PHOENIX -- For the second time in three years, Hines Ward can win one of the NFL's highest awards on Super Bowl Sunday.

He earned the game's MVP when his Steelers beat Seattle in Super Bowl XL. This time he's one of four finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that will be presented here Sunday.

He places the honor as high as the one he took home from Detroit in 2006.

"I've gotten a lot of awards; that would be right up there with my Super Bowl MVP," Ward said.

"No question it means the world to me, to sit there and be mentioned with Walter Payton and win that award, not only to be known for my production on the field but off the field as well."

The winner will be announced before the Super Bowl. The other finalists are Woodland Hills High School graduate and Miami defensive end Jason Taylor, Kansas City guard Brian Waters and Dallas tight end Jason Witten.

The award is named after Payton, the Chicago Bears Pro Football Hall of Fame back who died in 1999. It is the only league award that recognizes a player's community service as well as his performance on the field.

Ward, a four-time Pro Bowler who holds most of the Steelers' career receiving records, established the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation to assist biracial children in South Korea who face discrimination. He donated $1 million of his own money to establish the fund and has raised another $1.5 million. He frequently participates in the NFL's annual Take A Player to School program.

He also co-hosts an annual golf outing to benefit the Caring Foundation, with proceeds benefiting families in western Pennsylvania for healthcare for children and adults.

"I'm all about helping kids, trying to raise money for parents who don't have health insurance," Ward said, "and caring places where kids can go and talk to others who lost a loved one.

"I always want to be known as a great player on and off the field."

Other Steelers who won the award were Jerome Bettis in 2001, Lynn Swann in 1981, Joe Greene in 1979 and Franco Harris in 1976.

The first regular-season NFL game played overseas was a resounding success in London's Wembley Stadium Oct. 28.

The occasion, however, was predicted to have a somewhat less positive overall effect on the two teams involved. One, the Miami Dolphins, finished the season with just one victory. But the other landed in the Super Bowl.

The New York Giants beat the Dolphins, 13-10, in London. It was their third consecutive victory on the road, a streak they've stretched to 10 in a row, three in the playoffs. Their only loss on the road this season came at Dallas in the season opener, 45-35.

Now, Giants coach Tom Coughlin believes playing in London might have benefited his team.

"No question, being in that environment and having the kind of media attention that went with that game, I'm sure that is going to help a lot of these young guys, for sure."

The Giants are only the third team to win three playoff games on the road to put them in the Super Bowl. They are trying to tie the 2005 Steelers by becoming the second to win it.

Coughlin told his players before they left New York that no one remembers who lost to the Steelers in Super Bowl XL.

"Who was the loser two games ago?" Coughlin asked. "That's exactly what happened in our team meeting. I asked the same question."

Someone eventually came up with the answer, Coughlin said. The Seattle Seahawks.

In a way, quarterback Tom Brady is happy to be at the Super Bowl, where he might be able to get some peace and quiet even though it's the largest media sporting event in the country.

His trip to New York last week to visit model girlfriend Gisele Bundchen was captured by the paparazzi as Brady carried flowers and limped on his injured ankle.

"I was just trying to get into the house as fast as I could," Brady said. "So I was trying to just hobble along. You're right. It kind of caught me off guard.

"I think that's just part of the world we are living in these days. Those places I used to go for refuge aren't necessarily the places you go anymore. I guess it is a good problem to have because we are winning football games. I think if we were 0-16, no one would [care]. I'll take it to show up here this week."