Legendary sports broadcaster Rich Eisen made his return to SportsCenter on Monday night and fought back tears at the end of the broadcast while paying tribute to his late colleague and friend Stuart Scott.
Eisen made an appearance anchoring ESPN’s flagship program for the first time in 22 years, with his return possible due to the NFL Network merger.
Eisen, 56, left ESPN in 2003 as an original on-air talent for NFL Network, where he has been employed since, still as one of the most recognizable faces in sports broadcasting.
During his seven years at ESPN, Scott and Eisen were nearly inseparable, hosting several editions of SportsCenter together every week.
Eisen could not have made his return without honoring Scott, who passed in January 2015 at age 49 from appendix cancer, with memories of what could have been between the duo coming to the surface on live television.
ESPN aired a package showing the best moments between the two, with cameras focusing back on Eisen solo behind the anchor desk, choking up before delivering his closing monologue remembering Scott.
Rich Eisen made his return to SportsCenter for the first time since 2003 on late Monday night
Eisen paid tribute to his longtime anchoring partner Stuart Scott, who passed away in 2015
‘It’s been a blast being here tonight. But listen, we all know there should be someone else right here, in this chair next to me, right there, as he was for my seven years in the role he referred to as my TV wife,’ Eisen said with tears in his eyes. ‘And that’s my dear late friend, Stuart Scott, who is indeed looking over my shoulder tonight.’
‘I frequently think of Stuart a lot and what he might think of the sports headlines of the day, like, say, Bill Belichick being the head football coach at his beloved school. We used to host SportsCenters after LeBron’s high school games. So what would Stuart think of James still playing at age 40, with 40,000 points?’
‘And with all these new crossing of sports TV streams like say ESPN buying NFL Network and partnering up with my daily show, what would it look like if Stuart sat in with say Ernie (Johnson), (Shaquille O’Neal), Kenny (Smith) and Charles (Barkley) when Inside the NBA comes here to ESPN this fall?’
‘I could go on and on because I miss Stuart so very much. He should be in that chair with me, with us tonight.’
Fans showed their support for Eisen being vulnerable and sharing memories of his friend, more than a decade after his passing.
‘You can tell that man loved/still loves, his old co-host and friend,’ one YouTube commenter said. ‘There is a reason that was the golden era of sports television and highlights.’
