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." It didn't hit me until that moment that this guy was making an impact.". "There was the Mercury program, which gave us Chris Berman and Bob Ley, great pilots who went up there without teleprompters or whatever. Thanks for contacting us. Scott was remembered through an outpouring of tributes by athletes, colleagues and fans on Twitter and statements from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, which said that "his legacy will live on in many ways -- as a friend, a son, a father, a professional and forever, a Tar Heel," and President Barack Obama. We use cookies. It should be mentioned often.Morris died Monday at the . He continued his work up until just 10 days ago, when he broke down the Seattle Seahawks' blockbuster trade of Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos for Seattle Sports 710 AM, where he was a regular contributor. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. But Cari breaks her silence when it is about racism and inappropriate representation of her race. But for me, and those of us here in the 80s and 90s, a lot of things changed when we lost Tom Mees in 1996. At the ESPYS on July 16, shortly before his 49th birthday and following another round of cancer surgery, Stuart accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance with strength, humor, grace and these eloquent words: "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. All Rights Reserved. On that day Mees wife Michelle, was alerted to the situation by one of her daughters. "I haven't wanted to know. The ESPN reporter who died on his 34th birthday last month didn't realize it, but he had stage 4 cancer. And to his credit, he brought something special every night he was on.". Clayton was also a longtime member of the Board of Selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He died in the same hospice center as his. '", 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. However, like most college athletes, once his playing days were over, Saunders turned to plan B. His brain was donated to Mt. On December 5, a few days after his pneumonia diagnosis, he tweeted: Anyone ever had multifocal (bilateral) pneumonia in their early 30s as someone who never gets sick and has a very good immune system? 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. In 1986, John Saunders debuted to the American audience and would be a fixture on the channel for the next 30 years. Benner's death was announced by the team, which learned of it from his family. John was family to me. 'The Professor' was a friend to so many in our business. Soul, period.". SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. Among the features of the new ESPN studio in Bristol is a wall of catchphrases made famous by on-air talent over the . It was the Wild West of sports coverage. As a youth, he was very successful and received a hockey scholarship to play at Western Michigan University. People were stopping us every two feet. "That's what I love about him," says Kolber. "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. He was as popular on campus as he was in the airports he passed through and on the sidelines he worked over the last 22 years. Fontaine's former club Reims announced Fontaine's death on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. When it comes to females who blazed a trail in the male-dominated world of sports journalism, the name Jeannie Morris rarely gets mentioned. "His wife Pat and sister Amy were at his side and communicated. He owned it.". HLH is a rare disorder that affects the immune system, making certain white blood cells attack other blood cells and enlarging the spleen and liver, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. SportsCenter producers created a weekly segment called "Four Downs'' pitting Clayton against NFL analyst and former quarterback Sean Salisbury. ", "I've called him Boo-Yah forever," says Norby Williamson, the ESPN senior vice president who helped guide Stuart during those early years. Dickerson died Tuesday at age 44. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer that forms in the lymph system, which is part of the immune system that helps the body fight infection and disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. ESPN's Rachel Michele Nichols is an American sportswriter, reporter, and TV journalist. College Basketball Analyst, SEC Network. That part hasnt changed much in 2012, as we get set to present our 50,000thSportsCenter. ", Occasionally, Stuart would give a shout-out to Sydni's soccer team, but that was easy compared to another commitment he made to his daughters. He died three days after being moved to intensive care. Stuart Scott, a longtime anchor at ESPN, died Sunday morning at the age of 49. John Saunders, the sports anchor whose baritone voice was a fixture on ESPN programming for 30 years, has died, the network announced Wednesday. "There were successful African-American sportscasters at the time," says ESPN director of news Vince Doria, who oversaw the studio programming for ESPN2 back then. 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. https://t.co/QbBsi9bg4j, Also memorable were Clayton's appearances on "This is SportsCenter" commercials for ESPN, which to this day are among the best of the popular segments. Warrior. 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. 5 min read John Clayton was an ESPN mainstay. Oh what a trail they blazed. For six years, Mees covered the local sports scene. 