During The 2023 ESPYS, ESPN will honor athletes and leaders in sports for their courage, perseverance and service with three special accolades. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) will receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, Liam Hendriks will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and the Buffalo Bills training staff will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
- The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) will be honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for their resilient fight for equal pay off the field.
- The award is given to a deserving member or group in the sporting world who makes a difference far beyond the field of play, impacting the world in indelible ways.
- The USWNT players are longtime advocates of equality, and in March 2019, they began a legal battle with U.S. Soccer for equal pay with the U.S Men’s National Soccer Team.
- In 2022, the team reached a historic agreement that officially split men’s and women’s pay 50/50 and ultimately set a new global standard in sports and had a ripple effect outside of the sports world.
- Since then, the USWNT has continued to leverage their platform to raise awareness around pay inequity and social injustices in the United States.
- Past recipients of the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage include:
- Muhammad Ali (1997)
- Billie Jean King (1999)
- Former president Nelson Mandela (2009)
- Caitlyn Jenner (2015)
- Bill Russell (2019)
- Vitali Klitschko (2022)
- Chicago White Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Liam Hendriks will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, a symbol of his strength and resilience in his fight against non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- In Hendriks’ first game back on the mound this May, he threw 16 strikes against the Los Angeles Angels, bringing the crowd to their feet for a standing ovation as he walked back to the dugout.
- Battling cancer since late last year, Hendriks’ returned to the mound within six months and donated $100,000 to cancer research in the process.
- Past recipients of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance include:
- Dick Vitale (2022)
- Chris Nikic (2021)
- Craig Sager (2016)
- Stuart Scott (2014)
- After Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the field shook the world last January, the Buffalo Bills training staff exemplified mental toughness and immediately performed live-saving measures.
- In recognition of their commitment to every member of the team, the Bills training staff will be awarded the Pat Tillman Award for Service presented by MassMutual, an award given to a group with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger, Pat Tillman.
- Past recipients of the Pat Tillman Award for Service include:
- Gretchen Evans (2022)
- Kim Clavel (2020)
- Jake Wood (2019)
- The ESPYS helps raise awareness and funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the charity founded by ESPN and the late basketball coach Jim Valvano at the first ESPYS in 1993.
- ESPN has helped raise more than $195 million for the V Foundation over the past 30 years.
- The ESPYS are co-produced by ESPN and Full Day Productions.
- The 2023 ESPYS will air live on July 12 at 8 p.m. ET / PT on ABC.