Angus Brayshaw: 'The absence of football has left a very deep void', Bronwnlow tribute to retiring players - 2024

23 September 2024, Crown Palladium, Melbourne, Australia

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Angus Brayshaw. I'm a retired AFL footballer and I'm here tonight on behalf of the retiring class of 2024. It's certainly not lost to me that I'm making a toast to a group to which I now belong which is a bit awkward but it is an honor to do so nonetheless.

It's been about eight months since I was medically retired and just over a year since I played my last game of AFL so I have a little bit of a head start on the rest of the retirees.

But I'm not going to lie, the absence of football has left a very deep void. Days that were planned to the minute and filled with purpose, need to be replaced. And in time they will be.

Football is all-consuming, no matter how long your career was, how successful it was or even how well you've prepared for the next stage the transition is difficult and there seems no easy way around it

Having said that, I think that it's really important on nights like this to reflect on what we have achieved as a group.

Whether you're Dustin Martin, who, I checked before I came up here, and he's still officially retired. He's won every single award that's available to win. or whether you're a kid like Aiden O'Driscoll (Western Bulldogs), who was a young man who had dreams of doing what Dusty did but unfortunately he was medically retired from concussion in his first preseason.

We the retiring class of 2024 should be incredibly proud. We all hope that we've brought pride and joy to our families, our friends, our loved ones, our teammates. our clubs and also to many fans. We all achieved our dreams to varying degrees, which is a privilege that we should never lose sight of. Equally as important is casting an eye to the future and the truth, surprisingly, is that there is a life after football, which is a relief.

Tom Hawkins played 359 games. He arrived as a kid and leaves the game with several of his own. And although his career may seem like a lifetime, he like the rest of us will soon find out that there is so much more to see and to do, baling hay and mustering cattle. Perhaps? He could be the next John Dutton, TV career after this all.

So yes our careers have ended and there are feelings of sadness, grief, uncertainty anger and anxiety no doubt. But as the planing door closes on us so many others stand ready for us as we transition from this rigid and structured existence into the great unknown.

I sincerely hope that everyone in the retiring class of 2024 finds something that provides them with the passion and the purpose that I derived from playing AFL. So while I'm out at a bit of free advice, it's been 32 weeks of my retirement and that makes me a veteran - so for those watching or here tonight who joined me in retirement I've got a few tips for you.

The first is to keep your friends and family close and be kind to yourself through the ups and downs. It's certainly not going to be easy all the time but the virtues that football has instilled in us will hold us in good stead for what's to come.

The retiring class of 2024 gave so much to the game and will be sorely missed, but the legacy that we have left won't soon be forgotten.

From club captains to premiership heroes, future Hall of Famers and players who gave us moments that we’ll look back on forever. On behalf of the group, I would also like to say a massive thank you to this great game and to all of those who work tirelessly, often without recognition to allow us to go out and do what we we've done.

And most of all a massive thank you to our families and to our loved ones who have sacrificed continuously to help us along our journey. It is my incredible privilege to count myself a member of this group and a true honor to represent and toast them tonight.

So I invite everyone to raise their glasses and join me in toasting the retiring class of 2024

Cheers

Pierre de Coubertin: 'Build this grand and beneficial enterprise', Union of French Societies of Athletic Sports (USFSA) - 1892

25 November 1892, Paris, France

This is an excerpt from a 1992 speech the manuscript of which was recently rediscovered. It sold for $8.8 million making it the most valuable sports memorabilia of all time.

There are some people you call utopians when they tell you that wars are bound to vanish and you are not totally wrong, but others believe that the occasions for wars will eventually disappear and to my mind this is not a utopia. It is clear and obvious that the telegraph, the railway, the telephone, the passionate research in the field of science, congresses, world fairs did more for peace than all the treaties and all the diplomatic conventions. Well, I do hope that athletics will do even more. Those who saw 30,000 people run under the rain to attend a football game will not regard this as an exaggeration. Let us export rowers, runners, fencers: this is the free trade of the future, and the day when it is part of the mores of old Europe the cause for peace will receive a powerful and new support. This is enough to encourage your humble servant to think now of the second half of this program. He hopes you will give him a hand as you have helped him so far, and with you he will be allowed to go on and build this grand and beneficial enterprise, on a basis true to the conditions of modern life: the reinstatement of the Olympic Games.

