Robin Roberts: 'Mama used to say, "Make your mess your message", Arthur Ashe Courage Award, ESPYs - 2013

17 July 2013, Los Angeles, USA

Robin Roberts suffered from and was treated for myelodysplastic syndrome . She received a bone marrow transplant.

Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you. You know, at this moment I'm filled with such gratitude. Thanks to Mrs. Obama for her warm words and to LeBron for graciously adding to this immense honour. My mama was from Akron, Ohio and she loved her some King James, and she's smiling down on us right now. So thank you, thank you very much.

It's a moment I couldn't even begin to dream of when I began my career, you heard me, I just wanted to be the best sports journalist that I could be. I wanted to be a pro athlete, that's what I really wanted to be. I wanted to be a pro athlete but there's something called ... wait a minute, what is that again? Oh yes, ability, that you must have. So I am in awe of your vast accomplishments, and to be in your company tonight, and in the company of some old, dear friends at ESPN.

I realise there are many worthy of holding this honour. Others who have exhibited far more courage, strength, and resilience, and it's humbling for me to represent you tonight. I draw strength from you. You give me the courage to face down any challenge, to know that when fear knocks, to let faith answer the door.

Those of us who are fortunate to have overcome some form of illness or adversity are often told that we are strong. I didn't find that strength on my own, it's a quality that grew with every kind word of support, every prayer, every tweet, every email, every phone call. I gained strength from the doctors and nurses who checked on me long after their shift was over. From those I knew, and others I may never know, who took time out of their busy lives to reach out and let me know they were thinking of me, they were praying for me, every step of my journey.

Through it all, I learned that strength, true strength, isn't when you face down life's challenges on your own, it's when you take them on by accepting the help, faith, and love of others and knowing you are lucky to have those. Arthur Ashe was a dear, dear friend of mine, as you heard. He taught me the importance of using the platform we were blessed to be given to be of service to others, and he showed me, he showed all us that, through his selfless actions off the court.

You heard me, Mama used to say, "Make your mess your message." Find the meaning behind whatever it is you're going through because everybody's got something. And I am grateful to Bob Iger and Anne Sweeney for their compassion and support in helping me through my something, for helping me deliver my message of hope and to be a symbol of, "This too shall pass."

My family and dear friends, man, their unconditional love brings me to tears. They make me believe that this isn't my fight, but rather our fight. My big sister, Sally-Ann, my donor. I wouldn't be standing here, heck, I wouldn't be standing anywhere, if it were not for you and I thank you for that. It's very easy to spot sister Sally, she's always the one like, "Yes Jesus, yes, yes lord, yes, yes." That's sister Sally, sister Sally will set you free.

Lastly, I remember when Jim Valvano was the first recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage award and I was standing backstage. I was backstage, the next presenter on after Jimmy V, when he accepted the honour with an inspiring speech that touched us all, and still does. That night, in establishing the V Foundation for Cancer Research, Jim said, "We need your help, I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life, it may save my children's, it may save someone you love."

And I've been blessed to achieve things in life I could never have imagined as that little girl growing up in Mississippi. But most of all, I never imagined that I'd be able to be standing here 20 years after Jimmy V's speech and say that because of everyone who has responded to his challenge, because of all the donations, research, and support, mine is one of the lives that's been saved.

And now I ask you to save someone else, give strength to someone else, join, if you can, the bone marrow registry, donate to make more research possible, take part in clinical trials, as I have and my sister has. And thanks to my dream charm of doctors and nurses, I now have, I literally have my sister's DNA. But all of you here tonight and you there at home, and especially my wonderful, caring ESPN and ABC GMA family, yes I have my sister's DNA, but you will always have my heart. And I thank you ...

Michael Sam: 'Great things can happen when you have the courage to be yourself', Arthur Ashe Courage Award, ESPYs - 2014

16 July, 2014, Nokia Center, Los Angeles, USA

Thank you so much, Dwayne, thank you, ESPN, and thank you, everyone. The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is a big honor, but much bigger than just me. This year I had a lot of experience being a part of something bigger than myself. At times, I felt like I'd been living in a massive storm, and I know this storm will end. But I'm here tonight to tell you the lessons I learned about love, respect, and being yourself will never leave me.

