Jim Flanigan Named Co-Winner Of The National Football League Man of the Year Award
Flanigan joins the likes of Thiesman and Duerson as another Notre Dame graduate to recieve the award.

June 1, 2001

Former Notre Dame football standout Jim Flanigan was namedco-winner of the Walter Payton National Football League Man of the YearAward, which recognizes community service as well as playing excellence.Flanigan is the third Notre Dame graduate to win the award, joiningWashington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann (’82) and Chicago Bearssafety Dave Duerson (’87). Past winners includes 12 members of the Hall ofFame.

Flanigan, an anchor of the Chicago Bears defensive line for sevenyears, makes a difference with the James Flanigan Foundation, which raisesawareness of child literacy through efforts such as the Great American BookDrive, which delivers more than 700,000 books to 400,000 underprivilegedchildren.

His programs include Reach Out & Read Chicago, the FlaniganFoundation Literacy Advocate Award, Mission 99, the James and SusanFlanigan Endowed Scholarship at Notre Dame, and the Jim Flanigan CharityGolf Outing.

Flanigan was his class valedictorian Southern Door High School inBrussels, Wis. At Notre Dame, he started on the defensive line as a juniorand senior, earning honorable mention All-America honors in ’93. He twicemade the Dean’s List as a business management major and received anacademic leadership award.