Bruce McAvaney: 'And then there was Cathy ... and that's the one', Melbourne Press Club Lifetime Achievement Award - 2020

6 March 2020, Crown Palladium, Melbourne, Australia

I might keep these, I think, Dennis. Thank you. Dennis, thank you.

As we saw tonight at the beginning, there's a lot happens with that clip. And we've got a World Cup match that might get 90,000 people at the MCG, on Sunday.

We've got Russia, FINA, Sheikh Mohammed, Casa Semenya, coronavirus, Tokyo 2020, understanding mental health problems, animal welfare.

But I thought tonight I'll talk from the heart and not from the head.

Because those issues are — some of them common sense, and many of them are complex. And they are difficult to work out, even as a sports broadcaster.

I do feel like number 24 in that great race, the lowest saddle cloth possible. Particularly sitting next to Laurie tonight, and the people that have been honoured and the way that I am this evening.

I said to Annie, my wife, about three days ago, what would be appropriate tonight? And she said, "Well, Barrie Cassidy announced his retirement when he got it last year."

Dennis and I have talked a lot about the exit. How do you? And Dennis has done the soft landing — still working in Perth. But as he said to me, "You don't retire the ego." And that's the trick, I guess for all of us.

So a bit from the heart hey? I've got a lot of people that have helped me, from Gordon Bennett and Gary Fenton, through to Lewis Martin and Col Southee. And in between people like David Barham and certainly Josh Kay, who's done so much for all the broadcasters. And he is here tonight. So thank you Josh.

All of those people have made an enormous difference.

In this room I've had some the greatest anxiety that I've ever had in my life. Because this is the Brownlow Medal room. And many years ago things were going a little hairy, about a half an hour before the Brownlow. Our producer at the time, Tracy Damon looked at me and she said, "We're going to be all right. You're hosting."

If only she knew. If only she knew how I was feeling at that moment. But she did. She empowered me. I felt a responsibility. I felt for one minute that I was captain of the Channel 7 team. God, it made me lift and get my act together. So all those Channel 7 people that have helped me over the years, and those broadcasters from Sandy Roberts to Brian Taylor, and in particular, Dennis.

One of the great thrills of my life, and sad in a way, was to be with Dennis with his final AFL call. Remarkable match. When Picken did run into that open goal and the drought did finally end. An amazing day, an incredible experience for both of us to realise that our partnership was ending, and that arguably the greatest voice in football was going to be heard for the last time on an AFL grand final.

Les Carlyon, Harry Gordon, if you're a writer.

Ron Casey, Bill Collins, if you wanted to be a broadcaster. That's the way I grew up living in Adelaide. It was Bill that I wanted to be. I didn't want to call like him. I wanted to be him, to be honest. His clarity, the colour at the same time. Fact and fiction, maybe. His rhythm. His ability not to call a race, but to describe it and to read it and then to bring it home and make the hair on the back of your head stand up.

I was hooked from a very, very young age.

I've worked alongside of lot of ex champions like Robert Otie and Raelene Boyle and Jim Courier, Leigh Matthews, and they've all held my hand and helped me through. I've been fortunate. Opportunities, Seven have provided them and so did Ten. How lucky I've been to be able to speak publicly on those occasions that Dennis talked about. To talk when that ball bounces away from Stevie Milne. To be there when Glenn Boss brings Makybe Diva back, and they just stand there in front of the stand.

To be there when Winx, in the blue and white, walks through the tunnel onto the track for the final time. To be there when Carl Lewis in 1984 put the baton from his left hand to his right hand, and ran alongside Jesse Owens in the same lane, and broke the world record in the 4x100. And then Carl and Ben four years later. And then Michael Johnson's masterpiece in Atlanta. And then El Guerruj who looked like being never and then became the best ever. And then the bloke that was probably the best of them all who morphed into Muhammad Ali in the last 10 metres of the hundred metres. How dare he do that? Usain Bolt.

And then there was Cathy. And that's the one that if I ever had to look over the cliff, that was the one. And she did get away, and she did run well on the back straight. And she did explode like she did in Atlanta. And she did lift when she hit the front and she looked a winner.

And Raylene summed it up beautifully. Relief, she carried us on. How lucky am I? Opportunity. So, so fortunate. Dennis described it perfectly.

If I've got a talent... Just because I feel more comfortable talking to you right now than I did ten minutes ago, that I'm better with the headphones on, than without them on. And if I've left anything, it's, I hope I've helped someone along the way.

