On Saturday, however, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald garnered positive attention when he was awarded the NFL Players Association Georgetown Lombardi Award at the 27th Annual Lombardi Gala, the proceeds of which benefit the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

This is the second year that Georgetown has partnered with the NFLPA to present the award, which is given to a figure in sports whose life has been affected by cancer and is dedicated to promoting cancer research.

The gala raises approximately one-fourth of the philanthropic funding for Georgetown Lombardi.

The gala, held at the Washington Hilton, was well attended this year, with an estimated 1,000 people buying tickets priced at $500 each, raising approximately $500,000.

“The ability to connect with extraordinary people like [Executive Director of the NFLPA] DeMaurice Smith and theNFLPA gives us greater visibility and brings awareness to our cause,” Louis Weiner, director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, said.

This was Smith’s fourth year as an honorary co-chair of the event.

“Any opportunity we have to bring a little bit of football to something that’s not football is a good thing,” Smith said.

Though Fitzgerald was unable to attend the event in person, he sent a video message to those in attendance, thanking Georgetown Lombardi for the award and sharing his own story.

“In 2003, I lost my mother to a long battle with breast cancer,” he said. “My goal is to eradicate cancer in general just like the hard working men and women at Lombardi cancer center do.”

To accept the award in his place, the NFLPA asked Fitzgerald’s longtime mentor and friend, 2012 Hall of Fame inductee and current ESPN analyst Cris Carter, to attend.

Carter gave an emotional speech about watching Fitzgerald grow up and seeing him deal with the death of his mother.

“To be able to stand here in the place of one of the kids that I mentored is truly one of the highlights of my life,” Carter said. “Ten years ago, I sat in a room and talked to his mother … and on that day in 2003, we made a promise to Carol Fitzgerald that we would take care of her son and look after him no matter what.”

Last year, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, was given the Award.

The guest list was studded with Washington elites, including Justice Antonin Scalia, who said he had attended before.

“It’s a great event,” Scalia, who was with his wife Maureen, told The Hoya. “We look forward to it.”

The black-tie affair included a cocktail reception, a silent auction, a raffle for a 2014 Lexus and a three-course dinner. While the event struck a festive tone, the seriousness of what was behind the event was not far from the guests’ minds.

Former Redskins quarterback Doug Williams also spoke briefly about the importance of new and innovative cancer treatments and research.

“The wonderful thing about this 27th anniversary is that in the short time all of us have been together — nearly 27 years — we have seen light years in what research has been able to do to cure this hideous disease,” Williams said. “Our hope is that we can say this isn’t our parents cancer anymore. This isn’t even our cancer anymore, and for the kids that we love … we want to be able to tell them there used to be something called cancer.”