ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt offers sweet tribute to late colleague Stuart Scott
ESPN designed Wednesday as “Stuart Scott Day” in honor of the former “SportsCenter” anchor who passed away in 2015 after a battle with appendiceal cancer.
Scott, who was known by viewers for his catch phrases like “as cool as the other side of the pillow,” clearly made an impact on those who worked with him.
That includes Scott Van Pelt, who paid tribute to his former colleague Wednesday on “SportsCenter,” one month before the fifth anniversary of Scott’s death.
“Yes, Stuart Scott Van Pelt was a cool way to begin to show when we push each other to get the best from each other, but I don’t miss that, I don’t miss this,” Van Pelt said. “I miss 1 o’clock in the morning standing in the halls outside our offices talking through it. Not the games, not Carolina-Maryland, though we did that too. Life, love, the stuff that matters, the stuff that scared us. We’d go deep, it would get late, just me and him, and we’d always say, ‘I’ve got love for you,’ because it’s easier for fellas to say it that way, isn’t it? But in the end, he knew I loved him and I know that he loved me.
“He became a star for what he did here. He became truly legendary, and I choose that word with intent for what he said the last time you saw him, the last time we all saw him, his body riddled with that bastard cancer. Weak, frail, he stood on the stage at the ESPYs and he spoke from his soul. The urgency, the honesty of his message demanded you do the thing his style made you do when he was sitting right here: that you watch. What an amazing way to walk off the stage and leave this earth with that kind of clarity and a message that will be remembered longer and mean more than a catchphrase ever could. It moves me. And it haunts me because it’s unfair as hell. Stuart’s presence remains here. He’s thought of often. He is felt. ESPN has designated this as his day and the truth is you could make it any day and every day. Because that light ain’t ever going out.”
Here is the entire tribute:
Another former ESPN colleague, Rich Eisen, took a moment on his show to remember Scott, and make a pitch for people to donate to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund.
“Five years, man. I cannot believe it. It’s been five years one month from today, and I’m sure we’ll discuss it on that day, too. Kudos to ESPN for putting Stuart front and center. His lovely daughters, Taelor and Sydni, are part of the campaign as well. They are trying to keep their dad and his essence and his spirit and his legacy as alive as possible, and as long as I am in front of a microphone in any way shape or form ... they have my support.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 11:53 AM.
