The 2014 ESPY Awards
The 2014 ESPY (The Excellent in Sports Performance Yearly Awards) took place Wednesday night at the Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and aired on ESPN.
Rapper Drake hosted the awards ceremony. Drake showed his humorous side poking fun at LeBron James’ recent announcement to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers,
Dan Marino and Kevin Durant presented Peyton Manning the Best NFL Player Award. A very humble Payton Manning thanked his family and teammates.
Drake performed a few special musical numbers: a parody dubbed “Honorable Mention” in which he said: “Real talent doesn’t always win championships, like real music doesn’t always win Grammys,” while a picture of Macklemore at the 2014 Grammys showed up on a large screen. He was joined by Brian Mcknight on stage to perform “Side Pieces”
The Jimmy V Perseverance Award was awarded to Sports Center anchor Stuart Scott who spoke about his battle with cancer during his acceptance speech.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson presented Michael Sam, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Sam is the first openly gay football player to be drafted into the NFL Sam tearfully accepted the award, He said “This year I had a lot of experience being part of something bigger than myself. At times, I felt like I’d been living in a massive storm…but the lessons learned — love, respect and being true to yourself — will never leave me.
The Ceremony concluded with the Seattle Seahawks winning The Best Team Award.
The list of Winners:
Best Breakthrough Athlete: Richard Sherman
Best Moment: U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team
Best Game: Iron Bowl
Best Record-Breaking Performance: Peyton Manning
Best Play: Chris Davis
Best Female Athlete: Ronda Rousey
Best Male Athlete: Kevin Durant
Best Team: Seattle Seahawks
Best Upset: Mercer
Best Female Action Sports Athlete: Jamie Anderson
Best Male Action Sports Athlete: Nyjah Houston
Best Female Athlete with a Disability: Jamie Whitmore
Best Male Athlete with a Disability: Declan Farmer
Best Female College Athlete: Breanna Stewart
Best Male College Athlete: Doug McDermott
Best Coach/Manager: Gregg Popovich
Best MLS Player: Tim Cahill
Best NBA Player: Kevin Durant
Best NFL Player: Peyton Manning
Best NHL Player: Sidney Crosby
Best MLB Player: Miguel Cabrera
Best WNBA Player: Maya Moore
Best Female U.S. Olympian: Jamie Anderson
Best Male U.S. Olympian: Sage Kotsenburg
Championship Performance: Kawhi Leonard
Best Bowler: Pete Weber
Best Female Tennis Player: Maria Sharapova
Best Male Tennis Player: Rafael Nadal
Best Comeback Athlete: Russell Westbrook
Best Female Golfer: Michelle Wie
Best Male Golfer: Bubba Watson
Best International Athlete: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Fighter: Floyd Mayweather
Best Driver: Ryan Hunter-Reay
Best Jockey: Victor Espinoza