GREEN BAY – Packers running back Aaron Jones and receiver Christian Watson have been selected as the 2023 Tom Mulhern Stand-Up Guy Award recipients, as voted on by the Green Bay chapter of the Professional Football Writers of America.
The annual award is presented to the Packers players who have best helped reporters covering the team do their jobs effectively.
It's the latest in a series of accolades for Jones, whom the Packers nominated for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2021 and 2022. This year, Jones was also Green Bay's nominee for both the NFL's Salute to Service Award and the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.
Other current Packers to have previously won the award include left tackle David Bakhtiari (2017) and defensive lineman Kenny Clark, who also was a finalist this year after winning it in 2018 and 2022. Jones has played with 10 of the 12 Packers players who have received the award.
"This is an honor. I get to join some other great names who are Packer greats on that list," Jones said. "Obviously, it's never about me. It's about the team. I'm just happy to be here, with my opportunity or whatever chance I get that I make the most of it. It'll always work out if you're a guy who's not about yourself. You'll see it did work out for me and I'm still here years later. I'm just thankful for the Packer family around me, you guys, as well. This is amazing. This is going right up on my stand next to my other trophies and my mom is gonna be excited to see this one, too."
Watson has been a fixture inside the Packers' locker room since he arrived as a second-round pick out of North Dakota State in 2022. He's the first second-year player to win the award.
"It would just start with how I was raised – being able to be approachable, being able to be a servant to others, being able to help others and communicate with others, as well," said Watson of his dealings with the media. "Honestly, for me, I want to be the best possible person at my job. I know this is a big part of the job. I want to be able to help you guys. You guys help us out with what we're going through."
The Stand-Up Guy Award is named after the late Tom Mulhern, a former Packers and Wisconsin Badgers beat writer for the Wisconsin State Journal and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel who passed away at age 56 in October 2014.
Tom Mulhern Stand-Up Guy recipients
2023: RB Aaron Jones, WR Christian Watson
2022: DL Kenny Clark (2), CB Rasul Douglas
2021: WR Davante Adams (3)
2020: WR Davante Adams (2), QB Aaron Rodgers
2019: CB Tramon Williams (2), T Bryan Bulaga, K Mason Crosby
2018: DL Kenny Clark
2017: WR Davante Adams, T David Bakhtiari
2016: DB Micah Hyde, G T.J. Lang
2015: No award given
2014: WR Jordy Nelson, CB Tramon Williams
