When I realized I could do it, that I could jump from the bridge, I got scared. ", There were times in the last few years when his friends worried that he was working too hard. He started giving me advice and I in turn would talk to my wife. ", Worker. 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. He was onSportsCenteror calling his beloved NHL games or on assignment to pro football, college basketball, and so much more for just one reason. "He bulldozed the envelope.". 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. Once he got into the show, you just forgot about everything, and it was just Stuart Scott doin' 'SportsCenter,' havin' fun. I just liked it. I drive to the hoop, he undercuts me, I fall on my back and nearly pass out. Charmer. "One of the producers on a story we were doing on the Orlando Magic told me about this young guy he really liked. Stephen Smith was a 19-year-old boy. A fast and unbiased roundup of whats happening in the world today. And he continued to do "SportsCenter." Clayton was also widely remembered for his appearance in a memorable This Is SportsCenter commercial in which he completes an on-air segment, pulls off a faux upper half of a suit to reveal a Slayer t-shirt, and lounges in his bedroom headbanging to heavy metal and munching on takeout food. And occasionally, he would bust out his own poetry, as he did for this jam on Michael Jordan's 50th birthday on Feb. 17, 2013: the best ever a CLEVER phrase we OVERuse 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. "And I said, 'Well, I tell you what, we'll save you a seat.' Aschoff died Dec. 24 on his 34th birthday. (CNN) - Edward Aschoff, a college football reporter for ESPN, died Tuesday on his 34th birthday, according to ESPN. He was 67. Heres a look back at one of the original ESPN personalities Tom Mees. He spent 20 minutes sitting there with Nicholas, helping him feel better. ", Friend. 2023 ABG-SI LLC. I stood there motionless, taking it all in. Stuart said, 'I got it.' As a youth, he was very successful and received a hockey scholarship to play at Western Michigan University. He was 67 years old. Know more in just minutes with our free newsletters. Unfortunately, their enjoyable afternoon turned deadly in a matter of seconds. John was family to me. Dickerson's wife, Caitlin, died two years ago from melanoma, and. John Saunders was a proud Canadian. "I will miss Stuart Scott. General. He was 34 . Benner's death was announced by the team, which learned of it from his family. John Clayton, the veteran N.F.L. John Saunders, the sports anchor whose baritone voice was a fixture on ESPN programming for 30 years, has died, the network announced Wednesday. Take a look at these 30 hottest ESPN female reporters who may not be famous names yet, but they are rising in the industry thanks to their good looks and great reporting skills. 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.''. Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. A ton of work with everyone rolling up their sleeves. He continued hosting college football coverage on ABC and was there on the stage to talk with Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban when their teams won national titles. 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. Jeff Dickerson, who covered the Chicago Bears for ESPN, died on Tuesday from complications of colon cancer at the age of 44. Our condolences to his wife Pat, family, colleagues and his many friends.". He worked for a year at WECA-TV covering the sports scene, including the Florida State Seminoles and other Florida-area sports teams. When he passed away, he left behind so much more. Cari is an American broadcast journalist who has worked as an anchor for ESPN's flagship program, SportsCenter, and as the host of ESPN2's First Take. 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. ", "Yes, he brought hip-hop into the conversation," says Harris, "but I would go further than that. I love you, the white guy!' "He had that great balance of being entertaining and being right.". In those early days, as ESPN would lose, then regain its contract with the NHL, Mees served as the main NHL host during the season, while anchoring the SportsCenter desk during the offseason. We talked regularly. Ms Creag, who was among the . Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada. Fontaine's former club Reims announced Fontaine's death on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Radio reporter Jeff Dickerson, a beloved and respected figure on the Chicago sports scene, died Tuesday at age 43 after a bout with cancer On June 15, 2014, Stuart flawlessly handled the trophy presentation to the Spurs -- after doing 300 push-ups that day. Learning the new information seemed to bring some comfort to Berteau. Stay up to date with everything Boston. "He was a trailblazer," says ESPN anchor Stan Verrett, "not only because he was black -- obviously black -- but because of his style, his demeanor, his presentation. We need full proper investigations. "Well, that's who Stuart is. He had a spirit and energy, and, dare I say, a sense of purity in his love of sports and his delivering of the evenings news through the TV to his fellow sports fans that all of us envy to this day. This undated photo provided by ESPN images shows ESPN college football reporter Edward Aschoff. He also hosted the popular Sunday morning sports roundtable show called the Sports Reporters since 2001. The Indiana native was prominent in the chronicling of sports in his home state for nearly . A loyal life friend to me. Comentarista de Bisbol. "He was that good. "I had never met anybody like Stuart Scott. We loved John. ", Gus Ramsey, who arrived in Bristol in 1994, remembers exactly when he knew Stuart had found a new audience. "I haven't wanted to know. The very best TV partner. "But Stuart spoke a much different language that appealed to a young demographic, particularly a young African-American demographic.". Stuart Scott, a longtime anchor at ESPN, died Sunday morning at the age of 49. (1/9) Hi all, Katy again- this will be my last post on Edwards social media. I'll never forget him coming out in this big cape, swooping in with his nutcracker, and he was great. When Tom Mees arrived at ESPN, there wasnt a template. He may have represented new school, but he was decidedly old school when it came to preparation. 