Different-looking ESPY Awards focus on hope and inspiration

No red carpet, no nattily dressed athletes, no house band or monologue poking fun at the past year's top athletes and moments.

This was a different version of The ESPYS.

The focus of Sunday night's show on ESPN was hope and inspiration in the time of coronavirus.

NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, along with soccer star Megan Rapinoe and WNBA star Sue Bird, hosted the pre-produced show remotely from their respective homes in Seattle. Each wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts to open the show, and touched on the lives of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were killed by police, as well as the life of Ahmaud Arbery. Three men are charged in Arbery's death.

Rapinoe and Bird urged their fellow white athletes to "don't just listen. Help."

"This is the time we've got to have their backs," Rapinoe said of black athletes.

Wilson, who is black, added, "Our country's work is not anywhere close to being done."

Cruz cried and put his head in his hands before composing himself and saying, "From the bottom of my heart, my family, my foundation and my hometown, thank you."

Taquarius "TQ" Wair, who as a 4-year-old survived a house fire in 2005 that killed his 6-year-old sister, was honored with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. Wair was burned all over his body and given just a 20% chance to live. He lost fingers on his left hand. But he went on to play ffotball at Minneapolis North and is now a running back at Mesabi Range College in Virginia, Minn., with a goal of playing at a four-year school.

Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin informed Wair via laptop that he was being honored. Wair was handed a box with the trophy inside. He pulled it out and said, "Oh my goodness. Thank you."

"This is humbling for me," Wair said. "My family won't let me give up. Let's see where I can go from here. Stay tuned."

Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for sparking a national conversation about mental health. Two years ago, he wrote an online essay detailing his struggles with mental health, including having a panic attack during a game. As a result, other athletes and fans began sharing details of their own mental health challenges and sharing resources on how to get help.

"In light of all that's going on in our country today, I accept this award as both an honor and a challenge," he said, looking into the camera. "A challenge to not only continue on my path, but to push beyond it and stay vocal even when silence feels safer."