I'll finish by quoting something that meant a lot to me and still does us. We're all inspired by words. And when I was young, probably fifty years ago, I read this, that Gatsby believed in the green light. “The orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter. Tomorrow we’ll run faster, stretch out our arms further. And one fine morning... And so we beat on boats against the current. Born back ceaselessly into the past.”

I don't know exactly what it means. But I know what it makes me feel. Thanks everyone.

Nelson Mandela: ‘Sport has the power to change the world’ Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award - 2000

 25 May 2000, Monaco, France

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

I am happy to be with you tonight at the first Laureus World Sports Award. Sport has the power to change the world. [applause] It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.

The heroes standing with me are examples of this power. They are valiant not only in the playing field, but also in the community, both local and international. They are champions and they deserve the world’s recognition.

[Applause]

Together they represent an active, vigorous Hall of Fame. A Hall of Fame that goes out into the world, spreading help, inspiration and hope.

Their legacy will be an international community where the rules of the game are the same for everyone, and behaviour is guided by fair play and good sportsmanship. I ask you now to rise and join me in commending the original inductees into the World Sports Academy Hall of Fame.

[Applause]

It is now my great pleasure to present a very special Laureus award - the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award - given to a world athlete who exemplifies the highest virtue of sport, honour, courage, joy and perseverance. Our first honouree is a man who is both an athlete for the ages and a beacon of hope for the millions.

He began life in poverty and rose to the highest level of fame. To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full.

Ladies and gentlemen

It is my honour to present the inaugural Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award to Edson Arantes do Nascimento or as he is known to world - Pele.

[Applause]

Pele is in Rome tonight to join with other world soccer stars in an international football match for peace.

[PELE]

Thank you very much Mr Mandela. It is a big honour to me to receive this award. And I want to thank also to World Sports Academy for this. Everybody knows I am in Roma. We are here for the peace in the world. Beautiful event, beautiful game. One more time - thank you Mr Mandela , thank you every body for that.

[PELE ends]

[Applause]

Congratulations to the great Pele. You are an enduring model for all athletes. In fact, for all of us, to admire and emulate. Thank you and good evening.

Sachin Tendulkar: '"Sachin, Sachin" which will reverberate in my ears till I stop breathing', farewell speech - 2013

16 November 2013, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India

All my friends. Settle down let me talk, I will get more and more emotional (crowd gets louder as he composes himself). My life, between 22 yards for 24 years, it is hard to believe that that wonderful journey has come to an end, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank people who have played an important role in my life. Also, for the first time in my life I am carrying this list, to remember all the names in case I forget someone. I hope you understand. It's getting a little bit difficult to talk but I will manage.

The most important person in my life, and I have missed him a lot since 1999 when he passed away, my father. Without his guidance, I don't think I would have been standing here in front of you. He gave me freedom at the age of 11, and told me that [I should] chase my dreams, but make sure you do not find shortcuts. The path might be difficult but don't give up, and I have simply followed his instructions. Above all, he told me to be a nice human being, which I will continue to do and try my best. Every time I have done something special [and] showed my bat, it was [for] my father.

My mother, I don't know how she dealt with such a naughty child like me. I was not easy to manage. She must be extremely patient. For a mother, the most important thing is that her child remains safe and healthy and fit. That was what she was most bothered and worried about. She took care of me for the last 24 years that I have played for India, but even before that she started praying for me the day I started playing cricket. She just prayed and prayed and I think her prayers and blessings have given me the strength to go out and perform, so a big thank you to my mother for all the sacrifices.

In my school days, for four years, I stayed with my uncle and aunt because my school was quite far from my home, and they treated me like their son. My aunt, after having had a hard day's play, I would be half asleep and she would be feeding me food so I could go again and play tomorrow. I can't forget these moments. I am like their son and I am glad it has continued to be the same way.

My eldest brother, Nitin, and his family, have always encouraged me. My eldest brother doesn't like to talk much, but the one thing he always told me is that whatever you do, I know you will always give it 100%, and that I have full faith and confidence in you. His encouragement meant a lot to me. My sister, Savita, and her family, was no different. The first cricket bat of my life was presented to me by my sister. It was a Kashmir willow bat. But that is where the journey began. She is one of those many who still continue to fast when I bat, so thank you very much.

