How to Watch Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year Show
For the first time in the award's 63-year-history, the handing out of Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year Award will be televised. The ceremony has been condensed to a one-hour special hosted by comedian Joel McHale that will air at 8 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network. The show can be live streamed here.
This year's winners of the Sportsperson of the Year Award are J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans and Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros, two men who have been instrumental in helping the city of Houston recover from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. Both men were in attendance to accept the award and made speeches.
The Sportsperson of the Year isn't the only award that was handed out. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was awarded the Rising Star award, Minnesota Lynx star Maya Moore received the Performer of the Year award, and former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was given the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his activism in combating racial injustice in America.
Embiid, Moore and Kaepernick were all in attendance to accept their awards, and Kaepernick said he plans to continue his work "with or without the NFL's platform."
"I say this as a person who receives credit for using my platform to protest systemic oppression, racialized injustice and and the dire consequences of anti-blackness in America," Kaepernick said at the ceremony, which was at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
"I accept this award not for myself, but on behalf of the people. Because if it were not for my love of the people, I would not have protested. And if it was not for the support from the people, I would not be on this stage today."
Kaepernick's full remarks, which lasted roughly five minutes, can be seen on the broadcast.
Ten-year-old football player/track star Bunchie Young was named SI's Sportskid of the Year. He, too, made a brief speech.
