Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry was awarded with the Best Comeback Player Award at tonight’s ESPYs after he overcame his bout with Hodgkin lymphoma to return to Pro Bowl form last season, getting back on the field just 10 months after his diagnosis.
While accepting his award, Berry thanked his family, friends and bis brothers for being by his side throughout his battle, and then delivered an inspiring message for all those who are battling the disease.
Via Complex, here’s a small sample of Berry’s emotional speech:
There’s so many people I could thank and give honor to, but I just want to talk to the people that’s out there fighting, whatever they’re fighting. It’s two words that stood out to me throughout the whole process was honor and legacy, which I got from my big bro Ink. You honor the ones that come before you and you leave a legacy for the ones that come behind you.
When you fight something like cancer, you not dealing with a person that looks at where you come from or what’s your background or what race you are or what ethnicity or whatever. Whatever your culture is, it doesn’t care about that. It doesn’t sleep, it doesn’t get tired, so if you make it about yourself, you’re going to fail every time. So you honor the ones that come before you—the Stuart Scotts, the Robin Roberts. You honor those folks by the way you approach it day in and day out, and you attack it. You attack it because if you make it about yourself, you’re going to fall every time. And then you leave a legacy for the ones that come after you—the James Connors, the Brodarius Hamms, the other ones that got diagnosed this past year, even this past day. And you just try to approach it to where somebody can look at your story and look at you and say, ‘Man, you know what? I’m not a victim of circumstance. I’m not a victim of a diagnosis. I can do it if I put my mind to it and I have a wonderful support system.’
So I’m not accepting this award for me. I’m accepting it for all the fighters out there. Regardless of what your circumstance is, regardless of what your diagnosis is, man, just keep pushing. Always remember honor and legacy and you can push through it.
Berry, who also received the the AP Comeback Player of the Year Award this past season, is best-known for tackling opponents, but he truck sticked cancer and hopes to inspire others to do the same in their battles.