Michael Sam gives emotional speech after accepting Arthur Ashe Award at ESPYs

On a night designed to offer a light-hearted look at the world of sports over the past 12 months, Michael Sam's emotional speech stole the show.

A teary Sam was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during Wednesday's ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The Ashe Award is given in honor of the former world No. 1 tennis player who died in 1993 from complications of the AIDS virus.

Sam became the NFL's first openly gay player after being selected in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams in the June NFL draft. Sam, who came out in an interview with Sports Illustrated in February, broke down at times as he spoke of Ashe's message - "start where you are, use what you have, do what you can."

"Those have been very meaningful words to me," Sam told the audience. "And the way I see my responsibility at this moment is to stand up for everybody out there who wants nothing more than to be themselves openly."

Sam then shared a story of how he helped a friend's sister, who had considered suicide over sharing her homosexuality with her family.

"When we spoke, she told me that she would never consider hurting herself again, and that somehow my example had helped her," he said through tears. "It's amazing to think (that) by just doing what we can, we can all touch, change and even save lives."

You can watch Sam's entire speech below.