The late, great, Arthur Ashe wasn't just courageous, he was brilliant, too. In fact, he once put all the wisdom in the world in three short sentences: Stay where you are,- sorry, Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. Those are the words to live by, whether you're black or white, young or old, straight or gay. So let me tell you why those words mean so much to me, like this award does.

First, start where you are. Like a lot of us, I didn't start on top. But it only drove me to get somewhere better. I was so lucky to have great father figures like Ronnie Pearl, my mentor and best friend. And great coaches like Gary Pinkel and Craig Smith, who knew my story, and did everything humanly possible to give it a better ending.

Next, use what you have. What I have is a privilege to play a game I love with all my heart. Football raised me. Football taught me about hard work, about discipline, and about teamwork. But whatever passion or talent you have, follow it. I followed mine, and it got me to this stage tonight, where I get to see a lot of my heroes looking back at me.

Finally, Arthur Ashe said do what you can. Those have been very meaningful words to me, and the way I see it, my responsibility in this moment in history is to stand up for everybody out there who wants nothing more than to be themselves openly. Recently, a friend asked me to talk to his sister, a young woman who was considering killing herself, rather than accepting and sharing with her loved ones the fact that she was gay. When we spoke, she told me that she would never consider hurting herself again, and that somehow my example, example would help her. [Applause.] It's, it's amazing to think, by what doing what we can we can all touch, change, and even save lives.

But I want to take a moment to thank some of my friends who've helped me. My team, Kerran Wise and Joe Barkett, young guys who took a chance on me, just like I took a chance on them. And Ken Sunshine. Ronnie and Candy Pearl, who've done so much to help me get here. My entire Mizzou family, for all the support they've given me, you will always be home. And to the Rams organization, Mr. Stan Cronkie, Les Snead, Coach Fisher, and my teammates. To my mother, a single mother who, somehow, raised eight kids, I love you dearly. Last but not least, Vito, people tell me that I'm their inspiration, but you are my inspiration.

Standing here tonight, looking out at all these legends who have already achieved so much is one of the thrills of my life. I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to, my best to live up to this honor and become the best football player I can. And finally, to anyone out there, especially young people, feeling like they don't fit in and would never be accepted, know this: great things can happen when you have the courage to be yourself.

Thank you, and God bless.

Pat Summit: 'You win in life with people', Arthur Ashe Courage Award, ESPYs - 2012

video from 13.08. The eight times NCAA championship winning basketball coach was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2011.

11 July, 2012, Nokia Theatre, LA, USA

Thank you very much.

I've always said, you win in life with people. And i have been so blessed to have great people in my life. My son Tyler and I appreciate all of your support and during this time, that's the next challenge for me and Tyler. And it is time to fight, as I ask all of you to join with me together. So we will win. And I can tell you, tonight, I am deeply touched, as all of you heard my story, I'm gonna keep on keeping on. I promise you that.

Jim Valvano: 'If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day', Don't Give Up, ESPYs - 1993

3 March, 1993, ESPY Awards, LA, USA

Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you. That’s the lowest I’ve ever seen Dick Vitale since the owner of the Detroit Pistons called him in and told him he should go into broadcasting.

I can’t tell you what an honor it is to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don’t have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I’m going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That’s the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don’t know how much I have left, and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people, too.

But, I can’t help it. Now I’m fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how’s your day, and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I’m a very emotional and passionate man. I can’t help it. That’s being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love.

When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.

I rode on the plane up today with Mike Krzyzewski, my good friend and wonderful coach. People don’t realize he’s ten times a better person than he is a coach, and we know he’s a great coach. He’s meant a lot to me in these last five or six months with my battle. But when I look at Mike, I think, we competed against each other as players. I coached against him for 15 years, and I always have to think about what’s important in life to me are these three things. Where you started, where you are and where you’re going to be. Those are the three things that I try to do every day. When I think about getting up and giving a speech, I can’t help it. I have to remember the first speech I ever gave.

