Winners made the right choices with passion, too
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert winning the Dr. Freddie Fu Sports Leadership Award.
Colbert recognized injured Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier in the audience in his acceptance speech.
Crosby won the award after leading the Penguins to a second consecutive Stanley Cup. The Penguins became the first franchise to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.
“We didn’t know, to start the year, how we were going to do it, or what it would take, but like always we found a way to win,” Crosby said. “Not only win, but back-to-back championships. Something that hadn’t been done to close to 20 years. In saying that, I know we are not satisfied, and the goal remains the same. To find a way to do it again.”
It was Crosby’s third time winning the award. He won it for the first time in 2006 and again 2007.
“When I was thinking about this event, and the first time I was here, I found myself reflecting on the past 13 years,” the Penguins captain said. “I had mixed emotions. It’s hard to believe it’s been 13 years. I don’t know where the time has gone. But I also couldn’t stop thinking of the great memories I’ve had along away.”
Crosby congratulated all the honorees, mentioning Howard, from St. Thomas, Ontario, was a fellow Canadian.
“Who would have ever thought a small town girl from St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, would have gotten to share the podium with her favorite hockey player, Sidney Crosby?” Howard said in her acceptance speech.
Multiple autographed items and pieces of sports memorabilia were auctioned off throughout the night, with proceeds benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania and other charities.
Stallworth, whose 14year career with the Steelers landed him a Hall of Fame berth, started the John Stallworth Foundation, founded in 1980 and growing to provide more than $490,000 in scholarship money to students at his alma mater, Alabama A&M.
“When you receive an award like this, you start to think about your life and what you’ve done over the course of your life, decisions you’ve made, paths you’ve gone down, ones that you didn’t go down, and choices that you’ve made,” Stallworth said in his acceptance speech.
“When I was doing that, I got to the point where I thought the choices that was the most influential in my life was a choice I didn’t make. It was the choice that the Pittsburgh Steelers made in 1974 to draft a skinny kid from Alabama A&M University to be a part of this organization.”
Stallworth called his time as a Steeler a “14-year adventure,” talking about lessons he had learned over the years and mentioned that helping young people continue their education is a passion for him.
“I saw my friend Dan Rooney, and I observed a lot of traits in him that I wanted to build in me. I saw his desire to leave things better than he found him, and, for all other people concerned. I’m happy to say and proud to say that legacy continues with Art today.”