Ajit, my brother, now what do I talk about him? I don't know. We have lived this dream together. He was the one who sacrificed his career for my cricket. He spotted the spark in me. And it all started from the age of 11 when he took me to Archrekar sir, my coach, and from there on my life changed. You will find this hard to believe but even last night he called to discuss my dismissal, knowing that there was a remote chance of batting again, but just the habit we have developed, the rapport we have developed, since my birth, has continued and it will continue. Maybe when I'm not playing cricket we will still be discussing technique.

Various things we agreed upon, my technique, and so many technical things which I didn't agree with him, we have had arguments and disagreements, but when I look back at all these things in my life, I would have been a lesser cricketer.

The most beautiful thing happened to me in 1990 when I met my wife, Anjali. Those were special years and it has continued and will always continue that way. I know Anjali, being a doctor; there was a wonderful career in front of her. When we decided to have a family, Anjali took the initiative to step back and say that 'you continue with your cricket and I will take the responsibility of the family'.

Without that, I don't think I would have been able to play cricket freely and without stress. Thanks for bearing with all my fuss and all my frustrations, and all sorts of rubbish that I have spoken. Thanks for bearing with me and always staying by my side through all the ups and downs. You are the best partnership I've had in my life.

Then, the two precious diamonds of my life, Sara and Arjun. They have already grown up. My daughter is 16, my son is 14. Time has flown by. I wanted to spend so much time with them on special occasions like their birthdays, their annual days, their sports day, going on holidays, whatever. I have missed out on all those things. Thanks for your understanding. Both of you have been so, so special to me you cannot imagine. I promise you [that] for 14 and 16 years I have not spent enough time with both of you, but the next 16 years or even beyond that, everything is for you.

My in-laws, Anand Mehta and Annabel, both have been so, so supportive [and] loving and caring. I have discussed on various things in life, generally with them, and have taken their advice. You know, it's so important to have a strong family who is always with you and who are guiding you. Before you start clapping, the most important thing they did was allowing me to marry Anjali, so thank you very much.

In the last 24 years that I have played for India I have made new friends, and before that I have had friends from my childhood. They have all had a terrific contribution. As and when I have called them to come and bowl to me at the nets, they have left their work aside to come and help me. Be it joining me on holidays and having discussions with me on cricket, or how I was a little stressed and wanting to find a solution so I can perform better.

All those moments my friends were with me. Even for when I was injured, I would wake up in the morning because I couldn't sleep and thought that my career was over because of injuries, that is when my friends have woken up at 3 o'clock in the morning to drive with me and make me believe that my career was not over. Life would be incomplete without all those friends. Thanks for being there for me.

My cricket career started when I was 11. The turning point of my career was when my brother (Ajit) took me to Achrekar sir. I was extremely delighted to see him up in the stands. Normally he sits in front of the television and he watches all the games that I play. When I was 11/12, those were the days when I used to hop back on his scooter and play a couple of practice matches a day. The first half the innings I would be batting at Shivaji Park, the second half, at some other match in Azad Maidan. He would take me all over Mumbai to make sure I got match practice.

On a lighter note, in the last 29 years, sir has never ever said 'well played' to me because he thought I would get complacent and I would stop working hard. Maybe he can push his luck and wish me now, well done on my career, because there are no more matches, sir, in my life. I will be witnessing cricket, and cricket will always stay in my heart, but you have had an immense contribution in my life, so thank you very much.

My cricket for Mumbai started right here on this ground, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), which is so dear to me. I remember landing from New Zealand at four o'clock in the morning, and turning up for a game here at eight o'clock just because I wanted to be a part of Mumbai cricket, and not that somebody forced me. That was for the love of Mumbai cricket, and thank you very much. The president is here so thank you very much, along with your team, for taking care of me and looking after my cricket.

The dream was obviously to play for India, and that is where my association with BCCI started. BCCI was fantastic, right from my debut they believed in my ability and selecting me into the squad at the age of 16 was a big step, so thanks to all the selectors for having faith in me and the BCCI for giving me the freedom to express myself out in the middle. Things would have been different if you had not been behind me, and I really appreciate your support. Especially when I was injured, you were right with me and making sure that all the treatments were taken care of, and that I got fit and fine and playing [right] back for India.

