During the holiday season, Lions star center Frank Ragnow hosts an event called "Rag's Remembered Holiday Giveback" to support grieving children. His foundation, Rags Remembered, named after his late father, provides outdoor experiences and emotional support for kids who have lost loved ones.

Choosing Frank Ragnow as the Detroit Lions’ 2023 nominee for the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year Award was a no-brainer for the team. The award recognizes excellence on and off the field and is given to a player who has had a significant positive effect on their community — and Ragnow has those qualities in spades.

“Frank Ragnow is the ultimate teammate who lays everything on the line to help the person next to him,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said last December at the time of the nomination. “He deserves every aspect of this award for the work he has done with his Rags Remembered Foundation and the young lives he has touched.”

DETROIT (WXYZ) — You may remember the Detroit Lions fan who went viral when cameras caught him crying tears of joy after the playoff win back in January.

On Monday night, that fan, Arron Wikaryasz, is giving back by surprising a younger fan with an emotional story.

After we shared Wikaryasz's story, people across the country were moved, reaching out to gift him tickets for the rest of the season!

A few weeks after the Detroit Lions' season ended with a heartbreaking NFC championship game loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Frank Ragnow hopped in his car and drove 16 hours from his native Minnesota to northern Manitoba to spend a week in temperatures that hovered around minus-45 degrees.

It was so cold one day, the doors on Ragnow's car froze shut.

"I’ve never seen that before in my life," he said Thursday.

Ragnow spent most of his time in Manitoba ice fishing. He caught a 30-plus-inch burbot, an eel-like fish with leopard print. But mostly he vegged out, got away from football and let his body heal up and rest.

"I just dumbed out," Ragnow said. "Here’s what I do: I get there, I lose cell service and I think about waking up, fishing all day, eating, going to sleep and doing it again. The simpler, the better."

The Lions #WPMOY nominee Frank Ragnow founded Rags Remembered in honor of his late father. His foundation's purpose is to provide outdoor experiences for grieving children.

ALLEN PARK -- Frank Ragnow was already battling through a lengthy list of injuries. Then, the stud center suffered a sprained knee and ankle in the divisional round but still managed to play all 73 offensive snaps in the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And Lions fans showed their appreciation for the gutsy performance from the mainstay by flooding his foundation with upwards of $20,000 in donations. Ragnow also shouted out to former Lions teammate Tyrell Crosby for putting the link out there during the game.

ALLEN PARK -- He’s been named Pro Bowler. He’s been named All-Pro.

Now, Frank Ragnow is a nominee for what he says is one the most prestigious awards of all: Water Payton Man of the Year.

The award honors NFL players who excel on the field and demonstrate a passion for creating a lasting positive impact in their communities. Each team gets one nominee, and a winner will be announced at the NFL Honors show before Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.

Each nominee will receive up to a $55,000 donation, and the winner will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of his choice.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Frank Ragnow has been named the Week 4 NFLPA Community MVP after he hosted eight grieving families for an afternoon of fishing and games at his foundation’s second annual Fishin’ for Memories event. 

“Thank you to the NFLPA for recognizing me as the Week 4 Community MVP,” Ragnow said. “It's a great honor to be recognized for the work I have been doing with my nonprofit, The Rags Remembered Foundation.” 

On September 22, the Detroit Lions center and his wife Lucy hosted their latest Fishin’ for Memories event at Lake St. Clair Metropark in Michigan. Eight families (including 16 kids) who had recently lost loved ones were invited through Angela Hospice for a special day of bonding, including tossing around the football, eating pizza, and playing games like cornhole and Connect Four with Ragnow and fellow Lions Michael Badgley, Jack Fox, Romeo Okawara and Colby Sorsdal.

On Thursday, May 18, 2023, Detroit Lions center, Frank Ragnow, hosted his inaugural Skeet Shoot Showdown fundraising event at the Bald Mountain Shooting Range in Lake Orion, Michigan. The event was presented by Motor City Computer and the Detroit Lions.

Net proceeds from the event will support the community outreach programs of Frank Ragnow's personal 501c3 nonprofit charity, The Rags Remembered Foundation.

LAKE ORION, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow hosted his inaugural Skeet Shoot Showdown fundraiser at Bald Mountain Shooting Range in Lake Orion Thursday. 

Ragnow and his Lions teammates competed in a 14-station skeet shoot tournament Thursday afternoon to benefit Ragnow's Rags Remembered Foundation. Proceeds from the event go towards Ragnow's Camp Huddle Up and Huddle-at-Home program that assists grieving youth and their families.

A dinner and awards presentation followed the tournament, as well as live and silent auctions. 

Frank Ragnow and family kicked off the Rags Remembered Foundation in metro Detroit that helps foster a love of the outdoors in children and their families to heal and bond them together through grief.

It's been over five years, and Frank Ragnow's still not over it.

He's here to tell you: That's OK.

Ragnow's dad, Jon (nicknamed "Rags"), died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2016, when the Detroit Lions' starting center was still at Arkansas.

Thursday night was about more than football for Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow.

In between shaking hands with fans, making radio appearances and posing for photos with his mother, Marty, Ragnow’s emotions ran high. He was joined by dozens of others at Eddie Merlot’s in Bloomfield Hills for the inaugural “Dine with The Pride” fundraising event, hosted by Ragnow’s nonprofit charity, The Rags Remembered Foundation. This was the first event hosted by the foundation, and it raised more than $50,000 — including a $10,000 donation from Ragnow himself.