NEW YORK, N.Y. - Michael Sam has been selected the winner of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The Missouri defensive end, who likely will be drafted by an NFL team this weekend, will receive the award given to individuals who transcend sports at The 2014 ESPYs on July 16. Sam, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, has announced that he is gay, making him set to become the first openly gay player in the NFL. ESPN is honouring Sam for "his courage and honesty that resonates beyond sports." "Im very honoured to be presented with the Arthur Ashe award," he said. "It is about courage. "You know I dont think there is anything courageous I did. I look forward to when we can live life in a world when gays dont have to come out in public." Sam said he has received support from athletes in all sports, "from football to basketball to softball to soccer, everyone." "I am thrilled to be living in a time when you can be accepted for how you live." Sam joins a prestigious list of winners ranging from Jim Valvano, the first recipient in 1995, to Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, Cathy Freeman, Nelson Mandela and Pat Summitt. The award, of course, is named for Ashe, the inspirational tennis star who died in 1993 after contracting AIDS from a blood transfusion. After learning he had the disease, Ashe campaigned to raise awareness about AIDS. "Arthur always believed in and practiced leading by example," said Ashes widow, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe. "When Michael Sam announced that he is gay, he courageously stepped forward to engage an issue that still remains a pervasive problem in many professional sports. Michael has displayed true leadership both on and off the field." Sam is one of eight children from Hitchcock, Texas. Two of his siblings have died and one disappeared and has not been found. Maura Mandt, executive producer of the ESPYs, calls Sam a "humble guy who isnt looking for any accolades." 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Hes now allowed two goals in three home games in this series.It was rare, if not entirely non-existent, to find an interview baiting an athlete to this level, and Romes dinkishness would usher forth a fresh era of callous reporting, culminating in Jim Grays inappropriately timed grilling of Pete Rose at the MLB All Star game in 1999:The challenge in scrutinizing the Rome/Everett clip is the conspiracy that looms over it. Long-standing doubts have been cast over the legitimacy of the participants intentions. Many have surmised that both Jim and Jim were in on the melee and the whole episode was rehearsed. If thats the case, it did no favours for either party, as Rome in particular struggled to book guests in the wake of the incident. Neither party has ever admitted to staging the fight, and the sentiments were likely real. Either way, Jim Rome was shoved viciously off a riser, so the clip has merit.#3 — Richard Sherman Dismantles Skip Bayless (2013)Even though the past decades increased brand-manicuring has brought forth ghost Twitter writers, interview coaches, and a heavy press release presence among athletes looking to make a statement, baiting and sparring between journalists and athletes continue. Before we get to the clip, lets refresh ourselves of Richard Sherman, the All Pro cornerback of the Seattle Seahawks, who is best known for another interview clip recorded just after this past seasons NFC Championship Game:Ooof, thats good stuff. The kind of interview that makes network executives request everyone stay late in the boardroom and order Chinese. But I fell in love with the good Mr. Sherman a year earlier, during his shredding of Skip "Not At The Top Of His Profession" Bayless:Skip Bayless got what he deserved. Was Sherman cocky, arrogant, quiver-lipped and mean? Sure. Hes an egotistical twenty-something millionaire football player who feels dissed. Skip is a self-serving foghorn and a comfort-of-the-news-desk trash talker who had been relentless in his dismissal of Shermans accomplishments (and this was before the Super Bowl ring). To the Sherman goes the Glory.#2 — The Practice, starring Allen Iverson (2002)Not every athlete takes the stage with a fall guy—sometimes they play that part themselves.dddddddddddd Allen Iverson, not long after winning the NBA Most Valuable Player award in 2001, notoriously did not like pushing himself in practice. Or attending practice. Here, at the podium, he gets heat for consistently skipping team practices, and decides to see if saying one word so many times can truly make it lose its meaning.A.I., even in his day, was undervalued. He is the greatest six-foot tall (or under) scorer in league history, and despite a propensity to forget he had teammates, averaged over six assists per game and led a team to the NBA Finals. He was also a wildly unpredictable man, with a raft of legal, financial, character and assault issues in his past (and present). It will take a special kind of talent to trump his accomplishment.#1 — Ron Artest | A Special Kind Of Talent (2010)I do not want to leave you feeling this collection of interviews is entirely geared to the glorification of scrapping or defensiveness or self-aggrandizing. Some athletes, like NBA All Star Ron Artest, win a big game and want nothing more than to spread the love around:A year after this interview, an entirely calm and well-adjusted Ron Artest would change his name to Metta World Peace, surprising no one.This mesmerizingly odd interview represented a momentous turnaround for the once-villainous Artest. Many criticized the Lakers letting go of an emerging Trevor Ariza after winning the championship in 2009, and replacing him with then 30-year-old Ron Artest, who came with a Himalayan range of baggage.In case you arent aware of, or have forgotten Metta World Artests history, this is why the above video stands as a bizarrely dichotomous moment, though you will likely still discern the thread of crazy running through both videos:>>> Gallays Poll #10Which interview is your favourite?(A) Jim vs. Jim, for the shoving(B) Iverson, for the comfort of repetition(C) Sherman, for the righteousness(D) Artest, for the sobering candour ' ' '