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. He was 49 years old. What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? His ability never slipped, and the audience at home couldn't tell what Stuart was dealing with. Smith, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., studied at Jackson State University and began his career at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. You try to bring out the best in yourself so you can bring out the best in the person next to you. "I recently told that story on the air. Some of his best moments on the air came when he adopted the persona of a preacher: "Can I get a witness from the congregation?!" Katy Berteau wrote in a Twitter thread on Aschoff's account Wednesday night that doctors found non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in his lungs following his death. All in the family: how three generations of Jaquezes have ruled West Coast basketball, Alonso says Aston 'living a dream,' eyes podium, LIVE Transfer Talk: Bayern still keen on Kane despite new Choupo-Moting contract, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live'. ESPN's Rachel Michele Nichols is an American sportswriter, reporter, and TV journalist. McClure died at his home near Atlanta, Georgia, this week, ESPN announced on Thursday. Then along came the Apollo astronauts, like Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick, Rich Eisen and Stuart. And he sat there for my kid. Fellow anchor Chris Berman remembered Mees years later as ESPN celebrated its 50,000th SportsCenter. By Variety and Phil Helsel. His family told ESPN Clayton died following a brief illness. ESPN reporter Edward Aschoff died Tuesday on his 34th birthday, just months before he was to be married. '", 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. Unfortunately, those watching at home on television let him know. "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. 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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. Below is a list of former ESPN employees who have confirmed their departures via social media (this list will continue to be updated). As for Stuart's most famous line, Eisen discovered one night that it was not what's up on the wall in the new studio. Bonnie Bernstein: 1995-1998, 2006-present ( SportsCenter correspondent, Wednesday Night Baseball, College Football, NFL, substitute host for NFL Live and Jim Rome is Burning, co-host The Michael Kay Show on 1050 ESPN Radio, New York) Georgie Bingham 2007-present (co-host of SportsCenter for ESPN non-domestic market and Soccernet SportsCenter) 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. He sent me a tape, and even then, he had an amazing presence -- I felt the viewer would sit up and take notice when he was on the air. He was 34. People were stopping us every two feet. Karen Hudson-Samuels, 68, worked for over four decades in Detroit as an anchor, producer . His legendary, Hall of Fame career will forever have a lasting legacy on football fans across the world. Lokulo-Sodipe, 67, was said to have slumped in his office while preparing to attend a court session on . But as Stuart's star rose, so did the vitriol of those who resented his color, or his hip-hop style, or his generation. "We stood on the floor," says Williamson, "and there's all these things going around -- and immediately we snapped back to 20 years ago and I just told him I was proud of him, and I loved him.". On August 14, 1996, Tom Mees and his two young daughters headed next door to the neighbors house for some fun in the sun at the swimming pool. ", Stuart was born in Chicago, but he, along with two sisters and a brother, spent his formative years in North Carolina, where their father was a postal inspector who always had time to play after work. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! 'The Professor' was a friend to so many in our business. Ted S. Warren/AP File Photo. Medical personnel arrived and tried to resuscitate Mees en route to the local hospital. Nobody could ever say he didn't work hard, or labor over his "SportsCenter" lead-ins. And yet, when the red light came on, when he was on camera, you had no idea. Who Is the Highest-Paid ESPN Personality and How Much Do They Make? Baseball Commentator. His marriage to Kimberly Scott, the mother of their daughters, came to an end. In addition to being Christmas Eve, Tuesday was his birthday. Suzy Kolber, the ESPN anchor who also began at ESPN2, says, "Stuart called me his TV wife, but we really were like a family, trying to launch this brand-new network and spending all this time together. He died Thursday at the age of 79. Sinai for research. Unfortunately, the injury in 2011 and the mistakes that followed exacerbated his depression. SportsCenter producers created a weekly segment called "Four Downs'' pitting Clayton against NFL analyst and former quarterback Sean Salisbury. This was all new territory. According to ESPN, Dickerson died at the same hospice facility where Caitlin died. He loved his work, he loved his daughters, he loved being Stu.". "I never ask what stage I'm in," Stuart told Sandomir. into MORE than GREAT! For six years, Mees covered the local sports scene. Rachel broke ground in 2009 as the first female analyst for a men's collegiate basketball broadcast. (3/9) Both pneumonia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma can trigger HLH in the body and that is seemingly what happened with Edward. 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. Before the millennium arrived, he was covering the MLB playoffs, the Final Four and the NBA Finals. "It is with a. He was 49. An amazing nine of them belong to one man -- from his signature "Boo-Yah!" But then you think to turn the pillow over, and, wow, it's cool, and it feels so good. We'd be waiting for a game to end, and he'd close his eyes. Stuart's role in "The Nutcracker" was not unlike one of the roles he played at ESPN. Warrior. Mees told police her husband did not know how to swim. A lung biopsy performed after the reporter's death found that, "Unbeknownst to us, Edward had stage 4, non-Hodgkins lymphoma in his lungs. We have remained close since our Television days. I am heartbroken. What I love about it is there's so much more stuff we didn't have access to years ago and now we do -- the salary information, NFL Game Rewind where you can watch coaches tape. He brought in the barber shop, the church, R&B, soul music. ", 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. At the time of his death, Mees was just 46. And Stuart laughed so hard because it sort of confirmed his belief that he provided me with street cred.". He would spell it out B-O-O dash Y-O-W. ", "He's a great, great dad," says Ramsey. From 1979 to 1987, Mees worked exclusively as a lead anchor for the networks nightly highlight news show, SportsCenter. In 1986, John Saunders debuted to the American audience and would be a fixture on the channel for the next 30 years. He is 'the other side of pillow,' the man who made sportscasting cool. 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. In 2011, on the set of ABCs College Football, disaster struck in a most innocent way. the double nickel that sliced the knicks at their knees Sports writer and commentator Frank Deford, who won awards for his work with Sports Illustrated magazine and NPR, has died at 78. There were a few downs mixed in with the ups, though. Once he returned to ESPN, Saunders struggled at times. FILE - Soccer legend Pele, of Brazil, feeds French soccer legend Just Fontaine, left, with a soccer ball cake Sunday, July 5, 1998 in Paris.French soccer great Just Fontaine, whose 1958 record of 13 goals scored during a World Cup still stands, has .