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. It became must-see TV. She was such a tremendous gift to millions of people and inspired even millions more through her songs, yet she had not even reached the peak of her potential.During the COVID-19 lockdown when many . "I mean his girls mean everything to him. He brought in the barber shop, the church, R&B, soul music. Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. The sports network said Aschoff died after "a brief illness," and called the reporter's death "devastating" in a statement. "He bulldozed the envelope.". Edward Aschoff's fiancee shares the full story of his untimely death. ESPN reporter Vaughn McClure has died. "He was like a ball of fire walking in the door," says ESPN senior vice president Mark Gross, a coordinating producer at the time. When I realized I could do it, that I could jump from the bridge, I got scared. Patrick remembers an epic basketball game at the YMCA. I'm not sure the dance steps were up to Baryshnikov, but certainly the intentions were.". 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. I'll never forget when one person went up to Stuart and me and said, 'Hey, wow, Stuart Scott!' His ass was too vain." (0:30). '", That was the future, and it looked and sounded different from the present. "That movie was made two decades ago, and black fraternities have been around since 1906. That's my Stuart. 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. Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. He also contributed stories for KKFN-FM (104.3 FM) in Denver since February of last year. It was always a trip doing a 'SportsCenter' with Stuart. 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? Grant Wahl, one of the best known football writers in the United States, died early Saturday while covering the World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands. Antibiotics did not work and he got worse. Yes, there was an Ebony and Ivory theme to their show, but more importantly, they were two young sports nuts playing off one another for the benefit of other young sports nuts. I realized that killing myself this way would take more effort than I had anticipated. 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. She was a star of the South Bend Blue Sox. John Clayton, one of the most prominent national NFL reporters who worked at ESPN for over 20 years, died on Friday. Get breaking news alerts& today's headlines inyour inbox. His legendary, Hall of Fame career will forever have a lasting legacy on football fans across the world. So while the grief is deep at ESPN over the death of Stuart Scott, so is our gratitude. And I'm really thrilled that he was right on. He and Berteau were to be married in April. I am heartbroken. Raw and honest, powerful and indelible. Every day, Legacy publishes tributes to people from all walks of life. I drive to the hoop, he undercuts me, I fall on my back and nearly pass out. Clayton, nicknamed "The Professor," was one of the country's foremost NFL insiders in a five-decade career that included over 20 years with ESPN. He was also a mainstay during ESPNs coverage of the biggest sporting events like the college football national championship, where he would stand on the stage under the falling confetti and interview the winning coach and players. Even I encouraged him to maybe take a more traditional approach, but he had a strong conviction about who he wanted to be, and the voice he wanted to project, and clearly, he was right, and we were wrong. Prior, he covered the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Pittsburgh Press and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. He was 49. 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. "I never found him without a statistic to back up what he was saying," says Patrick. He was disarming in other ways, as well. Clayton wrote for multiple newspapers early in his career, including The Pittsburgh Press and The Tacoma News Tribune in Washington, before joining ESPN in 1996. 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! Here in our daily news section, we say goodbye to those headline names known across the nation. "I had never met anybody like Stuart Scott. Ive often said John would be the guy who would stop everything he was doing to make sure anyone would have everything they needed. VETERAN NFL and ESPN reporter John Clayton, who appeared in a famed SportsCenter commercial, has passed away at 67. The best insights from the ultimate insiders, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, ESPNs First Take completely dismisses Rangers, ESPN star calls out Deion Sanders over parent comments, Penny Hardaway slams ESPN analysts unfair joke about Memphis star, ESPN anchor defends himself after misogynistic clip surfaces. 