ESPY Awards 2014: Full List of Winners and Results from Annual ESPN Event

The ESPY Awards have become a rich tradition in sports, but several moments over the course of the evening were much bigger than any game.

Whether it was St. Louis Rams defensive end Michael Sam winning the Arthur Ashe Courage Award or ESPN SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott taking home the Jimmy V Award, Wednesday was about the tenacity it takes to be around the sports world.

After an inspirational night, here is the full list of winners and results from the 2014 ESPY Awards.

Award	Winner	Award	Winner
Male Athlete	Kevin Durant	Jockey	Victor Espinoza
Female Athlete	Ronda Rousey	MLS Player	Tim Cahill
Moment	USMNT vs. Ghana	Male U.S. Olympian	Sage Kotsenburg
Team	Seattle Seahawks	Female U.S. Olympian	Jamie Anderson
Comeback Athlete	Russell Westbrook	International Athlete	Cristiano Ronaldo
Breakthrough Athlete	Richard Sherman	WNBA Player	Maya Moore
Championship Performance	Kawhi Leonard	Male Golfer	Bubba Watson
Game	Auburn vs. Alabama	Female Golfer	Michelle Wie
Upset	Mercer over Duke	Male Tennis Player	Rafael Nadal
NFL Player	Peyton Manning	Female Tennis Player	Maria Sharapova
NBA Player	Kevin Durant	Male College Athlete	Doug McDermott
MLB Player	Miguel Cabrera	Female College Athlete	Breanna Stewart
NHL Player	Sidney Crosby	Male Athlete with a Disability	Declan Farmer
Driver	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Female Athlete with a Disability	Jamie Whitmore
Coach/Manager	Gregg Popovich	Male Action Sports Athlete	Nyjah Huston
Fighter	Floyd Mayweather	Female Action Sports Athlete	Jamie Anderson
Bowler	Pete Weber	Play	Chris Davis in Iron Bowl
Pat Tillman Award	Josh Sweeney	Record-Breaking Performance	Peyton Manning
Arthur Ashe Award	Michael Sam	Jimmy V Award	Stuart Scott

Moment of the Night: Michael Sam Wins Arthur Ashe Courage Award

Many awards were given out on Wednesday night, but one of the most impactful was Sam winning the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Sam became the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL when the St. Louis Rams selected him in the seventh round of April’s draft.

Sam’s decision to come out polarized the sports world, but his courage to be true to himself and not worry about what anyone else said made him deserving of the award.

Ashe was an inspirational tennis player who contracted AIDS during open-heart surgery. His tireless work to raise awareness late in his life set the tone for athletes to follow, and no professional has taken up that mantle and opened more eyes this year than Sam.

The official Twitter account of the ESPYs shared some of the moving moments from Sam during his acceptance speech:

Missouri football multimedia director Kathryn Lucchesi talked about how much the speech meant to her and how proud she was of the former Tigers star:

Baseball scout Joe Hamrahi spoke about how he almost missed one of the highlights of the night:

Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star talked about how the genuine speech stripped away the pageantry that has become the ESPY Awards and made people feel real emotion:

The key now for Sam will be translating the mental strength he has shown during this process to the field for the Rams. As a pass-rushing defensive end/outside linebacker, he will be fighting for a niche role on the team and must show his versatility.

Sam must become a special teams ace if he wants to stay on the roster long enough to learn the game at the NFL level and eventually have the opportunity to make an impact as a pass-rusher on a team with plenty of depth at his position.

In 14 games last season for Missouri, he racked up an impressive 48 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. While translating those numbers to the NFL will be tough, his mental fortitude will give him an edge over the men he is competing against.

Sam’s play on the field will be the ultimate determining factor in how he is viewed by the football world, but on Wednesday, his speech was about so much more than sports.

*Stats and information via ESPN.com.

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