Longtime ESPN sportscaster Stuart Scott dies at 49

Stuart Scott was in his element, working a “Monday Night Football” game, when he was forced to leave for an appendix operation.

Doctors discovered a tumor during surgery and Scott was diagnosed with cancer. But he made a point of continuing to live his life – at work and outside of it.

“You beat cancer by how you live,” he would later say. “So live. Live. Fight like hell.”

That fight ended Sunday when Scott, the longtime “SportsCenter” anchor and ESPN personality known for his enthusiasm and ubiquity, died at age 49.

Scott remained dedicated to his craft even as he suffered through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

ESPN President John Skipper said in a statement that Scott was “a true friend and a uniquely inspirational figure” and that his “energetic and unwavering devotion to his family and to his work while fighting the battle of his life left us in awe, and he leaves a void that can never be replaced.”

Skipper also marveled at Scott’s dedication to keep fighting – literally.

“Who engages in mixed martial arts training in the midst of chemotherapy treatments?” Skipper said. “Who leaves a hospital procedure to return to the set?”

Fans and players at games around the United States on Sunday stopped to observe moments of silence.

Some of the world’s most famous athletes expressed their grief online. LeBron James wrote on Instagram: “Thank you so much for being u and giving us inner city kids someone we could relate to that wasn’t a player but was close enough to them.”

In July, Scott accepted the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYs. During his speech, he told his teenage daughters: “Taelor and Sydni, I love you guys more than I will ever be able to express. You two are my heartbeat. I am standing on this stage here tonight because of you.”

Scott is survived by his parents, O. Ray and Jacqueline Scott; siblings Stephen Scott, Synthia Kearney and Susan Scott; his daughters Taelor, 19, and Sydni, 15; and girlfriend Kristin Spodobalski.

Scott worked at three TV stations in the southern U.S. before joining ESPN for the 1993 launch of its ESPN2 network, hosting short sports update segments.

He often anchored the 11 p.m. “SportsCenter,” where he would punctuate highlights with an emphatic “Boo-ya!” or note a slick move as being “as cool as the other side of the pillow.”