Stuart Scott | |
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 Scott in 2010 | |
| Born | Stuart Orlando Scott (1965-07-19)July 19, 1965 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 2015(2015-01-04) (aged 49) Avon, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Resting place | Raleigh Memorial Park,Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1987–2014 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an Americansportscaster and anchor onESPN, including onSportsCenter. Known for hiship-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the network in itsNational Basketball Association (NBA) andNational Football League (NFL) coverage.
Scott was born in Chicago and resided in the back of London Towne Houses on Chicago's Southeast side. After relocating toNorth Carolina in his youth, Scott graduated from theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began his career with various local television stations before joining ESPN in 1993. Although there were already accomplishedAfrican-American sportscasters, his blending of hip hop with sportscasting was unique for television. By 2008, he was a staple in ESPN's programming,[1] and also began onABC as lead host for their coverage of the NBA.
In 2007, Scott had an appendectomy and learned that hisappendix was cancerous.[2] After going into remission, he was again diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and 2013. Scott was honored at theESPY Awards in 2014 with theJimmy V Award for his fight against cancer.
Stuart Orlando Scott[3] was born inChicago,Illinois on July 19, 1965. His parents were O. Ray and Jacqueline Scott. When he was 7, Scott and his family moved toWinston-Salem, North Carolina.[4][5] Scott had a brother named Stephen and two sisters named Susan and Synthia.[4]
He attendedMount Tabor High School for 9th and 10th grade and then completed his last two years atRichard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, graduating in 1983.[6] In high school, he was a captain of his football team, ran track, served as Vice President of the Student Council, and was the Sergeant at Arms of the school's Key Club.[5][6] During high school, Scott was diagnosed withkeratoconus, a degenerative eye condition that causes thinning and distortion of the cornea. The condition affected his vision and limited his ability to pursue football beyond the high school level, though he remained active in sports.[7] Scott was inducted into the Richard J. Reynolds High School Hall of Fame during a ceremony on February 6, 2015, which took place during the Reynolds/Mt. Tabor (the two high schools that Scott attended) basketball game.[6]
He attended theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Mu Zeta Chapter[8] ofAlpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was part of the on-air talent atWXYC.[4] While at UNC, Scott also playedwide receiver anddefensive back on the club football team.[4] In 1987, Scott graduated from the UNC with aB.A. inspeech communication.[4] In 2001, Scott gave the commencement address at UNC.[9]
Following graduation, Scott worked as a news reporter and weekend sports anchor atWPDE-TV inFlorence, South Carolina from 1987 until 1988.[10][11] Scott came up with the phrase "as cool as the other side of the pillow" while working his first job at WPDE.[12] After this, Scott worked as a news reporter atWRAL-TV 5 inRaleigh, North Carolina from 1988 until 1990.[13] WRAL Sports anchor Jeff Gravley recalled there was a "natural bond" between Scott and the sports department.[13] Gravley described his style as creative, gregarious and adding so much energy to the newsroom.[13] Even after leaving, Scott still visited his former colleagues at WRAL and treated them like family.[13]
From 1990 until 1993, Scott worked atWESH, anNBC affiliate inOrlando, Florida as a sports reporter and sports anchor. While at WESH, he met ESPN producer Gus Ramsey, who was beginning his own career.[14] Ramsey said of Scott: "You knew the second he walked in the door that it was a pit stop, and that he was gonna be this big star somewhere someday. He went out and did a piece on the rodeo, and he nailed it just like he would nail the NBA Finals for ESPN."[14] He earned first place honors from the Central Florida Press Club for a feature on rodeo.[15]
