Video: Top 10 plays of 2015-16See the most incredible high school sports highlights of the year.Zaevion Dobson was a very promising football player at
Fulton (Knoxville, Tenn.). He had 32 tackles and a sack last fall as a 5-foot-10, 205-pound sophomore linebacker for a 10-2 team.
He fell victim to gunfire in December, but his life, heroism and legacy will live forever after it was announced Tuesday that Dobson will receive Arthur Ashe Courage Award at next month's ESPY awards.
Dobson, 15, jumped on top of three girls to shield them from spraying bullets on Dec. 17. The girls escaped unharmed from the drive-by shooting at hands of gang members. Dobson was hit multiple times and perished.
"If it wasn't for Zaevion, if he would have just ran off the porch, we would have probably been shot," Kiara Rucker told
CNN.
Said Fulton football coach Rob Black: "This is a fine, fine young man who is a success story. And I want to try to continue to celebrate the life that he had here and the impact that he made on his peers."
His impact will be heard at the ESPYs. Ashe's award has honored many of the world's most
famous and heroic athletes over the last 23 years, including Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Pat Tillman.
President Barack Obama honored Dobson less than a week after his passing, tweeting: "Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot. He was a hero at 15. What's our excuse for not acting?"
