An individual that survives what might have (or should have) killed them, often changes the manner in which they carry themselves from day to day. It does not change the way we think. It simply gives us comfort with our mortality in a way others can not empathize with. The fear of death is more prevalent in a person’s life than they realize until death occurs, or for some of us, very nearly occurs. This change ruins some people; it makes others arrogant or hostile. Others wallow in the thought of never being the person they were before. Stuart Scott became a beacon of hope for those who have to fight death daily. Stuart Scott faced death and not only beat it (twice), but inspired a nation by his courage, his strength, and his propensity to endure.
Death came for me once. He placed his hands inside of me and attempted to rip my life away. I woke up roughly 12 days later. I could barely move my body and I was stapled together from my ankles to my abdomen. My mere bump with death was far less life-altering for me than the chaos he had in store for me over the course of the following year. I remember often waking before ever opening my eyes; deciphering my thoughts for a while as I tried to gather the strength to open them.
These moments, unknown to any…
These are the moments that make men like Stuart Scott iconic.
I needed someone stronger than I was, at the time, to hold myself up to for strength. Stuart Scott was (amongst others) that pillar for me. He taught me that fighting to live, no matter the odds, is a fight that must be fought… When people love you, depend on you and believe in you. I pray that someday my fight for life will inspire my children to fight like life depends on it when the call to fight arrives; because it will arrive one day, in some way. This is how Stuart Scott spoke to me personally through his battle. He fought off death more than once. Yet even while fighting, he still inspired through his beautiful demeanor and irreverent attitude towards cancer and death.
Stuart Scott was a sportscaster, with flash. Like a martini with a cayenne, peppercorn twist. His tone and impeccable delivery were only a fraction of his verbal wheelhouse. He provided eloquent analytics combined with timely wit. He then stepped all the way out of the box with a sort of gangster flare. His words poured out of my television when I watched him, his priceless character washing over me as I attained the day’s sports information. That takes more than “Sport’s knowledge” or a “T.V. personality”. It takes an individual with a certain loquacious levity to carry such a funky tune by simply speaking. How did this man, talking about sports, make me want to pop my collar in my living room? I don’t have the answer for that, and no one does. There will only be one Stuart Scott.
Strength.
How does one define strength?
Stuart Scott died of cancer, but not for any lack of strength. At times, letting the things most precious to us go can be the strongest gesture of all. It is hard to find something more precious to most, than life itself. Stuart’s waning body finally found rest on the first Sunday of 2015. He did that because it was the stronger thing to do at that time. Stuart’s quote: “When you die, that 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.” will forever remind why I fought to be here today. The people I love. Never would I claim Stuart Scott strength. If I could some how rip off my shirt and become half the man Scott was, I would ruin every shirt I have in moments.
I’ll conclude with what Scott’s fight has meant to me. Scott concluded his amazing Espy’s speech with the reason he fought the hardest… his two young daughters. I understand that Scott’s fight was notably against cancer but I am taking his words and applying them to my life in every way I can. I did not fight cancer but my fight was hard and, like Scott, my fight was so I could be here for my family. Scott’s life has also given me clarity. I fought for my life. I’ve won for now, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what I do to make the lives of those around me better, while I am still here to do so. I will take the first Sunday of every year to evaluate my life; to step outside my point of view and try to improve my self in the ways that will make life better for those I love. It will be Stuart Scott day for me.
Stuart Scott is gone in body.
Stuart’s fighting spirit will live on in our hearts forever.
Thank you Stuart Scott.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @TheNFLDER. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
