Cortland, N.Y. -- A Cortland football player who was shot twice outside a Long Island home after intervening in a sexual assault was honored with the 2018 Orange Bowl Courage Award, it was announced Friday.

Kyle Richard chased down an assailant outside as a party was breaking up on July 23 last year, questioned the man and then was shot in the left quad and right hamstring, according to a press release.

The Lakeview, N.Y. native underwent physical therapy and returned to the field that season, when he finished second on the team with 75 tackles, along with 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two fumble recoveries, nine quarterback hurries and two pass breakups. He was named one of five captains of the Cortland football team this fall.

The 6-foot, 230-pound senior linebacker has become an advocate for victims of sexual assault and bystander intervention and has shared his story at a number of awareness events. He was awarded last April the Biden Courage Award for Bystander Intervention, a Next Generation Award from Kristin’s Fund, an Oneida County charity that aims to end domestic violence and a note from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I just want people to believe that it is true: Anybody can be a hero at any given time,” Richard said in a press release. “I believe that my teammates at Cortland would’ve been doing the same thing if they were in the situation that I was in. I want to believe that there are so many people, but the problem is not enough people do it. So just be that hero in somebody’s life. Even if you think of little things, just try to be there for somebody.

“This stuff is happening every day and we need to stop it as a society. And hopefully my generation is the generation that really puts into perspective how much this has to change.”

ESPN wrote a lengthy feature on Richard last month.