The guy who started in the mailroom at ESPN and used to drive around Dick Vitale is in line for a big honor.

The official announcement:

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The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced that George Bodenheimer, former ESPN Executive Chairman, and President, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports at the 36th annual Sports Emmy® Awards ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Tuesday, May 5th, 2015.

“The National Academy is awarding this year’s Sports Lifetime Achievement Award to an individual who helped change the landscape of sports broadcasting globally,” said Bob Mauro, President, NATAS. “Working his way up from the mailroom, George Bodenheimer became its longest-tenured President while leading ESPN to an unprecedented period of global growth. His guiding hand in a multiplicity of new networks and platforms has made ESPN synonymous with sports content‘anytime and anywhere.’ The National Academy is delighted to bestow this well-deserved honor to him.”

George Bodenheimer graduated Denison University in 1980 with a degree in Economics. In 1981 he joined the fledgling ESPN as a driver in the mailroom and rose to become a cable industry pioneer and the company’s fifth and longest-tenured President (13 years-1998-2011). Consistent and substantive growth defined Bodenheimer’s tenure as President, leading to unprecedented success. His leadership style was simple but effective: empower all employees to proactively take charge of their careers and to base decisions on the company’s stated mission: “Serve Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.”

During Bodenheimer’s time as President, ESPN grew to:

Eight domestic television networks, up from four.

Nearly 100 million households for ESPN and ESPN2, from 75 and 62 million, respectively.

48 international television networks, from 20.

18 web sites, from one .

7,000 employees worldwide, from 1900.