His wife Pat and sister Amy were at his side and communicated earlier he passed peacefully after a brief illness, his longtime ESPN colleague Chris Mortensen tweeted. He suffered an eye injury while trying to catch a pass at a New York Jets mini-camp, necessitating surgery that put him out of work for a few months. "That's what I love about him," says Kolber. ESPNU anchor . Stephen Smith Murder: Murdaugh Hit-And-Run Case Update They took us to the moon and left the rest of us to fly the space shuttle.". Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Six months later, the lingering effects of the injury were evident whenever I made a mistake during our broadcast by mixing up names or getting the score wrongthe kind of simple errors that guys whove been on TV for a few decades arent supposed to make. Radio reporter Jeff Dickerson, a beloved and respected figure on the Chicago sports scene, died Tuesday at age 43 after a bout with cancer Former Detroit news anchor dies after getting COVID-19 vaccine, husband Jeff Dickerson, a longtime Chicago Bears reporter for ESPN - Yahoo! NBA and Men's College Basketball Analyst. A fast and unbiased roundup of whats happening in the world today. He defied convention and criticism to help bring this network into a new century. But as Stuart's star rose, so did the vitriol of those who resented his color, or his hip-hop style, or his generation. He was a natural morphing between an anchor on SportsCenter to doing play-by-play on a variety of sports, including college football, college basketball, and the NHL. Stuart said, 'I got it.' The Tragic Drowning Death of Original ESPN SportsCenter - Sportscasting Patrick remembers an epic basketball game at the YMCA. And he took Nicholas aside and just sat down with him and described his moving away as a kid, losing his best friend as a 10-year-old boy and how he handled it. She also asked that donations be made to a scholarship fund in his name set up by Aschoff's alma mater, the University of Floridas School of Journalism and Communications, to help aspiring journalists. Stuart Scott, a longtime anchor at ESPN, died at the age of 49. He was 67. Pedro Gomez, longtime reporter for ESPN, dies at 58 Stuart Scott, ESPN anchor, dies at age of 49 I wanted to provide an update about Edwards passing that may help people in processing it and making a little more sense of what happened. I found him to be one of the few people in this business who is actually much nicer off TV than he is on. He was 61. I will miss him deeply. Sports reporter dies covering World Cup as brother claims he was killed He was 67. After graduating in 1987 with a degree in speech communication, Stuart was hired by WPDE-TV in Florence, South Carolina. In announcing the findings of a post-mortem lung biopsy, fiancee Katy Berteau said Wednesday: He would have wanted everyone to know that something way bigger than pneumonia took him down., Both pneumonia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma can trigger HLH in the body, and that is seemingly what happened with Edward, she said. We use cookies. In 1978, Mees moved to Tallahassee, Florida, and simultaneously moved to another medium. Alex Flanagan: (1998-2006), now a reporter for the NFL Network and NBC Sports; Peter Gammons: (1990-2009), MLB reporter for ESPN, now in same capacity for the MLB Network; Hank Goldberg: (1993-2022) Miami-based bureau reporter; died on July 4, 2022; Pedro Gomez: (2003-2021) West Coast based reporter; died on February 7, 2021 Stuart and I were both patriotic, but this took it to a whole new level of respect for what our men and women in uniform go through. Then along came the Apollo astronauts, like Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick, Rich Eisen and Stuart. "I mean his girls mean everything to him. Clayton, a native of Braddock, Pennsylvania, began his career in 1972 as a teenager covering the Pittsburgh Steelers in a season that included the "Immaculate Reception.'' Tom Mees was one of the ESPN originals. Here's everything we know, The paths of KD and Kyrie: How one month changed three franchises and two superstar legacies, From bubble struggles to NCAA seed improvement, why these final weekend games matter, Foden's return to form helps mask De Bruyne's troubles, Nelson sends Arsenal into euphoria with last-gasp winner over Bournemouth. On that day Mees wife Michelle, was alerted to the situation by one of her daughters. Longtime NFL journalist John Clayton died Friday following a short illness. When Keith Olbermann graduated from "SportsNight" to ESPN's "SportsCenter," Stuart took his place in the anchor chair. It didn't hit me until that moment that this guy was making an impact.". Twenty years ago, Stu helped usher in a new way to talk about our favorite teams and the day's best plays. Eisen, now the lead anchor for the NFL Network, says, "Who would have thought the perfect guy for me, a Jewish kid from Staten Island, would be an African-American guy with North Carolina roots? A phenomenal man. