Pat Summitt 2012 ESPYS HD

ladies and gentlemen to present the Arthur Ashe award for courage please welcome Peyton Manning [Music] in sports we can sometimes become too reliant on statistics if you hear too many numbers thrown around over and over again you might stop listening but in this case I hope that you are listening because 1098 wins 16 SCC titles and 8 national championships truly are incredible however they are only a part of why tonight belongs to legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt I first met Pat in 1994 when I was a freshman at the University of Tennessee since then she's been a mentor and a close friend someone I can look up to and someone I can talk to and I know I'm just one of many many people Pat has guided over the years the best leaders in sports leaders like Pat leaders like the great Arthur Ashe are the ones who used their game to teach you something about life that's what Pat has been doing for her players for her friends for her fans for decades and when she got a piece of news that shocked all of us as she and some of the people closest to her are about to tell you Pat Summitt just kept on teaching [Applause] [Music] over so many years so many victories so many lessons challenges and celebrations it can be easy to miss the full story let the record speak for itself Pat Summitt is when his coach and college all history this is the story of a woman whose journey has always been about something other than success it's the story of a farm girl you've used the world as a place you don't just live in but a place your change [Music] we had a dairy farm I just remember milking cows 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. I don't think my grandfather never to deal with my mom he just assumed hey I can just treat her like the boys and that's what she became we were strict on of course he was homo stricter than I was you know it gently goes that way my father he was the one that probably inspired me the most times he challenged me and said I don't know if you'll ever be able to do this and of course that's all I needed here and so when the girl fell in love with a sport for boys she resolved to make it all her own she became the best basketball player in Montgomery County an all-american in college a silver medalist at the Olympics and at age 22 she was named the head coach of the women's basketball team in her home state at the University of Tennessee she was tough on us because we were so close to neighs she had to make sure that that we understood she was the coach and we were the player when I played for her I thought man this lady's crazy she she's crazy and I'd go out the gym going I don't think I can do it Pat said it's a lot easier to start tough and get nicer than it is to start nice and get tougher I didn't mind holding people accountable I knew I had a lot to learn but I also knew that coaching was my passion when she started the n-c-double-a was still eight years away from recognizing women's basketball as a sport that was perfect for Pat it was an opportunity to affect change on the court and way beyond I don't think that she planned to be a pioneer but I think that she was comfortable being the pioneer she didn't smash through glass ceilings she was a glass cutter you know she was sort of a chewy you know at the glass ceiling until she popped out a big oval square we have to have more television exposure that's gonna be significant if we're going to see progress in the next second she has so many obstacles to get him on television to get him recognized to put women's basketball in the forefront the men got a bigger locker room and she's off on us and we got that bigger locker room and so she knew what she was doing and you know she said she set a precedent this is a chance oh hi Tom you can't be afraid to go out and compete and do whatever it takes her determination and her success have never been limited just to the game for Pat Summitt perseverance has always been utterly personal you would understand that if you knew all the turns her life has taken the pain and anguish of six miscarriages the joy when her son was born finally I got Tyler and he was a gift from God [Music] Pat's never shown her struggles just like the miscarriages just like her divorce losing her dad you know whatever Pat deals with she just doesn't show it there's two sides of her they'll see her Pearson and some official they're yelling at one of her players but she knows how to relate to somebody and really be a mom for her players and for me her demands went off the court into that way the kids lived and what they did academically and I think that's why so many of her players I have been very very successful in 38 years as head coach every one of Pat Summitt's players has graduated 74 members of the Lady Vol family have followed her path into coaching countless others touched by a phone call a letter or a conversation coaches there for us as a mentor and I think I always carried around where I'm gonna make her proud and a woman I am today a lot of that is because of coach Pat Summitt for nearly four decades this was the legacy Pat built all the while continuing to look forward she said you know I know there's something more I'm supposed to be doing and I said you don't think changing entire generations of women is enough and she said I just know there's something else I'm supposed to be doing alongside that fire the woman who'd always demanded the best of everyone else was finding herself struggling more and more to maintain her own punishing pace I'd wake up and I would like where am I and you know I thought what's what has happened to me it just seemed like something was wrong she couldn't juggle as many things at one time she wasn't Wonder Woman anymore the diagnosis of early onset Alzheimers came last spring at the Mayo Clinic I think the initial reaction for my mom and me was why is this happening it really seemed unfair for this to happen to her when she's was at the height of her career you know how you have this image of like a superhero and then it's like they kind of have a crack in here their armor and you're kind of like you see like some vulnerability and stuff it's just like you know she's always been the shoulder that everybody else is Adelita [Music] throughout her entire career coach had led the way throughout her entire life she had defied expectations this latest chapter would be no different she would confront Alzheimer's head-on she decided she would keep coaching she told the players this is not a pity party we're not gonna sit here and feel sorry for Pat Summitt there's acreage there to go out and maybe a peer vulnerable a lot of people wanted her to quit and retire go away get out of the public eye to be on public display really while you're fighting this disease was so courageous it amazed everybody for her to be in the spotlight and handle everything the way she had that's just characteristic of how she's done everything all season long she was watched more closely than ever what observers saw was a community she had built rally around her and coach Pat Summitt led her team to a 16th SEC Championship [Music] there was hope she would coach longer but a few weeks later Pat Summitt decided she had led the Tennessee Lady Vols for the final time a vision of grace surrounding her trademark stubbornness about the good things that happen wants to come in the future [Music] she was leaving the game she'd been introduced to as a farm girl a game she had changed forever a game that had been the tapestry of her legacy when you say there's a little piece of Pat you know all through women's basketball I mean I think that's truer than people even realize if I were to pick the three or four coaches that taught the game of basketball the best during my time in coaching Pat Summitt would be one of them her accomplishments transcend statistics her influence is really throughout the game not just Tennessee but though it might be easy to define Pat Summitt by how many games she's won and how many championships she's earned [Music] but it's always been about the players she's led the people she's taught the courage she's shown the journey continues now there's so much more for her to to just know she's gonna Biden and she seems to be doing mighty whale to mania [Applause] the amount of people that this woman has impacted in women's basketball is nothing to what she will impact for the cause of Alzheimer's if I'm not leaving you know by example then I'm I'm not doing the right thing and I want to always do the right thing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you very much [Applause] [Music] 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 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 going to keep on keeping on I promise you that thank you [Applause] [Music] supporter of you salutes Pat Summitt this year's Arthur Ashe award recipient [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Chris Early

Views: 217,163

Rating: 4.9457502 out of 5

Keywords: Pat Summitt, pat, Summitt, 2012 ESPYS, ESPYS, ESPY, ESPY'S, ESPN, Arthur Ashe Award, Lady Vols, Tennessee, Peyton Manning

Id: wmeK-WJklGo

Length: 14min 36sec (876 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 12 2012