ESPN Anchor Stuart Scott Dead At 49

Stuart Scott, whose passion behind the microphone and catch phrases made him one of the most popular and recognizable faces in ESPN’s stable of voices, died Sunday after a seven-year battle with cancer.

He was diagnosed with the disease after feeling sick while covering a Dolphins-Steelers “Monday Night Football” game in November, 2007. Scott entered a Pittsburgh hospital for an emergency appendectomy. During the surgery a malignancy was found. Scott was diagnosed with cancer of the abdomen.

He began undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The cancer went into remission. But in 2011, Scott went public saying the cancer had come back. In early 2012 it was in remission again but returned in January 2013.

Despite the circumstances, Scott not only continued working when possible, but also fought cancer with rigorous workouts, which included mixed martial arts and cross training. He was determined to lead a normal life during his abnormal, frightening ordeal.

“I never ask what stage (cancer) I’m in,” Scott told the New York Times. “I haven’t wanted to know. It won’t change anything to me. All I know is that it would cause more worry and a higher degree of freakout. Stage 1, 2 or 8, it doesn’t matter. I’m trying to fight it the best I can.”

His decision to continue to work made Scott’s tenuous plight even more public. When he disappeared from the scene (he was absent from his on-site anchor role for “MNF” this season) speculation mounted concerning his condition.

The absence of a lesser known member of the interchangeable cast of ESPN anchors would hardly be noticed.

But Stuart Scott was not just another ESPN mouth. Following a variety of TV gigs in North Carolina and South Carolina he came to ESPN2 in 1993, when that network was launched as a “hipper” version of ESPN. Scott was the host of a show called “SportsNight.” He broke free of standard Tape Head jargon, incorporating his own lingo with a decidedly hip-hop flavor.

Scott enthusiastically flung phrases like “Boo Yah,” "as cool as the other side of the pillow," “holler at a playa when you see him on the street,” and “call him butter, he’s on a roll,” to an audience who either loved his style or despised it.

Scott’s ability to inspire this dichotomy of opinions made him even more recognizable. While other ESPN voices who stood out (like Rich Eisen, Dan Patrick, and Keith Olbermann) left ESPN, Scott stayed on to host a variety of shows, including NFL Live, NFL Primetime, NBA Fastbreak and host of the NBA Finals.

Last July while accepting the Jimmy V Perseverance Award (named after the late Jim Valvano, who also died after his fight with cancer) at the ESPYs, Scott provided a window into his heart, soul and philosophy.

“When you die, that doesn’t mean you lose to cancer,” he said. “You beat cancer by how you lived and in the manner in which you lived. So live. Live. Fight like hell.”

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