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list, Wilbon: Scott changed the language of sports, Scoop Jackson: Scott won by remaining true, Stuart accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, Senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. "We are very sorry to have to share the devastating news of the tragi "JD was one of the most. ESPN college football reporter Edward Aschoff dies at 34 "We will all miss your words and brilliance @JohnClaytonNFL #RIPJohnClayton," Wilson wrote in a tweet, as he and former colleagues and friends of Clayton took to social media Friday night to offer remembrances. Grant Wahl, the American soccer reporter who collapsed and died while covering the World Cup in Qatar last week, died of an aortic aneurysm that ruptured, his wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, said. College Basketball Analyst, SEC Network. A cop gives us the coordinates for the afterparty, and now we're walking to 33rd and 10th Avenue Stuart walking down the street was like Elvis entering the building. "I have friends who have no idea what that movie is about," Stuart told him. "The PFWA mourns the passing of John Clayton," the organization said in a statement. "I will miss Stuart Scott. ", "I've called him Boo-Yah forever," says Norby Williamson, the ESPN senior vice president who helped guide Stuart during those early years. He was a terrific journalist, producer, friend, husband and father. When she arrived next door, she discovered her husband lying on the bottom of the pool. The two were set to be married in April. "The Saturday night before the NBA All-Star Game in New York City. Since that night, "You beat cancer by how you live" has become a rallying cry for millions of patients and their families. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell honored Clayton as a "wonderful person" who "earned my tremendous respect and admiration as a journalist. What happened next to Mees was something that hadnt ever happened to another sports reporter in the history of broadcast television. It's this ineffable way Stuart had of welcoming you to the party, bringing you into his confidence, making sure you were having a good time. Oh what a trail they blazed. Bill Shields, the longtime WBZ-TV reporter who graced New England viewers' screens for decades, died Saturday morning at age 70 following a years-long battle with cancer, the TV station confirmed. She was 93. As SportsCenter approaches its 50,000th episode, Chris Berman honors the memory of former SC colleague Tom Mees http://t.co/povJ9ztJ. Former ESPN NFL Reporter John Clayton Dies at 67 John Madden, Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster, dies at 85, Rush Limbaugh, voice of American conservatism, has died. We'd be waiting for a game to end, and he'd close his eyes. He was just one of the first guys to say, 'Hey, I'm going to play golf, wanna come with me? Joe Valerio, who produced The Sports Reporters for nearly three decades, has died at the age of 71, from cancer. A former Detroit news anchor died just one day after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to reports. She served in the Mexican Senate in addition to her career as an entertainer. He had been ill since last month with what was initially diagnosed as pneumonia, but by the time of his passing had begun receiving treatment for an immune disorder, according to his fiancee. 25 views, 1 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from West cameroon state news: She die for lack of care in the Buea general hospital. Clayton's appearance included a spot where he appeared as he would on SportsCenter, in a coat and tie, before he tore both off to reveal a Slayer T-shirt, let down his long hair, jumped on a bed and shouted, "Hey ma, I'm done with my segment.''