"The Truth About Leading The Way..."

'The way I see it, my responsibility at this moment in history is to stand up for everybody
out there who wants nothing more than to be themselves openly'

At ESPYs, An Emotional Michael Sam Inspires As He Accepts Arthur Ashe Courage Award

Greg Hernandez
July 17, 2014

The NFL's first openly gay player provided the emotional highlight at Wednesday's (16 July) ESPY Awards when he took to the stage to accept the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Sam, 24, called the award named after the late tennis legend and activist 'much bigger than just me.

'This year I had a lot of experience being part of something bigger than myself,' Sam told the crowd at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles as he fought back tears.

He reflected on his journey since coming out to his teammates at the University of Missouri then being drafted by the St. Louis Rams.

'At times, I felt like I'd been living in a massive storm,' he said. 'But I'm here tonight to tell you the lessons learned about love and respect and being true to yourself will never leave me.'

He quoted Ashe, the 1975 Wimbledon champion who died from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993, in his speech saying: 'Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.'

'Those were the words to live by, whether you're black or white, young or old, straight or gay,' Sam said. 'Football raised me, football taught me about hard work.'

Sam also told the crowd a story of speaking with a woman who had been considering suicide rather than coming out to her loved ones.

'When we spoke she told me that she would never consider hurting herself again and that somehow my example would help,' he said.

'To anyone out there, especially young people, feeling like they don’t fit in and will never be accepted, please know this: great things can happen if you have the courage to be yourself.'

Sam's boyfriend, Vito Cammisano, was in the audience and Sam said to him from the stage: 'People tell me that I'm their inspiration, you're my inspiration.'

Sam believes that 'my responsibility at this moment in history is to stand up for everybody out there who wants nothing more than to be themselves openly. Whatever passion or talent you have, follow it. I followed mine and it got me all the way to this stage here tonight, so I can look out and see so many of my heroes looking back at me.'

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Michael Sam's quiet dignity and open honest persona are an inspiration to me.

"Fear Eats the Soul"