Al Jaffe, ESPN's vice president for talent, brought Scott toESPN2 because they were looking for sportscasters who might appeal to a younger audience.[14][16] Scott became one of the fewAfrican-American personalities who was not a former professional athlete.[17] His first ESPN assignments were forSportsSmash, a short sportscast twice an hour on ESPN2'sSportsNight program.[14] AfterKeith Olbermann leftSportsNight for ESPN'sSportsCenter, Scott took his place in the anchor chair atSportsNight.[14] After this, Scott was a regular onSportsCenter.[14] AtSportsCenter, Scott was frequently teamed with fellow anchorsSteve Levy,Kenny Mayne,Dan Patrick, andRich Eisen.[18] Scott was a regular in theThis Is SportsCenter commercials.[19]
In 2002, Scott was named studio host for theNBA on ESPN. He became lead host in 2008, when he also began atABC in the same capacity forits NBA coverage, which included theNBA Finals. Additionally, Scott anchoredSportsCenter's prime-time coverage from the site of NBA post-season games.[15] From 1997 until 2014, he covered the league's finals.[15] During the1997 and1998 NBA Finals, Scott did one-on-one interviews withMichael Jordan.[15] WhenMonday Night Football moved to ESPN in 2006, Scott hosted on-site coverage, includingMonday Night Countdown and post-gameSportsCenter coverage. Scott previously appeared onNFL Primetime during the 1997 season,Monday Night Countdown from 2002 to 2005, andSunday NFL Countdown from 1999 to 2001.[15] Scott also covered theMLB playoffs andNCAA Final Four in 1995 for ESPN.[15]
Scott appeared in each issue ofESPN the Magazine, with hisHolla column. During his work at ESPN, he also interviewedTiger Woods,Sammy Sosa, PresidentBill Clinton and PresidentBarack Obama during the2008 presidential campaign.[15] As a part of the interview with PresidentBarack Obama, Scott played in a one-on-one basketball game with the President.[20] In 2004, per the request of U.S. troops, Scott and fellowSportsCenter co-anchors hosted a week of programs originating from Kuwait for ESPN'sSportsCenter: Salute the Troops.[15] He hosted a number of ESPN game and reality shows, includingStump the Schwab,Teammates, andDream Job, and hostedDavid Blaine'sDrowned Alive special. He hosted a special and only broadcast episode ofAmerica's Funniest Home Videos calledAFV: The Sports Edition.[15]
While there were already successful African-American sportscasters,[21] Scott blendedhip-hop culture and sports in a way that had never been seen before on television.[22] He talked in the same manner as fans would at home.[17] ESPN director of news Vince Doria told ABC: "But Stuart spoke a much different language ... that appealed to a young demographic, particularly a young African-American demographic."[23]Michael Wilbon wrote that Scott allowed his personality to infuse the coverage and his emotion to pour out.[24]
Scott also integratedpop culture references into his reports.[25][26] One commentator remembered his style: "he could go from evoking aBaptist preacher riffing during Sunday morning service ('Can I get a witness from the congregation?!'), to quotingPublic Enemy frontmanChuck D ('Hear the drummer get WICKED!')[27] In 1999, he was parodied onSaturday Night Live byTim Meadows.[28] Scott appeared in music videos with the rappersLL Cool J and Luke, and he was cited in "3 Peat", aLil Wayne song that included the line: "Yeah, I got game like Stuart Scott, fresh out the ESPN shop."[5] In a 2002 segment of NPR'sOn the Media, Scott revealed one approach to his anchoring duties: "Writing is better if it's kept simple. Every sentence doesn't need to have perfect noun/verb agreement. I've said 'ain't' on the air. Because I sometimes use 'ain't' when I'm talking."[17]
As a result of his unique style, Scott and ESPN received a lot of hate mail from people who resented his color, his hip-hop style, or his generation.[14] In a 2003USA Today survey, Scott finished first in the question of which anchor should be voted offSportsCenter, but he also was second toDan Patrick in the 'definitely keep him' voting.[29]Jason Whitlock criticized Scott's use of Jay-Z's alternate nickname, "Jigga", at halftime ofMonday Night Football as ridiculous and offensive.[30] Scott never changed his style and ESPN stuck with him.[17]
Scott became well known for his use of catch phrases, following in theSportsCenter tradition begun byDan Patrick andKeith Olbermann.[31] He popularized the phrasebooyah, which spread from sports into mainstream culture.[1][25] Some of the catchphrases included:
Scott was married to Kimberly Scott from 1993 to 2007.[38][39] They had two daughters together, Taelor and Sydni. Scott lived inAvon, Connecticut.[4] At the time of his death, Scott was in a relationship with Kristin Spodobalski.[40] During hisJimmy V Award speech, he told his teenage daughters: "Taelor and Sydni, I love you guys more than I will ever be able to express. You two are my heartbeat. I am standing on this stage here tonight because of you."[41] His daughter, Sydni Scott, was named aRhodes Scholar in 2022.[42][43]
Scott was injured when he was hit in the face by a football thrown during aNew York Jets mini-camp on April 3, 2002, while filming a special for ESPN, a blow that damaged hiscornea.[44] He received surgery but afterwards suffered fromptosis, or drooping of the eyelid.[45] The injury compounded earlier vision problems stemming fromkeratoconus, making his continued on-air work more demanding.[7]
After leaving Connecticut on a Sunday morning in 2007 forMonday Night Football inPittsburgh, Scott had a stomach ache. After the stomach ache worsened, he went to the hospital instead of the game and later had his appendix removed.[2][46] After testing the appendix, doctors learned that he had cancer.[2] Two days later, he had surgery in New York that removed part of his colon and some of his lymph nodes near the appendix.[2] After the surgery, they recommended preventive chemotherapy.[47] By December, Scott—while undergoing chemotherapy—hosted Friday night ESPN NBA coverage and led the coverage of ABC's NBA Christmas Day studio show.[48] Scott worked out while undergoing chemotherapy.[2] Scott said of his experience with cancer at the time: "One of the coolest things about having cancer, and I know that sounds like anoxymoron, is meeting other people who've had to fight it. You have a bond. It's like a fraternity or sorority."[2] When Scott returned to work and people knew of his cancer diagnosis, the well-wishers felt overbearing for him as he just wanted to talk about sports, not cancer.[2]
The cancer returned in 2011, but it eventually went back into remission.[49] He was again diagnosed with cancer on January 14, 2013.[50] After chemotherapy, Scott would domixed martial arts and/or aP90X workout regimen.[46][49] By 2014, he had undergone 58 infusions of chemotherapy and switched to chemotherapy pills.[46] Scott also underwent radiation and multiple surgeries as a part of his cancer treatment.[41] Scott never wanted to know whatstage of cancer he was in.[46]
On July 16, 2014, Scott was honored at theESPY Awards, with theJimmy V Award for his struggle withcancer, which was his final public appearance before his death. He shared that he had had four surgeries in the week prior to his appearance, when he was suffering fromliver complications andkidney failure.[4] Scott told the audience, "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."[51] At the ESPYs, a video was also shown that included scenes of Scott from a clinic room atJohns Hopkins Hospital and other scenes from Scott's life fighting cancer.[52] Scott ended the speech by calling his daughter up to the stage for a hug, "because I need one," and telling the audience to "have a great rest of your night, have a great rest of your life."[4][53]
On the morning of January 4, 2015, Scott died ofappendiceal cancer[54] in his home inAvon, Connecticut, at age 49. Soon after, his foundation for cancer research was created.[55][56] Scott was laid to rest in Raleigh Memorial Park on January 10, 2015, after a private funeral service at Providence Baptist Church. The public funeral visitation was held the previous evening.[57]
ESPN announced: "Stuart Scott, a dedicated family man and one of ESPN's signatureSportsCenter anchors, has died after a courageous and inspiring battle with cancer. He was 49."[58] ESPN released a video obituary of Scott.[14]Sports Illustrated called ESPN's video obituary a beautiful and moving tribute to a man who died "at the too-damn-young age of 49."[59]Barack Obama paid tribute to Scott, saying:[60]
I will miss Stuart Scott. Twenty years ago, Stuart helped usher in a new way to talk about our favorite teams and the day's best plays. 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 onSportsCenter were there. Over the years, he entertained us, and in the end, he inspired us – with courage and love. Michelle and I offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends, and colleagues.