. He reached ESPN in 1995, and covered football in print, TV and radio until 2017. Berteau had written in a Twitter thread last month that Aschoff was admitted to the hospital a week after being diagnosed with multifocal pneumonia. He was 67. Tim Rosaforte dies: Golf Channel, NBC Sports insider had Alzheimer's Bill Shields, longtime WBZ reporter, dies at 70 - masslive.com Over time, as the network adjusted its coverage, Mees found himself working in different capacities. Learning the new information seemed to bring some comfort to Berteau. "The number of NFL execs and coaches that I've heard from have expressed an overwhelming theme of great respect and a sense of deep loss and shock,'' said Mortensen. Fellow anchor Chris Berman remembered Mees years later as ESPN celebrated its 50,000th SportsCenter. John Clayton, N.F.L. Reporter Best Known for His ESPN Work, Dies at 67 2:29. He was 34 . CNN notes many had expressed surprise that Aschoff, who was young and seemingly in good health, would die of pneumonia, and Berteau adds, "I also wanted to provide this update because he would have wanted everyone to know that something way bigger than pneumonia took him down." For years, he and Rich Eisen would do just that on the 1 a.m. "SportsCenter," a show that made its way to the next day's water cooler thanks to their chemistry -- and repeated viewings. Her death was announced on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 by The Associated Press. While he covered the NFL for his entire career, Clayton was also well-known for his appearance on a This Is SportsCenter commercial, where he appeared with long hair and expressing a love for heavy metal music. 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'', "Long before he became an ESPN icon, John might have been the best news-breaking team beat reporter of his generation, the type who could sit on a story for months and then break it before others had any clue what was going on,'' said The Athletic's Mike Sando, a longtime friend of Clayton's. "He stuck out his hand and said, 'One day I look forward to working with you,'" Berman said. Over the years, he entertained us, and in the end, he inspired us -- with courage and love. Their efforts were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead. ESPN knew enough to have sportscasters who represented 45 million Americans, not to mention 80 percent of the players in the NBA and 70 percent of those in the NFL. He was 49 years old. It was the Wild West of sports coverage. is that GOD? When Tom Mees arrived at ESPN, there wasnt a template. "He literally never said no to a show that asked him to come on -- from 6 a.m. to midnight, if you asked for the Professor, he was there for you. Medical personnel arrived and tried to resuscitate Mees en route to the local hospital. There werent any examples to follow. He spoke to the very athletes he was talking about with a flair and a style that ESPN president John Skipper says, "changed everything. His plan B was the next best thing to playing sports, and that was covering them. Recalls Eisen: "He would write down the catchphrases on the specific portion of the highlight, so I would watch him do this, and it wasn't 'Boo-Yah,' it was 'Boo-Yow.' Former ESPN reporter John Clayton dies after brief illness - Boston.com Clayton began his career at the Pittsburgh Press covering the Steelers, before moving to Seattle to cover the Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune in the mid 1980s. Bob Neumeier, longtime Boston sports reporter, dies LOS ANGELES ESPN reporter Ed Aschoff, who covered the Southeastern Conference college sports for the network, died Tuesday after a battle of pneumonia. That's partly why he starred in so many "This is 'SportsCenter'" commercials, alongside Tiger, Kobe, Keyshawn, LeBron, Mr. Met and Chad Johnson, who rejected Stuart's idea for a touchdown celebration with "Boo-No! Smith, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., studied at Jackson State University and began his career at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. "John was a pioneer as an NFL insider but also one of the kindest men you could ever work with,'' said Seth Markman, vice president and executive producer at ESPN. 5/29/89 ESPN coverage, lead by @cbfowler and the late, great John Saunders, of Phillies 3B Mike Schmidt hanging them up after 18 seasons. She is publicly vocal but equally powerful. That wasn't the Stuart Scott that I worked with for so many years. So while the grief is deep at ESPN over the death of Stuart Scott, so is our gratitude. What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? Unbeknownst to us, Edward had stage 4, non-Hodgkins lymphoma in his lungs. Our friendship was special.. He then attended Duquesne University and was hired by the Pittsburgh Press when he was a senior at Duquesne. ESPN hired Clayton in 