ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz and ESPN feature producer Miriam Greenfield contributed to this story. ESPN college football reporter Ed Aschoff died Tuesday at age 34, the company announced. ", There were times in the last few years when his friends worried that he was working too hard. Stay up to date with everything Boston. He is 'the other side of pillow,' the man who made sportscasting cool. But I wasn't. The Tragic Drowning Death of Original ESPN SportsCenter - Sportscasting That's my Stuart. 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. 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. List of SportsCenter anchors and reporters - Wikipedia He did not shy away from the fact that he was a black man, and that allowed the rest of us who came along to just be ourselves. He won gold medals in pole vault at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics. Disputed loan at center of Commanders probe, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Covered Broncos for nine years for Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, Previously covered Steelers, Bills and Titans, Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame Board. He moved to Los Angeles in 2017 to begin a more expanded national role that included television coverage. "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. That wasn't the Stuart Scott that I worked with for so many years. ", "He didn't just push the envelope," says sports radio host and former ESPN anchor Dan Patrick. In 2009, unbeknownst to anyone at the sports network, he checked into the Westchester Medical Psychiatric Ward at Mt. This is Stuart and he's not going to let this moment get away.' Oh what a trail they blazed. Harris calls it his "Stuartness." Raw and honest, powerful and indelible. He was 89. Host, Analyst and Reporter, SEC Network/ESPN. 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. (AP file photo) Bill Conlin, the legendary former Philadelphia sports columnist whose career came to a crashing end 25 months ago after he was accused of . "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. 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. A month later, as Steele watched Stuart climb the steps to the stage at the ESPYS, she worried about whether he could deliver his speech. 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. That part hasnt changed much in 2012, as we get set to present our 50,000thSportsCenter. He was 67. The Steelers called Clayton "a Pittsburgh media icon.". Patrick remembers an epic basketball game at the YMCA. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: After thunderstorms and hail, snow could be on the way this weekend, ESPN reporters sudden death at 34: The surprise that autopsy revealed. What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? All Rights Reserved. Taylor Twellman is leaving ESPN, so what will he do next? The Jupiter resident was 66. 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. People were stopping us every two feet. PetSmart Employees Charged After Dog Dies During Grooming Visit - Peoplemag 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 are mourning his loss. Stephen Smith Murder: Murdaugh Hit-And-Run Case Update Thats the way it was back in the 1980s here at ESPN. "After his passing, the hospital received the final results from his lung biopsy. On August 10, 2016, John Saunders collapsed on his bathroom floor and died. He died in the same hospice center as his. 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 bounced around to several different Canadian television stations in the late 1970s, and then in 1982, he moved to the United States where he took a job as a sports anchor at a Baltimore television station. Unfortunately, their enjoyable afternoon turned deadly in a matter of seconds. The two were to be married in April. 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 . "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. ", Eisen was there at the birth of his fame. 30 Beautiful ESPN Female Reporters of All Time - Hood MWR 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. The two were set to be married in April. Behind the scenes, no one knew, including his co-workers and management at ESPN, that John Saunders battled life-long depression. Alexander COVID News-Dr. Paul Elias Alexander's Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. He inspired his colleagues with his sheer talent, his work ethic and his devotion to his daughters, Taelor, 19, and Sydni, 15. Follow Boston.com on Instagram (Opens in a New Tab), Follow Boston.com on Twitter (Opens in a New Tab), Like Boston.com on Facebook (Opens in a New Tab). Name. The very best TV partner. 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Stephen Smith was a 19-year-old boy. Charmer. For much of those twenty years, public service and campaigns have kept me from my family -- but wherever I went, I could flip on the TV and Stu and his colleagues on SportsCenter were there. 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. An amazing nine of them belong to one man -- from his signature "Boo-Yah!" 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. He was 34 . NBA reporter Sekou Smith, who died of covid at 48 - The Washington Post 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. ", Champion. Sinai for research. '', Clayton received the profession's highest honor, now known as the Bill Nunn Memorial Award, in 2007. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. He also hosted the popular Sunday morning sports roundtable show called the Sports Reporters since 2001. ESPN hired him as one of its first-ever sports personalities. Medical personnel arrived and tried to resuscitate Mees en route to the local hospital. When he passed away, he left behind so much more. I stood there motionless, taking it all in. Unbeknownst to us, Edward had stage 4, non-Hodgkins lymphoma in his lungs. At WESH, the NBC affiliate in Orlando, he first met ESPN producer Gus Ramsey, who was beginning his own career. Tom was there to give us the sports.. It became must-see TV. Former Detroit news anchor dies after getting COVID-19 vaccine, husband I'm not sure the dance steps were up to Baryshnikov, but certainly the intentions were.". Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. List of ESPN personalities - Wikipedia 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. General. ", "He's a great, great dad," says Ramsey. Saunders stood up too quickly, blacked out, fell backward on the tile floor, and hit his head. ESPN 1000 Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson, 43, dies after battling cancer Before the millennium arrived, he was covering the MLB playoffs, the Final Four and the NBA Finals. We have remained close since our Television days. Among the features of the new ESPN studio in Bristol is a wall of catchphrases made famous by on-air talent over the . Jaguars won't spend big, but here are five players they could target in free agency, The most memorable pre-NFL draft workouts ever: Coaches, scouts, execs make their picks, 2023 NFL franchise tag tracker: Raiders tag Josh Jacobs, the NFL's rushing leader. On April 26, 2017, the entire sports media world was rocked by news of about 100 layoffs at ESPN, many of them impacting big-name reporters, columnists, anchors, hosts and analysts. I made my way through the first layer of obstruction and got close enough to see the river below. 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. He started giving me advice and I in turn would talk to my wife. ESPN NFL reporter Jeff Dickerson has died aged 44 from complications of colon cancer. ", That competitive nature always made for a better show. I'm trying to fight it the best I can. Every day, Legacy publishes tributes to people from all walks of life. The woman who was set to be Dylan's wife is now asking for help to have his child. Each time I screwed up something, a few anonymous critics on Twitter would hammer me, Saunders said in his book Playing Hurt.. Ive often said John would be the guy who would stop everything he was doing to make sure anyone would have everything they needed. There's so much information and analytical stuff, it's phenomenal.''. The reporter's cause of death was not revealed. There were a few downs mixed in with the ups, though. What happened next to Mees was something that hadnt ever happened to another sports reporter in the history of broadcast television. ESPN hired Clayton in 1995 as a jack-of-all-trades for its NFL coverage. The perfect tummy control bodysuit, a popcorn gadget, more bestsellers starting at $8. 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. ESPNs Linda Cohn Makes Millions Annually and Has a Substantial Net Worth. All rights reserved. He was part of the Miles Davis Quintet and Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers. ESPN Female Reporters - awajis.com Four years later, he got the call to head up the coast to Bristol, Connecticut and ESPN. I am heartbroken, NFL analyst and former NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury said. Know more in just minutes with our free newsletters. I've often said John would be the guy who would stop everything he was doing, to make sure anyone would have everything they needed. "One of the producers on a story we were doing on the Orlando Magic told me about this young guy he really liked. In 1987, when ESPN signed a contract with the NHL, Mees took on the responsibility of host for NHL broadcasts. All of this combined is what led to his very rapid decline those last few days, and ultimately his passing. They took us to the moon and left the rest of us to fly the space shuttle.". I drive to the hoop, he undercuts me, I fall on my back and nearly pass out. He was 44. 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. 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. ", Worker. 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