“Stuart Scott is dead.” A tearful Rich Eisen on NFL Network delivered those words on Sunday, January 4. News broke that morning that Stuart Scott had died from cancer, the third time that Scott battled the disease. Scott left an everlasting impact on the way that sports were broadcast, and he will be severely missed by all.
Scott got his start on ESPN on a segment called “Sports blast.” Scott was a huge hit, with his new “Swaggy” style, and his catchy phrases. Scott was an icon in the broadcasting world. Multiple times, Stuart was told of his phrases being “too hard to understand” by may of the viewers, and that he needed to change his ways. And multiple times, Scott refused to change, showing Scott battled cancer three times, each time he refused to give up the battle, fighting until the end. In 2008, when Scott was first diagnosed, he sat down with his longtime friend Scoop Jackson, talking about when he was first diagnosed. “I knew I heard the doctor correctly. I didn't think he said something else, I didn't think for a second, 'Well maybe he didn't say it.' No, I knew I heard him! But I still couldn't comprehend ... in my mind ... in my soul ... he just said, 'cancer.' But he's not talking about me. ..."
That was the first initial thought: "He's not talking about me!" And after about two seconds, the reality hit. Harder than the pain. "He is talking about me."
The next thought was a different one. Here was a young man of 42 years who worked his way to a position that no other of his kind and of his generation had reached. The next thought was not a flashback of everything achieved, of "Monday Night Football" and "SportsCenters." It wasn't even about his baby girls or the love he still held for his ex-wife. No, it was much less beautiful.
"The next thought I had was, 'I'm going to die.'"
What intercepted his thoughts of death were kids. His kids. The two daughters. His life.
