1. Lou Gehrig, July 4, 1939
In Lou Gehrig’s 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, he gained the moniker “Iron Horse” for his consistent performance as a batter and first baseman. Gehrig played on 6 World Series victory teams and was twice voted as the American League MVP.
However, his most famous moment on the field occurred after his playing career came to an abrupt stop when the baseball star was diagnosed with ALS (which came to be known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). The New York Yankees honored Gehrig mere weeks after he quit baseball, on July 4, 1939. When the honours to Gehrig were over, he nearly didn’t make the statement that would become the most legendary address in baseball history.
Overcome with emotion, Gehrig needed to wipe away his tears and speak with Yankee’s manager Joe McCarthy, before he eventually approached the microphone and made a touching statement that started with the words, “For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet now, I consider myself the luckiest guy on the face of the earth.
” While Gehrig was able to stop his tears long enough to thank his fellow players, staff and family, by the time Gehrig closed by saying, “I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for,” tears were flowing freely amongst the players and fans who watched Gehrig’s speech on that July day in Yankee Stadium.
2. Kevin Durant’s 2014 MVP Speech
When Kevin Durant earned the NBA’s highest individual prize in 2014, his impassioned speech soon became one of the most memorable in the sport’s history. Durant, who was overtaken with emotion throughout his speech (even asking at one point, “Why am I crying so much?”), generously thanked just about everyone, causing one site to describe it “a 25-minute love-fest.
” Durant, who claimed he “had so much help” getting to the MVP level, praised his teammates (including competitor Russell Westbrook, to whom he remarked, “I love you. I thank you very much. You make me better”), coaches, staff, and Oklahoma City fans, to whom he said, “I appreciate you very much for loving us.”
However, the most moving aspects of Durant’s speech came when he talked about his family, notably his mom, Wanda Pratt, who raised Durant and his brother as a single mother. Addressing his mum, who was also weeping at that time, he said:
“We wasn’t supposed to be here. You made us believe. You kept us off the street. You placed clothing on our backs, food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You the true MVP.”
As Durant ended his homage to his mother, and closed the speech, he and his mother weren’t the only ones whose cheeks were smeared with tears.
3. David Luiz, 2014 World Cup
Brazil’s defeat against Germany in the semi-final round of the World Cup was what one media source labelled, “the most devastating loss in World Cup history.” Playing on their own field in front of a nation of soccer aficionados anxious for a World Cup triumph on their own grounds, the Brazil squad fell 7-1 to the German team in the greatest defeat ever by a World Cup host country. It was also the first time Brazil had lost a competitive game at home since 1975, and soccer fans around Brazil responded to the terrible setback with surprise, grief, and tears.
Defender David Luiz, who led the Brazil squad for the game in the absence of Thiago Silva, who had been banned, encapsulated his country’s feeling of loss after the overwhelming defeat. Leaving the field in tears, Luiz fought to contain his emotions as he was called aside for an interview. Through his emotions, he admitted that Germany had prepared and performed better and apologized to everyone of Brazil for his team’s disappointing performance, stating, “It’s a very sad day but it’s also a day from which to learn.”
4. Wayne Gretzky Gets Traded, 1988
When Wayne Gretzky was moved from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988, it resonated across the hockey-loving globe. ESPN labels it “the most significant trade in the game’s history.” At least a few of books have even been published on this exchange, including Gretzky’s Tears: Hockey, America, and the Day Everything Changed.
While that title may significantly exaggerate the significance of the transaction, it is evident that Gretzky’s move (as well the preceding trades of Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley, who were both transferred from the Oilers to the Kings) had a lasting influence on the NHL.
When Gretzky, then the brightest star in the NHL, talked about the trade, which he had consented to, he stated he was “disappointed about having to leave Edmonton,” before emotions overpowered him to the point he couldn’t continue his remark. The repercussions from the announcement of the transfer was tremendous. Oilers owner Peter Pocklington got “a lot of death threats” from supporters furious that he had sold the “Great One” to a US club.
(Pocklington’s memoirs is headlined, I’d Trade Him Again: on Gretzky, Politics and the Pursuit of the Perfect Deal, implying he still thinks he made the correct choice.) Canadian lawmakers even examined legislation to keep their sports star north of the border. However, the deal went through, and any remorse Gretzky may have had at the sad news conference was swiftly relieved by his success on the Kings and by the wider interest in hockey that was sparked by his relocation to a US-based club.