Photos: 2008 Phillies
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The Phillies shortstop made the comment yesterday after he was presented with the 2008 John Wanamaker Athletic Award in front of 260 invited guests at a luncheon in the Wanamaker Building's Crystal Tea Room.
The Philadelphia Sports Congress, a division of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, presents the award each year to the athlete, team or organization that has done the most to reflect credit on the city and the team or sport in which they excel.
On the same stage, Villanova football coach Andy Talley received the Philadelphia Sports Congress Community Service Award for his work with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). The award honors those who have done the most to contribute to the quality of life in the city through sports.
Fans nominated Rollins on ballots and online in May.
"For the City of Philadelphia, I'm the most valuable athlete in their eyes," said the 29-year-old Rollins. "For that reason, this is one of those lifetime achievements."
Named the National League's most valuable player last year, Rollins was the first player in major-league history with at least 200 hits, 20 triples, 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in one season. Teammate Ryan Howard was honored last year.
Talley, in his 24th year as the Wildcats' coach, has spent 16 years galvanizing football players to find potential bone-marrow donors. They have tested 3,500 people and entered them in the NMDP registry.
"Bone-marrow transplants in many cases are the only way to save a person's life after they went through chemo and radiation," said Talley, whose wife, Arlene, is a cancer survivor. "It's staggering to know that there is a one-in-a-million chance that a registered donor will be a match for African Americans, Asians and Hispanics."
There is a one-in-80,000 chance that a registered donor will be a match for Caucasians, added Talley, who said he became aware of the problem in 1992 while listening to an oncologist discuss it on the radio.
It occurred to the coach that he could use the 90 football players in his program to find potential donors, fill out forms, and take mouth swabs with Q-tips, a process that takes about a half-hour on Spring Day each April.
Joe Marcoux, a fifth-year senior and kicker on the football team, donated his marrow in 2006. A 53-year-old woman was the beneficiary.
Some 2,600 people between 18 and 61 were tested by players from Villanova and eight other programs enlisted by Talley last year.
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