The journey has been special, the last 24 years, I have played with many senior cricketers, and even before that there were many senior cricketers with whom I watched on television. They inspired me to play cricket, and to play in the right way. Thanks to all those senior cricketers, and unfortunately I have not been able to play with them, but I have high regards for all their achievements and all their contributions.

We see it on the mega-screen, Rahul, Laxman, Sourav, and Anil, who is not here, and my team-mates right here in front me. You are like my family away from home. I have had some wonderful times with you. It is going to be difficult to not be part of the dressing room, sharing those special moments. All the coaches for their guidance, it has been special for me. I know when MS Dhoni presented me the 200th Test match cap on Day One morning. I had a brief message for the team. I would like to repeat that. I just feel that all of us are so, so fortunate and proud to be part of the Indian cricket team and serving the nation.

Knowing all of you guys, I know you will continue to serve the nation in the right spirit and right values. I believe we have been the lucky ones to be chosen by the Almighty to serve this sport. Each generation gets this opportunity to take care of this sport and serve it to the best of our ability. I have full faith in you to continue to serve the nation in the right spirit and to the best of your ability, to bring all the laurels to the country. All the very best.

I would be failing in my duties if I did not thank all the doctors, the physios, the trainers, who have put this difficult body together to go back on the field and be able to play. The amount of injuries that I have had in my career, I don't know how you have managed to keep me fit, but without your special efforts, it would never have happened. The doctors have met me at weird hours. I mean I have called them from Mumbai to Chennai, Mumbai to Delhi, I mean wherever. They have just taken the next flight and left their work and families to be with me, which has allowed me to play. So a big thank you to all three of you for keeping me in good shape.

My dear friend, late Mark Mascarenhas, my first manager. We unfortunately lost him in a car accident in 2001, but he was such a well-wisher of cricket, my cricket, and especially Indian cricket. He was so passionate. He understood what it takes to represent a nation and gave me all the space to go out and express myself, and never pressurised me to do this ad or promotion or whatever the sponsors demanded. He took care of that and today I miss him, so thank you Mark for all your contribution.

My current management team, WSG, for repeating what Mark has done, because when I signed the contract I exactly told them what I want from them, and what it requires to represent me. They have done that and respected that.

Someone who has worked closely with me for 14 years is my manager, Vinod Nayudu. He is more like my family and all the sacrifices, spending time away from his family for my work, has been special, so big thank you to his family as well for giving up so much time for my work with Vinod.

In my school days, when I performed well, the media backed me a lot. They continue to do that till this morning. Thank you so much to the media for supporting and appreciating my performances. It surely had a positive effect on me. Thank you so much to all the photographers as well for those wonderfully captured moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life, so a big thank you to all the photographers.

I know my speech is getting a bit too long (crowd roars with 'noooo'), but this is the last thing I want to say. I want to thank all the people here who have flown in from various parts of the world, and have supported me endlessly, whether I scored a 0 or a 100-plus. Your support was so dear to me and meant a lot to me. Whatever you have done for me.

I know I have met so many guys who have fasted for me, prayed for me, done so much for me. Without that life wouldn't have been like this for me. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and also say that time has flown by rather quickly, but the memories you have left with me will always be with me forever and ever, especially "Sachin, Sachin" which will reverberate in my ears till I stop breathing. Thank you very much. If I have missed out on saying something, I hope you understand. Goodbye.

Andre Agassi: 'It’s no accident that tennis uses the language of life', International Tennis Hall of Fame - 2011

9 July 2011, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, Rhode Island, USA

I’ve stood at this podium twice before. Once was to introduce my beautiful wife, Stephanie Graf. I was so much more comfortable that day because I felt the recipient to be far more worthy. The second time was in my father’s imagination (laughter), in his mind’s eye. From the day I was born, my father Mike saw this day in my future and described it to me many times.

So my feeling of déjà vu right now almost rivals my feeling of gratitude. Almost.

You know, not long ago I was giving a talk in my home town of Las Vegas, and after I spoke there was this answer and question period. The first hand up, first questions out of the box, was a man in the front row. You could see in this man’s face that he was really struggling with something. He took the microphone, stood up and asked, “How do you know when to stop telling your kids what to do?” The questioner was my father.

I was caught off guard that night. I didn’t know what to say. I don’t remember what I did say. But the answer has come to me now so clearly. Dad, when I was five, you told me to win Wimbledon; when I was seven, you told me to win all of the four Grand Slams; and more times that I can remember you told me to get into the Hall of Fame. And when I was 29, I don’t know if you remember this, you told me to marry Steffi Graf. Best order you ever gave me. So Dad, please don’t ever stop telling me what to do.

