The newest addition to the St. Louis Rams, Michael Sam, has won an award from ESPN. The football player gave an emotional and heartfelt speech after receiving the award.

On Wednesday, the ESPN's ESPY Awards were held at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, according to the Washington Post, and among the many athletes honored was the former University of Missouri defensive end. Sam was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Sam earned this award after coming out of the closet and announcing he is gay before the NFL Draft. This led to him being picked last during the draft.

According to ESPN, the Ashe Courage Award is given to "individuals who have shown strength in the face of adversity and stood up for their beliefs." The website goes further to explain how Sam's coming out "challenged stereotypes and fostered discussions about locker-room culture, tolerance and bigotry in sports and society."

He received the award from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and subsequently gave an emotional speech in which he reminisced on the moment and the past couple of months, according to ABC.

"This year I have a lot of experience being part of something a lot bigger than myself. At times I've felt like I've been living in a massive storm, and I know the storm will end. I'm here tonight to tell you that the lessons I learned about love, respect, and being true to yourself will never leave me," he said.

He also reflected on the man whom the award was named after, Arthur Ashe, a tennis player who was infected with HIV via blood transfusion, according to ESPN, and died in 1993.

"The late great Arthur Ashe wasn't just courageous, he was brilliant too ... [H]e once put all the wisdom in the world into three great sentences: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Those are words to live by whether you're black or white, young or old, straight or gay," Sam said.

Watch the full speech: