Takeo Spikes talks to Eric LeGrand before he is honored at the 2012 ESPYs

The ham and cheese on Italian bread. All the ham and cheese on Italian bread. No condiments, nothing. All right, so what would you call that? Make it your own sandwich and what would you call it?

The LeGrande.

LeGrande. The LeGrande or E. G. All right, I'm T. K. O. Spikes for Young Hollywood here at the ESPYs 2012. Here talking to Eric LeGrand. Yo, I'm here with my man Eric LeGrand. Eric, what's going on tonight?

Hey man, I'm just out here trying to inspire a world of people. I'm trying to show them to appreciate everything that they have in life.

You know what, E, we all know that you're up for the Jimmy V Perseverance Award tonight. And we all want to know what inspired you to get through your tragedy? What happened?

You know all the support that I got right away, all the people just pouring letters and everything. That motivated me right away. Then as the story took off, I saw more people fighting for the same battle as me that weren't as fortunate as me. That didn't have as much support. That's what keeps me going every single day. Fighting the battle and trying to lead and get it. I'm trying to get, you know, a cure for this injury.

So how does it feel to be officially signed by Tampa? That's big, man. To be signed by the by the Bucks, man. That's very big. Tell me exactly how you feel. Don't hold nothing back.

Oh, man, I feel great, you know. Always dreamed about going to the NFL, you know, I might not be in the circumstances I want to be in. May not be able to play, but I can say I made it there, you know. And that's why I can look back and tell my grandkids that I was there. First kid ever to be signed in a wheelchair to the NFL Buccaneers and, you know, it's just great to be a part of that organization. Coach Shiano and the whole organization made a great gesture by doing that for me.

Out of all the athletes that you've seen over the 20 years, what athlete in particular inspired you to become the player that you are?

You know, growing up, I always used to watch Terrell Davis. I loved watching him break the ball, and then after that, my man Ray Lewis is the reason why I wear number 52. Because I love to hit people emotionally, just like Ray Lewis, and that's how I like to be on the football field and everything I do in my life.

What is your fresh take on the ESPY Awards compared to the Grammys, the BET Awards? What makes this so special, the ESPYs?

You know, you just got all the athletes out here, you know. People try to look at athletes like, you know, they're just athletes, they're bunch of jocks. But, you know, we put hard work into our craft and what we do out here. And you know, it's great that we get honored with the ESPY Awards out here every single year and get to show our talents and everything that people get to see over the years. And stuff that they don't get to see the background and the work that we put in. So it's great to be out here with all these great athletes and showing the work that we put in in the background, the videos that they made for us.

Uh, you just signed a big deal with Subway, you and Justin Tuck shot some commercials together. Tell us about that. What makes that so special?

You know, I've been eating Subway basically my whole life. And I'm playing, you know. I like a little ham and cheese, no condiments on Italian bread. And as I've been eating that for my whole life, you know, just for them to reach out to me and want to put me a part of them because, you know, I'm training just like every other athlete is out there. I'm just trying to get back on my feet. So for them to look out to me, for them to believe in me, I believe in them. It really means a lot. I'm going to be with Justin Tuck, great guy. So, you know, that's just more, it's more icing on the cake.

The ham and cheese on Italian bread. All the ham and cheese on Italian bread. No condiments, nothing. All right, so what would you call that? Make it your own sandwich and what would you call it?

The LeGrande.

LeGrande. The LeGrande or E. G.

Yeah, I just want to say, man, I appreciate all the hard work you put in. Because the same as people inspired you, you inspire us. Even me to this day. I'm 15 years in. So, I appreciate it, man. Much love, much success. Congratulations on your award tonight.

Thank you, man. That's all I'm trying to do. Inspire a world of people.