Bills training staff, USWNT, Hendriks earn ESPYS

Members of the Buffalo Bills athletic training staff will be honored during the 2023 ESPYS for the life-saving measures performed when safety Damar Hamlin collapsed in January.

Bills athletic trainers who assisted in Hamlin’s treatment will be awarded the Pat Tillman Award for Service, which goes to a group or an individual 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.

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2. The athletic training staff’s quick actions on the field helped resuscitate Hamlin using CPR and an automated external defibrillator before he was taken to an area hospital for further treatment.

Hamlin, 25, announced in April that he has been cleared physically to resume playing, saying the mental journey and roller coaster of emotions has been the “hardest hurdle” in his efforts to return to playing football.

The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, which goes to a deserving person or group in the sporting world who makes a difference far beyond the field of play, will be awarded to the United States women’s national soccer team for its ongoing pursuit of equal pay.

In May 2022, unions for players on the U.S. women’s and men’s national teams approved new collective bargaining agreements with the U.S. Soccer Federation that afford the women’s team equal pay for international competition, including World Cup bonuses. The CBAs went into effect last June and run through 2028.

Since then, the USWNT has continued to leverage its platform to raise awareness around pay inequity and social injustices in the United States.

Chicago White Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Liam Hendriks will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, recognizing Hendricks’ strength and resilience since his diagnosis with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hendriks, who was diagnosed with cancer last December and has donated $100,000 to cancer research throughout his treatment, announced in April that he was “cancer free,” before returning to the mound in May to a standing ovation against the Los Angeles Angels.

The 2023 ESPYS will air July 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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