How Campbell Inspires Ingold Off the Field

Getting nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is getting to be old hat for Miami Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold, but maybe there was something special about his nomination this year.

It comes in the first year he's gotten to be a team captain alongside a former winner of the NFL's most prestigious off-the-field award, Calais Campbell.

And, as fate would have it, Ingold happened to be in attendance when Campbell gave his acceptance speech when he won the award for the 2019 season — Campbell was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars back then, while Ingold had just finished his rookie season with the Oakland Raiders.

“It’s a full-circle moment for me being in the leadership council with Calais and working with him day in and day out," Ingold said. "I don’t think I’ve ever told him this, but at the NFL Honors awards in 2019 when he won it, I was there with Josh Jacobs. He had brought me while he was going through the Offensive Rookie of the Year deal, and as a rookie you’re trying to figure out what you want to do in the league, right? You’re trying to figure out, OK, there’s all these activations, the signings, who you’re kind of looking up to.

"And I was really lost and trying to find what path I wanted to walk down in the NFL, and as soon as Calais gave his speech, I knew in my heart that that’s something that I wanted to do. I wanted to walk down that path and I wanted to embody all the work that he had put in, and it was extremely inspiring seeing him get his standing ovation and the work that he did through his foundation, through his family’s name. So it’s been pretty cool to have that full circle moment, going to work with him every single day, seeing that patch on his jersey and seeing how he walks that walk.”

Campbell's reaction to that:

“It’s very cool – the fact that he was a rookie is crazy.  It has been a while though. I’ll say that he’s just a guy that I admire. To have any kind of influence on the next generation of younger people to go out there and do great things in the community, that’s a great honor. Obviously, there’s a lot of people that are in need in this world and for us, we’re extremely fortunate and blessed to be able to play this game. Sometimes, especially when football isn’t going the way you want it to go sometimes, being in the community just puts things in perspective. We still have this incredible job; we still have the ability to impact people and affect lives, so it’s a great feeling and I’m happy for him. I think he’s very worthy of the nomination and I hope he wins it all.”

MIKE McDANIEL PAYS TRIBUTE TO INGOLD

Ingold was the Dolphins' Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominee last year as well and he earned the nod with the Raiders back in 2020.

Head coach Mike McDaniel was asked about Ingold getting the nomination Friday and had quite the tribute for his fullback.

“Well, the Man of the Year; I think Alec Ingold best embodies how to succeed in life and how to take things that on the front end, for sure," McDaniel said. "He had a lot of adversity interwoven into the way he started in the world. And so adversity is ever-present to everyone, it’s all relative, but one or two things happen. Generally it’s very difficult to take that adversity and make it purposeful and that’s what he has done by taking all of his time, his services and giving back into the community to those that he knows that – in the least, it’s someone that has taken some obstacles and flourished in them.

"I think he’s a motivating and inspiring person and I’m just so glad that a guy that I didn’t know personally, that came to us in 2022, the more people that can know about Alec Ingold and what he has to offer this world; if we could all take a good measurement as if we could all do like Alec and take perceived adversity and make it the engine that drives your life force into making the world a better place. I mean he fits the bill and on top of that, he’s a captain at a position that you have to earn those stripes with nothing other than daily accountability, effort, mentality, toughness. I can’t say enough good things about the human being, the player and I’m just glad he’s – he needs to be a focal point for what professional athletes are capable of and can do for their community and the sport and leaving the sport better than when he got to it.”