If we’re lucky in life, we get a handful of moments when we don’t have to wonder if we made a parent proud. We don’t have to ask them; we just know. I want to thank tennis for giving me one of those moments today. It’s one of the many things for which I need to thank this sport.

I look at Simone and the thousands of young people she represents at Agassi Prep, and I say under my breath, “thank you, tennis.” I look at my wife and my children who I live for, and I say, “thank you, tennis.” I look to the future, my efforts to build high performing charter schools in inner cities across the U.S., schools that will impact tens of thousands of Simones, and I say, “thank you, tennis, for making that possible.

I fell in love with tennis far too late in my life, but the reason that I have everything that I hold dear is because of how much tennis has loved me back. I’m thrilled, humbled, quite terrified to be honest to stand in front of you right now. I’ve felt vulnerable on the tennis court many times but not quite like today. I’ve grown up in front of you. You’ve seen my highs, my lows. We’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together. But what is so clear to me standing here today is that you have given me compassion, understanding, love, more than I expected, many times more than I deserved.

Tennis has not only given me much, it has taught me much. It’s no accident that tennis uses the language of life, service, advantage, break, fault, love; the lessons of tennis are the lessons of maturity. In tennis you prepare and you prepare, and then one day your preparation seems futile; nothing is working, and the other guy has got your number cold. So you improvise. In tennis you learn what I do instantly affects what you do and vice versa. Tennis makes you perceptive, proactive, reactive all at the same time. Tennis teaches you the subtlety of human interaction, the curse and blessing of cause and effect.

After you play tennis for a living, you never forget that we are all connected, and there’s nothing quite like a tiebreak that teaches you the concept of high risk, high reward. Tennis teaches you there’s no such thing as perfect. You want to be perfect, you hope to be perfect, then you’re out there and you’re far less than perfect. And you realize, I don’t really have to be perfect today, I just have to be better than one person. It’s true. All you club players remember that, okay?

Tennis is a lonely sport, probably the most lonely. You’re out there with no team, no coach and no place to hide. That’s why tennis players not only talk to themselves but answer. And yet all that loneliness eventually teaches you to stand alone. The high standards that tennis imposes on us, the self reliance it demands of us, that’s the reason why tennis has produced so many of life’s great game changers.

One of the landmarks of our sport, our National Tennis Center in New York, is home to the Arthur Ashe Stadium. What courage Arthur showed; how fair he was while being treated so unfairly. Once Arthur grabbed hold of a truth, he was unwilling, not capable, of letting go. Tennis gave us that man. He was and is a treasure, not just for America but for the whole world, for those who have yet to be born.

The tennis center itself is the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center named after one of my personal heroes. Think of the seismic transformation Billie caused in society. Our wives, daughters, mothers, have more than a hope for equality; they have a mandated claim on it because of Billie. She did so much more than just inspire women; she changed the way men and women think about men and women, the way we all think about equality. She woke us up. Tennis gave us Billie, and tennis today is giving me the chance to say, “thank you, Billie.”

Tennis gave me all my personal teachers that I owe a debt I can never repay. They lifted me up and carried me across many finish lines, sometimes literally. My dad Mike and my mom Betty; my big brother Phil; my friend, protector and trainer Gil Reyes; my coaches, Nick Bollettieri, Darren Cahill, Brad Gilbert; and the person who means more to me than words can express, the woman who still takes my breath away every day, Stephanie Graf.

Each one of them deserves a separate Hall of Fame speech, but of course there isn’t time. So I’ve written a letter to each one of them, intimate letters, love letters, but they’re not private. I want the world to know how I feel, so I’m putting them on my foundation’s website where I hope they’ll serve as a permanent public tribute to those who made this day a reality. They’re the ones who made possible the highlights. They’re the reasons I am blessed with magical memories that help me sleep, sometimes keep me awake.

Because of my father I have the memory of the ’92 Wimbledon and the ’96 Olympics and some thrilling Davis Cups. Because of Gil I have the memory of the ’99 French Open, his ear to ear smile in the fifth set when we both thought my tank was empty but there was a few drops of fuel left. Because of Stephanie and my children, Jaden and Jaz, there was that day of my retirement in 2006 when I got to walk away from the sport on my own terms. They were there for me that day ready to embrace the future, whatever that might be. These are my people, and these memories are seared in my mind forever.