A number ofNational Basketball Association athletes—current and former—paid tribute to Scott, includingStephen Curry,Carmelo Anthony,Kobe Bryant,Steve Nash,Jason Collins,Shaquille O'Neal,Magic Johnson,Dwyane Wade,LeBron James,Michael Jordan,Bruce Bowen,Dennis Rodman,James Worthy and others.[61][62] A number of golfers paid tribute to Scott:Tiger Woods,Gary Player,David Duval,Lee Westwood, Blair O'Neal,Jane Park and others.[63] Other athletes paid tribute includingRobert Griffin III,Russell Wilson,Jon Lester,Lance Armstrong,Barry Sanders,J. J. Watt,David Ortiz andSheryl Swoopes.[62] UNC basketball coachRoy Williams called him a "hero."[53]Arizona Cardinals head coachBruce Arians said: "We lost a football game but we lost more this morning. I think one of the best members of the media I've ever dealt with, Stuart Scott, passed away."[64]
ColleaguesHannah Storm andRich Eisen gave tearful on-air remembrances of Scott onSportsCenter andNFL Network respectively, with Eisen later narrating a package of NFL highlights using his former co-anchor's catchphrases.[65] Also onSportsCenter,Scott Van Pelt andSteve Levy said farewell to Scott and left a chair empty in his honor.[66]Tom Jackson,Cris Carter,Chris Berman,Mike Ditka andKeyshawn Johnson fromNFL Countdown shared their memories of Scott.[67]
DuringErnie Johnson Jr.'s acceptance speech for his 2015Sports Emmy Award forBest Studio Host, theTNT andTBS NBA and MLB host gave his award to Scott's daughters, saying it "belongs with Stuart Scott".[68] At the67th Primetime Emmy Awards and at the2015 ESPY Awards, Scott was included in the "in memoriam" segment, a rare honor for a sports broadcaster.
OnFox Sports Live onFS1, the broadcast team ofJoe Buck,Troy Aikman,Erin Andrews andChris Myers paid tribute to Stuart Scott fromFox's gamesite. TheFox NFL Sunday crew anchored byCurt Menefee,Terry Bradshaw,Howie Long,Michael Strahan andJimmy Johnson also paid tribute to Stuart Scott on behalf ofFox Sports, as didJay Onrait andDan O'Toole fromTSN in Canada.
ESPN presidentJohn Skipper said Scott's flair and style, which he used to talk about the athletes he was covering, "changed everything."[14] Fellow ESPN Anchor,Stan Verrett, said he was a trailblazer: "not only because he was black – obviously black – but because of his style, his demeanor, his presentation. 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."[14] He became a role model for African-American sports journalists.[21][69] ESPN designated December 4th as 'Stuart Scott Day.'[70]
Following Scott's death, theV Foundation for Cancer Research established the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund. The fund supports cancer research with an emphasis on health equity and increasing representation among researchers.[71] Annual "Boo-Yah! A Celebration of Stuart Scott" fundraising events, held primarily in New York City, have raised millions of dollars for cancer research. These events coincide with ESPN's V Week for Cancer Research and honor Scott.[72]
In 2025,ESPN Films released30 for 30: Boo-Yah: A Portrait of Stuart Scott. Directed byAndre Gaines, the documentary features previously unseen archival footage, including Scott's personal home videos, and interviews from family members, colleagues, and athletes. The film examines Scott's broadcasting career, his cultural influence, his health challenges and his legacy in sports media.[7]
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