1995 as a jack-of-all-trades for its NFL coverage. Longtime ESPN NFL reporter John Clayton has died at age 67 - New York Post NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? "But he was the best-dressed guy on the course.". Once I finally looked over the edge, I saw a drop of about 140 feet, equivalent to a 14-story skyscraper. Once he returned to ESPN, Saunders struggled at times. He ran out of gas on his way home from school on July 8, 2015. You're having trouble sleeping. #MLB #Baseball #sports #retire #retirement #Philadelphia #Phillies #Pennsylvania #ESPN #canada #toronto #ontario @PhilliesNation pic.twitter.com/1N4WeyR0mp. His ability never slipped, and the audience at home couldn't tell what Stuart was dealing with. '', Clayton received the profession's highest honor, now known as the Bill Nunn Memorial Award, in 2007. He was only the second former NFL player to own a team. And he sat there for my kid. And one of his best moments off the air came when a producer suggested he change a reference on his NBA show from Omega Psi Phi, the fraternity of Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal, to something more universal, like Animal House. Among the features of the new ESPN studio in Bristol is a wall of catchphrases made famous by on-air talent over the . brotha I was sold when he won 6-NBA rings He spent the next six months in therapy relearning how to walk, talk, read, and write. I consider my bosses at ESPN to be enlightened, caring people. I go back out on the floor, say, 'Give me the damn ball,' Stuart D's me up, make the shot, walk off the floor and go to the emergency room because I chipped a vertebrae. It was a crazy idea to consider at the time, but Mees took a chance and applied for a job. We need full proper investigations. I'm trying to fight it the best I can. Mees did deliver the sports and he did it well. Heres a look back at one of the original ESPN personalities Tom Mees. ESPN's Linda Cohn Makes Millions Annually and Has a Substantial Net Worth On August 14, 1996, Tom Mees and his two young daughters headed next door to the neighbor's house for some fun in the sun at the swimming pool. His legendary, Hall of Fame career will forever have a lasting legacy on football fans across the world. And he continued to do "SportsCenter." "One of the producers on a story we were doing on the Orlando Magic told me about this young guy he really liked. "SportsCenter" anchor Jay Harris, who grew up watching -- and hoping to be -- Stuart, says, "Think about that phrase, 'As cool as the other side of the pillow.' Aschoff himself had expressed surprise about the severity of his illness. If I told them what I was going through, Im confident they would have protected my privacy and done everything they could to help me. "It has helped me knowing that his passing was inevitable, and Im at least grateful he didnt have to go through the painful treatment and drawn out process of battling the disease,'' she wrote. And Mees, along with Chris Berman and Bob Ley, would be the trailblazers. Each time I screwed up something, a few anonymous critics on Twitter would hammer me, Saunders said in his book Playing Hurt.. We will miss you, John.. Giants sign offensive lineman who worked with head coach b MLB's rule changes will only bring needless new degree of confusion, Yankees may get solution to to glut of infielders after NL teams' misfortune, The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, Amazin' But True: A NY Mets Baseball Podcast, Gangs All Here: A NY Jets Football Podcast, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce, Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave. A ton of work with everyone rolling up their sleeves. ", His career path took him from Florence to Raleigh, North Carolina, to Orlando, Florida, and in his pre-ESPN clips, you can feel his energy, hear his music and sense his on-camera charisma. John was family to me. He would spell it out B-O-O dash Y-O-W. 4, as a host on WEEI, or as a horse racing expert for NBC, died Saturday at age 70. I'll never forget him coming out in this big cape, swooping in with his nutcracker, and he was great. I just liked it. Jon Champion. According to anchor Scott Van Pelt, "Stuart would always say to me, 'Game recognizes game.' But I wasn't. ", Father. The coroner later said Saunders died of a combination of an enlarged heart, complications from his diabetes, and dysautonomia, which affects the automated nervous system that regulates breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate. ", ESPN anchor John