One of the most influential people in my life I met only one time. It was the most vulnerable time, a time that I needed direction and inspiration, and just then, there I was, shaking hands with Nelson Mandela. He took my hand, complimented my game, and in the same breath told me the reason why we have been put here on earth. I can still close my eyes and hear his words of wisdom from that evening. He said, “We must be careful in our decisions, careful in our words, and we must be careful in our relationships. Andre, we must live our life carefully.” Once you hear those words from Nelson Mandela, you can never un hear them.

I didn’t always live carefully. I didn’t always pay tennis the respect it deserved. I thought it was my career that was creating my angst, that tennis was the cause of my internal tension and disconnect. I didn’t know myself, and I didn’t recognize that my troubles were of my own making and that I and only I could solve them.

Only after being broken, another tennis term, did I realize I wasn’t being careful. But you know, rock bottom is an interesting place. I moved in and spent some time there. It’s actually not a bad place. It’s a place where you get to ask, who do I want to be; am I ready to take ownership of my life. For me, ownership meant growing up, focusing every day on being just one day better. Ownership meant not only embracing tennis but celebrating it. Ownership meant going back to the Challenger circuit, feeling honored to be my own ballboy, feeling privileged to flip my own scorecard. Ownership meant feeling grateful for being and having the chance to start over. Climbing out of that hole that I had dug for myself, that’s when I started choosing to believe that each of us have a plan for our life, a purpose to fulfill, a body of work to create, a reason to be.

I committed to taking care of myself and taking care of my tennis. Going from a ranking of 141 in the world back to No. 1 was not an accomplishment; it was the reflection of an accomplishment. It was the symptom of good choices; it was the result of being careful.

The highlights I experienced taught me what is possible. The hard times reinforce the consequences of me not being true to my character, of not living up to my expectations.These things have coalesced inside of me into a kind of code, a personal mission statement I believe we have a responsibility to each other, a responsibility to create more than we consume, a responsibility to build things that will outlast us, a responsibility to find our own limits and push through them.

Even when life’s challenges weigh us down, make us unrecognizable to ourselves, we can always begin again. There’s always time to thrive. It’s not too late to be inspired. It’s not too late to change. It’s not too late.

This honor today leaves me deeply humbled but also makes me think of others who don’t get their due: Teachers, nurses, caregivers, struggling parents, all the people who do the right thing who win their own private Grand Slams. They know already. They know already what took me decades to figure out: That we are here to do good quietly, to shine in secret, to give when there’s no crowd applauding, to give of ourselves to someone who can offer us nothing.

Tennis gave me the chance to meet so many of these people, to travel the world and visit places where the human spirit shines brightest because life is darkest. Tennis taught me that the needs of this world are great but they are no match, nor will they ever be a match, for the human spirit.

So thank you, tennis, for my life. Thank you, tennis, for my wife. And thank you, tennis, for enabling me to find my life’s work.

In closing, to my son Jaden, my daughter Jaz, and every young person listening to my voice, the world that we’re leaving you is not the world we wish for you. You need to make that world, to go places we’ve never been, to succeed in ways we’ve never dreamed. Mandela said to me, “There is difficulty in all human journeys, but there is no ability in just being a journeyer.” From him I learned every journey is epic, every journey is important, every journey begins today.

At the beginning of my journey, my friend Gil said to me, “Andre, you have dreams and I have strong shoulders, so stand on my shoulders and reach.” To my children, to all of our children, stand on our shoulders, reach higher than we could, reach for your dreams, because today standing here receiving this honor, I am living proof that no dream, no journey is impossible.

Thank you.

Pat Summit: 'You win in life with people', Arthur Ashe Courage Award, ESPYs - 2012

video from 13.08. The eight times NCAA championship winning basketball coach was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2011.

11 July, 2012, Nokia Theatre, LA, USA

Thank you very much.

I've always said, you win in life with people. And i have been so blessed to have great people in my life. My son Tyler and I appreciate all of your support and during this time, that's the next challenge for me and Tyler. And it is time to fight, as I ask all of you to join with me together. So we will win. And I can tell you, tonight, I am deeply touched, as all of you heard my story, I'm gonna keep on keeping on. I promise you that.