From Tiger Woods to fraternity brothers, hundreds mourn Stuart Scott in Raleigh

You could see Stuart Scott’s life in the people who filed through Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh for the ESPN anchor’s funeral visitation Friday evening.

They gathered outside the church on Glenwood Avenue at 4 p.m., 50 cars waiting by the time the broadcaster’s family opened the doors. Most of the mourners wore black suits. One wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey.

Scott died Sunday at 49, seven years after he was diagnosed with cancer. He was one of ESPN’s best-loved personalities, born in Chicago and schooled in North Carolina.

For about four hours, Scott’s children and family accepted the condolences of fraternity brothers, athletes, family friends and people who barely knew Scott.

Mourners represented his celebrity and his North Carolina roots alike, sometimes simultaneously. Sitting in a back pew, three firefighters with the Gastonia Fire Department picked out the faces they knew: They saw Synthia Kearney, Scott’s sister and a battalion chief with their department – and then they spotted golfer Tiger Woods and former North Carolina basketball star Phil Ford.

The line moved slowly, visitors and family sharing stories and laughter by the closed black casket and its bright floral bouquet. Some people remembered the face on TV, others the kid who went to R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem.

For some, he was both.

“When you saw Stuart on TV, he was still the guy I knew in undergrad. It was like he was there in my living room. He was still that guy,” said Kevin Christian, a 1990 graduate of N.C. State University.

Scott, then a cub reporter at WRAL-TV, was a frequent visitor to Christian’s fraternity at NCSU, where Scott’s brother was a member.

Twenty-four years later, the ceremony, the celebrities and a line of Raleigh police cars were a reminder of just how far Scott’s personality reached.

“I forgot the impact that he had on everybody,” Christian said.

Scott graduated Reynolds High in 1983, and later the University of North Carolina. He was an intern for ABC11 before becoming a reporter for WRAL-TV.

He joined ESPN2 at its launch, then made his way to ESPN and its headlining show, “SportsCenter.”

Throughout his career, Scott returned to Chapel Hill for “Late Night with Roy,” the well-loved introduction to UNC’s basketball season each year.

At his visitation, printed and projected photos showed Scott at play, at work and with family. In some he posed with his daughters, Taelor and Sidni, behind the anchor’s desk. In others he sloshed through mud or jumped rope, arms strong even after years of illness.

Inspiring speech

Months before his death, Scott took the stage at the ESPY sports award show on ESPN for a poignant speech, almost a farewell.

His words mirrored those of Jim Valvano, the late NCSU coach who spoke at the same awards some 21 years before as he struggled with his own cancer.

“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up,” Scott said, recalling Valvano’s famous speech. “I’m not special. I just listen to what the man said.”

Scott’s passing brought statements of mourning from President Barack Obama and a litany of the nation’s most celebrated athletes.

Scott is survived by his parents, three older siblings, his girlfriend and his children.

“The best thing I have ever done, the best thing I will ever do is be a dad to Taelor and Sidni,” Scott said in his ESPY speech.

A private funeral service will be held Saturday at Providence Baptist, with burial to follow at Raleigh Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, Scott’s family asks that donations be made in his name to the Jimmy V Foundation.

This story was originally published January 9, 2015 at 8:08 PM with the headline "From Tiger Woods to fraternity brothers, hundreds mourn Stuart Scott in Raleigh."