Anderson likens the talent wave at the network to NASA's astronaut programs. "I never found him without a statistic to back up what he was saying," says Patrick. '", His offer of friendship took on a deeper meaning for ESPN vice president Tim Scanlan: "When he found out that my wife had the same type of cancer he had, he was one of the first people to reach out to me and offer help. People were stopping us every two feet. But after I got out of my car and walked to the side I encountered girders and fences designed to keep people from jumping. Mees told police her husband did not know how to swim. "SportsCenter" anchor Jay Crawford. "Until they plant me, I guess," he told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in 2018, when asked how long he would keep covering the NFL. Benner's death was announced by the team, which learned of it from his family. John Clayton, one of the country's foremost NFL insiders who covered the league to great depths during a 20-plus-year career at ESPN, died Friday, his family said. Michelle and I offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends, and colleagues," the president said. Moments of silence were held at sporting events around the United States on Sunday, including the NFL wild-card games between the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys; the Mavericks-Cavaliers NBA game in Cleveland and at several college basketball games. Sinai for research. ESPN Reporter Edward Aschoff Dies On Birthday At Age 34 A lung biopsy performed after the reporter's death found that, "Unbeknownst to us, Edward had stage 4, non-Hodgkins lymphoma in his lungs. Edward Aschoff's fiancee, Katy Berteau, took to Twitter to explain the sequence of events . And I'm really thrilled that he was right on. "Listen to his lead-ins," says Buccigross. Vince Carter. Who Is the Highest-Paid ESPN Personality and How Much Do They Make? In 1972, after graduating from the University of Delaware, Tom Mees took a path similar to other aspiring sports journalists when he started his career as a sports reporter for WILM-AM radio station in Wilmington. 'Who has the most triples of all time?' "He had that great balance of being entertaining and being right.". All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! On June 15, 2014, Stuart flawlessly handled the trophy presentation to the Spurs -- after doing 300 push-ups that day. ESPN reporter Aschoff dies at 34 - Sports Media Watch John Clayton, a former ESPN NFL writer and current contributor to Seattle Sports 710 AM, died Friday. ESPN college football reporter Edward Aschoff dies at 34 Dylan Lyons, a Spectrum News 13 reporter, was killed on Feb. 22 when a gunman opened fire on him and photojournalist Jesse Walden who was critically injured as they sat in their car in the Pine Hills neighborhood of Orlando. Disgraced Philadelphia sports columnist Bill Conlin is dead reporter nicknamed the Professor who was noted for his football analysis and his concise game recaps for ESPN, died on Friday at a hospital in Bellevue, Wash. Lokulo-Sodipe, 67, was said to have slumped in his office while preparing to attend a court session on . Know more in just minutes with our free newsletters. Our condolences to his wife Pat, and to his friends and family. NBC New York reporter Katherine Creag dies suddenly. He was one of the early advocates for the NCAA Ice Hockey on ESPN and was influential in the growth of the Frozen Four, the NCAA Hockeys championship tournament. At one point in 2012, Saunders planned to take his life by jumping off the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York, as he described in his book. "When he went to ESPN, Stuart didn't change his style -- and there was some resistance. He owned it.". "NBA Countdown" anchor Sage Steele remembers the day last year when her family moved from Connecticut to Arizona to be closer to her show in Los Angeles: "The moving trucks were at my house, and Stuart was there with his girlfriend Kristin to say goodbye to us, and my 10-year-old son Nicholas had to say goodbye to his best friend across the street, and he came back sobbing, sobbing, leaving his best friend in the world. And here comes Uncle Drosselmeyer, and I thought, 'That man looks a lot like Stuart Scott,' and it was -- he was there for his girls. VIDEO: ESPN reporter Edward Aschoff dies on his 34th birthday Aschoff died on December 24 with a diagnosis of pneumonia and a rare disease known as hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).. David Benner, Indiana Pacers' longtime PR director, dies | Sports