I was coaching at Rutgers University, that was my first job, oh that’s wonderful (reaction to applause), and I was the freshman coach. That’s when freshmen played on freshman teams, and I was so fired up about my first job. I see Lou Holtz here. Coach Holtz, who doesn’t like the very first job you had? The very first time you stood in the locker room to give a pep talk. That’s a special place, the locker room, for a coach to give a talk. So my idol as a coach was Vince Lombardi, and I read this book called Commitment To Excellence by Vince Lombardi. And in the book, Lombardi talked about the first time he spoke before his Green Bay Packers team in the locker room, and they were perennial losers. I’m reading this and Lombardi said he was thinking should it be a long talk, or a short talk? But he wanted it to be emotional, so it would be brief.

So here’s what I did. Normally you  get in the locker room, I don’t know, 25 minutes, a half hour before the team takes the field. You do your little x and o’s, and then you give the great Knute Rockne talk. We all do. Speech number 84. You pull them right out, you get ready. You get your squad ready. Well, this is the first one I ever gave, and I read this thing.

Lombardi, what he said was he didn’t go in, he waited. His team wondering, where is he? Where is this great coach? He’s not there. Ten minutes, he’s still not there. Three minutes before they could take the field, Lombardi comes in, bangs the door open, and I think you all remember what great presence he had, great presence. He walked in, and he walked back and forth, like this, just walked, staring at the players. He said, “All eyes on me.”

I’m reading this in this book. I’m getting this picture of Lombardi before his first game, and he said, “Gentlemen, we will be successful this year, if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers.” They knocked the walls down, and the rest was history.

I said, that’s beautiful. I’m going to do that. Your family, your religion and Rutgers basketball. That’s it. I had it. Listen, I’m 21 years old. The kids I’m coaching are 19, and I’m going to be the greatest coach in the world, the next Lombardi. I’m practicing outside of the locker room, and the managers tell me you got to go in. Not yet, not yet, family, religion, Rutgers Basketball. All eyes on me. I got it, I got it. Then finally he said, three minutes, I said fine. True story. I go to knock the doors open just like Lombardi. Boom! They don’t open. I almost broke my arm. Now I was down, the players were looking. Help the coach out, help him out. Now I did like Lombardi, I walked back and forth, and I was going like that with my arm getting the feeling back in it. Finally I said, “Gentlemen, all eyes on me.” These kids wanted to play, they’re 19. “Let’s go,” I said. “Gentlemen, we’ll be successful this year if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers,” I told them. I did that. I remember that. I remember where I came from.

It’s so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.

I talked about my family; my family’s so important. People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters, here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who’s right here too. That screen is flashing up there 30 seconds like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I’m worried about some guy in the back going 30 seconds? You got a lot, hey va fa napoli, buddy. You got a lot.

I just got one last thing; I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get your emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day, and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm,” to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.

Now I look at where I am now, and I know what I want to do. What I would like to be able to do is spend whatever time I have left and to give, and maybe, some hope to others. Arthur Ashe Foundation is a wonderful thing, and AIDS, the amount of money pouring in for AIDS is not enough, but is significant. But if I told you it’s ten times the amount that goes in for cancer research. I also told you that 500,000 people will die this year of cancer. I also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background. I want to bring it back on the front table.

We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children’s lives. It may save someone you love. And ESPN has been so kind to support me in this endeavor and allow me to announce tonight, that with ESPN’s support, which means what? Their money and their dollars and they’re helping me – we are starting The Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And its motto is “Don’t give up . . . Don’t ever give up.”

That’s what I’m going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and the moment I have. If you see me, smile and give me a hug. That’s important to me too. But try if you can to support, whether it’s AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease. I can’t thank ESPN enough for allowing this to happen. I’m going to work as hard as I can for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we’ll have some cures and some breakthroughs. I’d like to think, I’m going to fight my brains out to be back here again next year for the Arthur Ashe recipient. I want to give it next year!

I know, I gotta go, I gotta go; and I got one last thing, and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.

I thank you, and God bless you all.

Click here to donate to the V-Foundation to support cancer research..