I ran into Stuart Scott in January of 2000.
I was working at Hyatt Regency Atlanta, which as it turned out, was selected as the media host hotel for Super Bowl XXXIV. If you have never been to a Super Bowl before, let me describe what the media host hotel looks like:
Imagine Beirut…if Beirut were organized by the most successful and meticulous TV producers available. Then add a lot of famous people in limousines.
That’s what it was like.
Before all of the producers and limos showed up, we had a very different group of people occupying our hotel. The national 4H convention. Our hotel was literally filled with 9-12 year old aspiring farmers. Those kids’ departure and the arrival of the first wave of media overlapped in a way that made for very interesting theater.
It was a Sunday. I can’t remember the time, but it must have been close to noon. As the Atrium of Hyatt Regency Atlanta was almost at capacity with 9-12 year old boys and girls, many of whom who were lamenting the end of a weekend away from home, in walked Jim Kelly.
The Jim Kelly.
I watched as throngs of kids, turned their heads. You could see the little light bulbs of recognition going off. Then it started. First a few…then a few more…then a huge crowd…all of them scrambling for a pen and something to write on, made a b-line to Jim Kelly.
The Jim Kelly.
Jim smiled. Then Jim looked a little confused. Then Jim turned and made his way to check in without being stopped and asked for his autograph.The crowd of kids had instead engulfed a smiling, larger than life, autographing at the speed of light….Stuart Scott. He was gracious, kind, and (I realized at that moment) a bit of a rock star.
I ran into Jim Kelly later that evening in one of the Hyatt’s famous glass elevators and apologized for what appeared to be a breach of NFL fan decorum by about 1000 kids. He smiled, thanked me, and then acknowledged that he didn’t have a chance when it came to outshining Stuart in front of the next generation of sports fans.
Those kids are 24-27 years old now. Jim beat cancer. So did Stuart.
Stuart said the following while receiving the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at this Year’s ESPY’s:
"When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you lived, why you lived and in the manner in which you lived," Scott said. "So live. Live. Fight like hell. And when you get too tired to fight, then lay down and rest and let somebody else fight for you."
Amen to that.
Stuart didn't lose. By his own measure, he might have just won one of the greatest fights ever fought.
To a life well lived, a fight that was indeed “fought like hell”, and a man whose legacy is still unrealized, but those 1000 kids might have something very meaningful to say about it…
So long Stuart.
You did it right Sir.
