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Scott Van Pelt gives touching tribute to Stuart Scott on anniversary of ESPN anchor's death

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•01/04/25•

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ESPN icon Stuart Scott
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

On Jan. 4, 2015, ESPN icon Stuart Scott passed away. The legendary SportsCenter anchor died of cancer at the age of 49, but his legacy lives on at the network.

Ten years later, Scott’s former SportsCenter partner, Scott Van Pelt, paid tribute during Saturday’s special edition of NFL Countdown. He remembered the ESPN staple, known for his unique highlight reads and signature taglines.

Scott joined ESPN in 1993, and Van Pelt came on board in 2001. They shared the SportsCenter desk many a time after that, and that showed in the tribute during Saturday’s pregame show.

“Ten years today, I was sitting at my house,” Van Pelt recalled. “There was snow on the ground, but it was warm, it was foggy. It was kind of eery. Frankly, the news came, which made me literally catch my breath. Stuart Scott was gone. It didn’t make any sense then, and it doesn’t make any sense now, 10 years later. His little girls are young women now. Like their mom and dad, they are substantial and impressive people.

“I got to hug Taelor and Sydni just a couple of weeks ago, and it made me smile. To think of the pride that he would have in seeing who they are now – successful women. A decade later, he’s gone, but he’s not because he’s like a light which doesn’t quite ever go out, and his spirit lives on in all of us at this place, and it always will.

Van Pelt also recalled one of Scott’s taglines that would’ve been appropriate Saturday. North Carolina defeated Notre Dame on a four-point play in the final seconds. UNC is Scott’s alma mater, and Van Pelt thought he heard a “boo-yah” when it happened.

“There are signs, right?” Van Pelt said. “Little cosmic winks from beyond. Carolina got a four-point play in the last five seconds today to win on the road at Notre Dame. A ‘boo-yah’ from beyond. My man, Stuart Scott, forever and ever.”

Van Pelt was among the ESPN personalities to remember Scott on Saturday. Hannah Storm and Jay Harris – who also worked with Scott – did so to cap off SportsCenter before a college basketball doubleheader, as well.

Scott’s death at age 49 came just months after his now-famous speech at the ESPYS as he accepted the Jimmy V Perseverance Award amid his battle. ESPN aired his speech during V Week last month, and one of the quotes stands out as Scott’s former colleague remember him.

“When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer,” Scott told the audience. “You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live.”