In a room filled with some of the most gifted athletes on the planet, a man who no longer can walk, speak, blink his eyes or breathe on his own was singled out as the most courageous among them all.

Former New Orleans Saints safety Steve Gleason on Thursday night officially received his 2024 Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs, the latest on an impressive list of awards that Gleason, who in 2011 was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), has earned.

"This award, the Arthur Ashe Award for courage, is a sublime honor for me," said Gleason, who was accompanied on stage by his son, Rivers, and former Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Gleason was told he would have three years to live upon his initial diagnosis.

"Arthur Ashe exemplified courage as living with an open heart, of humility, kindness and generosity, which united humanity," he said. "So to receive this award is amazing.

"When I learned I was receiving this award, I started reflecting on what that word, 'courage,' means. To be courageous, we must first experience loneliness, unworthiness, or any of the faces of fear.

"I suppose if you have never experienced fear, isolation or suffering, you can roll your sanctified ass right out of here. The truth is, no human is immune from fear or adversity – not even super athletes, royal princes or the most holy saints.

"Considering this truth of our humanity, it's vital that we all, individually and collectively, discover ways to be courageous and love the life we have. My view is that the fears and the adversities that we encounter are our opportunity to accept what is and explore what is on the other side of fear, to grow stronger, better and have peace of mind."

Brees was the official presenter of the award, and his opening speech was followed by a video tribute narrated by actor Anthony Mackie, a native New Orleanian. Brees recently was tabbed as the lone player inductee for the 2024 Saints Hall of Fame class, is a future inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was Gleason's teammate for Gleason's final NFL season, in 2006.

"When I think about Steve as a teammate, and a friend, I think of a guy who has always taken the idea of living to the next level," Brees said. "Steve has always been interested in having a deeper conversation, going on a bigger adventure, finding ways to experience the wonders of the world in every possible way. Always curious to explore both the seen, and the unseen of human emotion and connection.

"That's what made it so devastating when Steve was diagnosed with ALS, a disease with a terminal diagnosis that leaves you a prisoner in your own body. But if you know anything about Steve, you know he has always been determined to write his own story, and live to be 109.

"Through it all, he has never given in, never stopped fighting, No White Flags. And never stopped finding ways to inspire, impact and write his own story."

Since his diagnosis, Gleason has been awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2019 for his contributions to ALS awareness (the first NFL player to receive the award), received the George Halas Award from the Pro Football Writers Association in 2015 and in 2016, been subject of a documentary ("Gleason") which was shown during the Sundance Film Festival, and co-authored a best-selling book, "A Life Impossible," that was released this year and chronicles his life before and after his ALS diagnosis.

Gleason became an iconic figure in Saints history with his blocked punt against Atlanta in 2006, after the Caesars Superdome re-opened and the Saints played their first home game following Hurricane Katrina.

"He's such a beacon of hope," Brees said. "He's such a light in this world. (Gleason said) I'm going to take this death sentence, as some would say, and I'm going to find a way to make the rest of my life even greater and even more purposeful than the first part of my life."