panthers head coach Dave Canales as he tries to build a program here around quarterback Bryce Young, combining inherited pieces like Corbett and like-minded newcomers.

"Just a really selfless guy, a guy that just wants to win. He wants to help his team. He wants to help. He's a great teammate," Canales began, brightening at the mention of the name that has become synonymous with making it about everyone other than himself.

"He's always talking, always having conversations with other offensive linemen, he's talking to Bryce as they work through the plan, and really just connecting that way. And he and I have had some great conversations about just the bigger picture of what's happening. And coming from a place where he was with the Rams, where he saw some success, and coming here to what we're building here, he has that mentality, he has that hopefulness for what hard work leads to, and expects that to happen.

"But again, it just circles back to the way that he approaches everyone with respect, and the way that he engages with his teammates certainly goes outside of the building and into the community as well."

Corbett is, to put it simply, always available; squeezing appearances in during his rehabilitation and at times when it would be easy for him to call in hurt. But he never does. When he's interviewed about his own recovery, he'll rattle off the names of everyone from the weight room staff to the athletic training room interns, people he knows well and appreciates fully. And they all tell the same story, of a player who works tirelessly and picks others up even when he's down. In the same way, his joy is evident, whether lifting up a Make-A-Wish kid after scoring a touchdown at Fan Fest, or thanking service members, or visiting hospitals, or providing Halloween costumes through A Kid Again.

As the father of three young children of his own, that one has become close to his heart, as the program allows families who are raising children living with life-threatening conditions the ability to shop for Halloween costumes.

Considering the glee on his own face when he talks about family costumes (this year they had a fishing theme, and he was the big swordfish while his youngest, 1-year-old Cooper, was the fisherman).

And this year, they reeled in even more families, as they've built the program larger and larger with each passing year. This year, they hosted 50 families, allowing 120 kids to let their imaginations run wild and receive costumes for the holiday.

"So the way it's just grown," he said, the jack-o-lantern grin creeping across his face. "And I was never like huge on Halloween, but since we had kids and their love of it has definitely made me grow, and I never thought I'd be a Dad that'd be planning family Halloween costumes, but over the past four or five years I've gotten a real kick out of that.

But that's just the beginning of his off-field work.

Austin kicked off the year in collaboration with fellow Nevada football player Joel Bitonio, as they hosted their fourth annual youth football camp in their home state. When Austin returned to the Carolinas for off-season workouts, he participated in the Panthers organization-wide day of service, Keep Pounding Day. On game days, he never misses an opportunity to come over and say hello to the Panthers Row of Honor military guests and Keep Pounding Kid from Levine Children's Hospital.

Last fall, he heard about a local high school football team struggling to feed players, so he bought a season's worth of Uncrustables and personally delivered them to Nations Ford. It wasn't a months-long project. It was hear a need, fill a need, without a second thought.

"Austin is someone who leads with hunger and heart, which is something we talk a lot about here at the Carolina Panthers," said David and Nicole Tepper. "He has hunger on the field and heart in the community. That kind of commitment is foundational to who we are as an organization."

Children. Families. Veterans. Always volunteering, never suggesting it's anything other than a privilege.

"I don't know, like, I don't feel like it's much," he said with a shrug, because that humility is as much a part of him as being 300 pounds and protecting quarterbacks or being a husband and dad.

"Again, like my wife and I are constantly saying, it's what we're called to do," he said. "And as our kids have gotten older too, to be able to bring them to events, to be able to show them like this is how you go about life and trying to instill messages into them of, it's our responsibility on Earth to take care of each other, and we are very fortunate position that we are, so we can just try to help as many as we can, and we don't care what the reasoning is."

When it came time for the annual My Cause, My Cleats initiative, Corbett chose the All Within My Hands Foundation.

Created by the members of Metallica, All Within My Hands is dedicated to fighting hunger, supporting workforce education, and strengthening local communities. The foundation channels the power of music into action, helping people gain skills, stability, and hope. Every initiative echoes the belief that when we lift others up, we build something lasting.

And that resonated with Corbett at a personal level, because he's been a metal head as long as he can remember.

Growing up in Reno, Nev., his father took him to see Rush and Korn when he was in second grade, and he rocked until he fell asleep. His mom took him to San Francisco in February 2016 to see Metallica, and they were surprised to find a ton of traffic there, because they were so locked in on seeing their favorite band, that they didn't realize the Panthers were playing in a little game called Super Bowl 50 the next day.

And this summer, Corbett got to pay his father back by having him here in Bank of America Stadium for the Metallica show, bringing the story full circle.

"They just pull on our heartstrings a lot of different ways," Corbett said.

So when it was time for Corbett to learn that he was the Panthers' nominee for the league's highest honor, Canales just took a step back in the team meeting room and cued up a video.

Instead of football dignitaries on the screen in front of the entire team, it was Metallica lead singer James Hetfield and bass player Rob Trujillo to congratulate Corbett.

"Austin, we know that you are a leader in the locker room as well as in your community," Hetfield began, as a surprised Corbett grinned in the middle of a room full of teammates. "And aside from everything you're doing for All Within My Hands, you've also done so much for service members, youth, high school football programs, and families with children who have life-altering disabilities, which is why we're excited to tell you, you are the Carolina Panthers 2025 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee."

For a young rocker who dreamed of seeing Metallica live, for a walk-on who dreamed of a college scholarship, for a player who dreamed of winning a Super Bowl, for a leader who has dreamed of being an example of a leader for his family and his community, that was about as good as it gets.

But this is Austin Corbett, so it immediately became about others.

"My dad was here for Thanksgiving weekend and the Rams game," Corbett said. "So be able to share the moment, the announcement with him, and to get the Metallica video and just to be a part of it, that was just an awesome week."

There is more to come. Corbett has more plans for giving, on the field as he helps the Panthers push for their first playoff berth in years, and off the field, as he will remain involved in the kinds of events that are common for him.

That's why he won this nomination. The video the team submitted on his behalf also included a voice-over from his oldest son, Ford.

"My dad is a good teammate and leader in the locker room," the 5-year-old Ford said. "He also likes helping other people and making them feel good. He supports people in the military and families with kids. He just cares about others. I'm proud of my dad."

And just like that, Corbett's crying again. This guy.

But this work, on the field and off, is what's meaningful to him, so he's not afraid to let that show.

"The football accolades are great, you know," he said recently. "But I'm in Year 8. I don't know, am I halfway done with my career? Am I near the end? Am I not halfway done? I don't know. But it's going to end and you know, being a human is also going to end at some point, but God willing, a lot further down the road.

"But to just help out, like that's never going to change. I have a spotlight now, and I want to maximize it, and I want to use it when football's over. Like I'm still fortunate that I'm going to be able to continue to do whatever I can, whether it's back in my hometown of Reno or staying here in Carolinas, wherever it is, like that part doesn't end."

Not when going and doing is what you do.

Not when you're Austin Corbett.

Vote for Austin here.