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. Clayton's close friend Jeff Muzzy announced the news of Clayton's death on Twitter on March 18, 2022, in an emotional statement. ESPN reporter Edward Aschoff died Tuesday on his 34th birthday, just months before he was to be married. Jeff Dickerson, ESPN's Chicago Bears reporter, died at 44 years old on Tuesday from complications with colon cancer, the media outlet announced. Stuart Scott, the ESPN anchor and reporter whose catchphrases became part of the American popular sports vernacular for the past two decades, died Sunday morning after a lengthy battle with. They took us to the moon and left the rest of us to fly the space shuttle.". or artistic inspiration but the real celebration "He wasn't as good an athlete as he thought he was," says Harris, a frequent golfing partner. On August 10, 2016, John Saunders collapsed on his bathroom floor and died. Clayton spent over a decade at the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune before a more than 20-year run at ESPN. ESPN anchor Stuart Scott died Sunday morning after a lengthy battle with cancer. '", The person most responsible for bringing Stuart to Bristol was Al Jaffe, ESPN's vice president for talent, who was looking for sportscasters who might appeal to a younger audience for ESPN2. XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? Who Is the Highest-Paid ESPN Personality and How Much Do They Make? Jeff Dickerson, who covered the Chicago Bears for ESPN, died on Tuesday from complications of colon cancer at the age of 44. didn't you see the tongue wagging shorts baggy He was just one of the first guys to say, 'Hey, I'm going to play golf, wanna come with me? Stephen Smith murder case has recently gotten new attention. He was publishing stories as recently as last week. Thats the way it was back in the 1980s here at ESPN. ESPN Reporter Edward Aschoff's tragic death on his 34th birthday last month was the result of an un-diagnosed case of stage 4, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma . Through it all, Stuart remained upbeat and defiant. He would easily take Stuart Scott, dad, over Stuart Scott, 'SportsCenter' anchor. He owned it, just like he owned every sportscast, every 'SportsCenter,' every 'Monday Night Football' show he did. He spent 22 years as an NFL writer and reporter for ESPN, but was let go in 2017 as a part of the companys mass layoffs. (14:52). WAIT Aschoff was initially hospitalized with multifocal pneumonia, and died of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare immune system syndrome. "SportsCenter" anchor Jay Crawford. 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. His family told ESPN Clayton died following a . Soccer Play-By-Play Voice. Nobody could ever say he didn't work hard, or labor over his "SportsCenter" lead-ins. 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. While Mees focused on hockey, he also worked in other sports, including college basketball, college football, and MLB. ", Eisen was there at the birth of his fame. Despite his digital critics, Saunders pushed forward. What we didn't know, until Stuart got here, was how important it was to have someone who could relate to them. Now his fiance has revealed that, though he did not know it, Aschoff had stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in his lungs. An amazing nine of them belong to one man -- from his signature "Boo-Yah!" He moved to Los Angeles in 2017 to begin a more expanded national role that included television coverage. He defied convention and criticism to help bring this network into a new century. On August 10, 2016, John Saunders collapsed on his bathroom floor and died. Receive the latest news and breaking updates, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. So, with that in mind, and with the help of his colleagues, here are the Top 10 roles Stuart played for ESPN: Competitor. John Clayton, whose list of contacts in the NFL was matched only by his attention to detail and dedication to his craft, died Friday in Washington after a brief illness, his family said. Then the guy looks at me and goes, 'And the white guy. He received a lot of hate mail, most of it anonymous. I owe so much to John and will miss him terribly.''. Alexander COVID News-Dr. Paul Elias Alexander's Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. Stuart said, 'I got it.' The woman who was set to be Dylan's wife is now asking for help to have his child. And he sat there for my kid. "He wanted you to know that he knew what he was talking about, and he never failed. Thank you Aliss for sharing this pain. Celebrate John Clayton by rewatching his This Is SportsCenter commercial (0:30), Longtime NFL reporter John Clayton dies at 67, The future of the NFL combine: Is there really a chance it could end forever? John Saunders was a proud Canadian. We need full proper investigations. At least 67 people, including 14 minors, died when . He was 34. Most recently, Clayton hosted The John Clayton Weekends Show on Seattle Sports 710 AM and contributed to The Fan 104.3 in Denver. This was all new territory. Mees also worked as an anchor and reporter who covered the NHL and numerous other sports until his tragic death in 1996. Mees told police her husband did not know how to swim. "His daughters and my daughters danced at the same studio," says Anderson. We will all miss John greatly. I will miss him deeply. Tamika Catchings. For 30 years sports fans turned on their televisions and watched John Saunders on a variety of ESPN shows. A classic talent like Vin Scully might ask you to pull up a chair. Clayton also appeared in what is arguably the greatest This is SportsCenter commercial of all-time, transitioning from standard football reporter to long-haired metalhead in an instant as his consummate professionalism was praised. Her death was announced on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 by The Associated Press. "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. "Stuart spent three hours at our house that day, in pain and hardly able to stand, but he did it. 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.