At the recent ESPY Awards, openly gay NFL player Michael Sam received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Following ESPN's broadcast of a video about Sam's life, he kissed boyfriend Vito Cammisano, and walked onto the stage at the Nokia Theater to accept the award from actor/former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, The Huffington Post noted.
In a speech many described as emotional, Sam said, "At times, I've felt like I've been living in a massive storm, without knowing when the storm will end. But I'm here tonight to tell you that the lessons I learned about love, respect, being true to yourself will never leave me.
"It's amazing to think that by doing what we can, we can all touch, change and even save lives."
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is named in honor of the first African-American player on the U.S. Davis Cup team and the only Black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open tennis tournaments. Ashe died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993.