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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." "In deciding to give Michael this honour, while his courageous act of coming out is a part of it, the story is about the life he led growing up," Mandt added. "A man who has consistently lived his life with integrity, is never afraid of living this truth." Cheap Darqueze Dennard Jersey . But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. And how the Jets lost the 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is what had Coach Claude Noel hot after the game. Cheap Mark Walton Jersey . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. http://www.cheapbengalsjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-jeff-driskel-jersey .A. Happ? Happs seven wins are second on the staff to Mark Buehrles 10. Win-loss record is an antiquated stat, sure, but win total is generally an indication of a pitchers ability to work deep into games, enough to be personally affected by the result. Cheap Davontae Harris Jersey . -- The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon as a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement. Cheap KeiVarae Russell Jersey .ca MLB Power Rankings, the third consecutive week that the As have held top spot and the third straight week that they have been one ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.The Detroit Tigers made a huge splash on deadline day, making a deal to acquire David Price from Tampa Bay. Numbers Game looks at the Tigers getting Price, the Mariners getting Austin Jackson and the Rays hoping for the future. The Tigers Get: LHP David Price. Price, 28, is one of the premier pitchers in baseball, ranked fifth in Fan Graphs WAR (21.1 WAR) over the past five seasons. The 2012 Cy Young winner, and 2010 Cy Young runner-up, Price has been good this season, going 11-8 with a 3.11 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with an MLB-leading 189 strikeouts in 170 2/3 IP. While thats a strong season overall, and hes ranked ninth among starting pitchers in the TSN.ca Player Rankings, Price has been sensational over the past couple months, coinciding with the Rays turnaround as a team. Since the beginning of June, a period covering 11 starts, Price has a 1.98 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP, striking out 99 in 86 1/3 IP. Over the past couple seasons, Price has taken complete command of his pitches, cutting his walks per nine dramatically, to the point that hes allowed the fewest walks per nine innings among qualified starters; not bad for the league leader in strikeouts. He is generating more swinging strikes than ever before, with more swinging strikes on pitches outside the zone. Credit his cutter for that. In addition to that, hes been a little unlucky, allowing a career-high .301 batting average on balls in play, with a career-high 11.2% of his flyballs allowed going for home runs. Those rates are not wildly out of line but, as the worst marks of his career, its not unreasonable to expect Price to get some better luck. The short version of all these numbers is that Price is great, a staff ace, and hell lead the Tigers rotation down the stretch and in the postseason. While Price is making $14-million this season, hes arbitration-eligible next year and a free agent the year after. That means the Tigers have stabilized their starting rotation beyond this season. With Max Scherzer set to become a free agent at seasons end and Justin Verlander going through a terrible season, the addition of Price not only thrusts the Tigers into the World Series picture this season, but gives them an ace around which to build next season if Scherzer walks. The Mariners Get: CF Austin Jackson. Jackson is a 27-year-old centre fielder who is an adequate offensive player, a career .277 hitter with a .755 OPS, who is a little below those marks this season, hitting .270 with a .727 OPS. Jackson runs a bit (78 SB on 106 attempts in his career; nine for 13 this year) and was a strong defensive player in his first three seasons, but his numbers are sliding in that respect, posting a career-low Ultimate Zone Rating this season, with no Defensive Runs Saved. In 2011, he had 29 Defensive Runs Saved. Even if the overall production is decent -- and Jackson is ranked 12th among centre fielders in the TSN.ca Player Rankings -- thats more than enough to be an upgrade for the Mariners, who have been playing rookie James Jones, and his .600 OPS, in centre field. For a team harbouring playoff aspirations, and three games out of a playoff spoot currently, Jackson offers a legitimate major league option in centre field.dddddddddddd Individually, Jackson is looking at losing some numbers, most likely, because Safeco Field is often the place where offensive stats go to die, but he can still produce more than Jones. Making $6-million this season, Jackson is arbitration-eligible in the offseason, but isnt producing so much that he should price himself out of range for the Mariners. Jackson is not a thrilling addition for the Mariners, but a solid pro and that gives Seattle a better chance at the playoffs, which they havent reached since 2001. The Rays Get: LHP Drew Smyly, 2B Nick Franklin and SS Willy Adames. Smyly, 25, is a lefty who returned to the Tigers rotation this season after spending 2013 in the bullpen. In 20 games (17 starts), hes 6-9 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, recording 87 strikeouts in 100 1/3 IP. Those are respectable numbers, certainly worthy of a regular turn in a major league rotation, but its also less than encouraging that Smylys average fastball velocity is already down to 89.8 MPH this season, after he was at 91.6 MPH two seasons ago. Fortunately, Smyly has been having success with his curve ball and is throwing it much more frequently as a result. Smyly isnt going to make anyone forget David Price, but hes inexpensive ($520,000 this season) and under team control, so he can fill a spot in the rotation cheaply, allowing the Rays to spend a little more elsewhere. Coming from the Mariners, 23-year-old Nick Franklin has a chance to be a pretty good player for the Rays. A first-round pick in 2009, Franklin has struggled in the majors, hitting .214 with a .649 OPS in 114 career games (hitting .128 with a .363 OPS in 17 games this year), but hes shown, in the minors, that he can hit, putting up a .281 average and .815 OPS, hitting 20 homers and stealing 19 bases, in 178 games at Triple-A. That doesnt guarantee that Franklin will be an everyday player in the bigs -- and theres reason to doubt his future with 21 strikeouts in 47 at-bats with the Mariners this year -- but hes worthwhile prospect to have going forward, potentially as a replacement for Ben Zobrist at second base. Adames is supposed to the prize of this deal for the Rays, as an 18-year-old playing A ball, the youngest player in the Midwest League. Hes hitting .269 with a .774 OPS, posting a dozen triples, in 98 games. Even if he turns out to be a tremendous long-range prospect, its going to be a few years, at least, before Adames is going to be major-league ready, so its going to be a long time before the real payoff for this deal can be judged for Tampa Bay. As it is right now, it doesnt look good, because the Rays gave up an elite starting pitcher and may not have a lot to show for it. For a team that has been playing as well as any over the past six weeks and now sits five out of a playoff spot, it feels like the Rays may have outsmarted themselves this time. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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