Current U.S. title holder John Cena has been nominated for the inaugural Sports Humanitarian of the Year Awards, presented by ESPN and PlayStation.
The awards will celebrate and honor athletes, teams, nonprofits and members of the sports industry for using sport to serve communities and make a positive impact on society. The event, which will take place Tuesday, July 14 at the Conga Room at L.A. Live, will be the first of its kind, bringing together the leagues and sporting community to pay tribute to the collective good of sports. Laila Ali will be hosting the ceremony.
The Sports Humanitarian of the Year Award is given to an athlete whose continuous, demonstrated leadership has created a positive impact on their community through sports. The honoree will receive a $75,000 grant (and $25,000 grant for each of the three finalists) from ESPN’s Corporate Citizenship department to advance the impact of the charity related to the award-winning humanitarian efforts.
John Cena is nominated with Anquan Boldin from the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, Tamika Catchings of WNBA’s Indiana Fever, and Henrik Lundqvist from NHL’s New York Rangers. An independent panel of judges selected the finalists.
Meanwhile WWE’s community relations department is also nominated for the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. The winner will receive a $75,000 grant (and $25,000 grant for each of the three finalists) from ESPN to the qualified charity related to the award-winning humanitarian efforts.
WWE is nominated along with the Chicago Bulls, Portland Timbers, and San Francisco 49ers.
