Jeff Dickerson, Bears beat reporter for 20 years for ESPN 1000, passed away today at age 44. I didn't even know he was sick but did notice that he wasn't doing his usual Bears hits for Waddle and Silvy lately. Tragically JD lost his wife to cancer just 2 years ago. Their 11 year old son is now an orphan. Terrible. I will miss hearing JD's voice on the show. We also lost the great John Madden today. Interesting timing giving the release of his documentary this week. I've been wanting to check it out but haven't had the chance yet.
It's extremely difficult losing one parent at an early age but I can't imagine the void losing both can create.
This is a real shame on both counts. I really feel for JDs little boy, my son is just a few years younger. And of course twitter being twitter I've seen all these hot takes yesterday and today about how "toxic" Madden was, and his video games perpetuate fantasy violence and racism. Twitter is the one place that really makes me wonder about us a species sometimes, fucking hell people. Have some respect.
If interested you can donate here to support JD’s son Parker: Parker's Fund, organized by Jen Etling Hobin Looks like Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made a 10K donation.
I assume you are referring to this, which is quite possibly the worst take on Twitter that I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot!
I am genuinely sad to hear about Jeff Dickerson. Obviously its horrific for the child to lose both parents at such a young age as you guys have covered. I think a lot of us can relate to that as being one of your worst fears as a parent. I actually thought of you varder being roughly that age. Im not far off myself. As i mentioned in varders podcast thread, JD was, especially in his prime, my fav Bears reporter. He wasn't one of those Bears beat guys who would play the stooge for access, he didnt sell out, he told it like it was. He would rip the team plenty when they earned it, which they did frequently. He was actually worthy of this board. He knew his stuff inside out and when they would call him too negative in fact he was just being realistic. And like so many of us here the vast vast majority of the time he was proven right. I consider his prime years to be around the start of the Cutler era to im gonna say 2016ish. When he dropped off the airwaves and stepped back from work for personal reasons i thought it was something like cancer. We know now that wasnt the case, he had been caring for his dying wife. When he started coming back say 2019ish you could actually hear it in his voice that he'd been changed. He sounded weaker, like he'd suffered a tragedy so terrible it had shaken him right down to his very foundations. He spoke more softly now, I still loved hearing his reports the rare times they happened, but the combative edge they used to have was gone. Its total conjecture, but i do wonder if what he lost when his wife died robbed him of something that might've helped him beat it when his own fight came. RIP JD
JD was a good one. Truly sad for his son and family. Hug your loved ones...especially your kids. Listened to Tom Waddle on the radio today break down in all out tears talking about his friend. And reading all the tweets from his coworkers and peers. The guy was well respected and loved. Awful.
You make an interesting point here. Everything I've recently read about him on how he approached his own illness people would say he was always upbeat, positive, and joking in conversation. So deep down though, was it he had given up hope or reason to go on for his daughter? Not likely. Was he overwhelmed by the scope of being the only remaining parent? Possibly, or was it because he was just sick, tired, and beaten when reporting about this fucking team because the passion he once had has suddenly vanished and he has so much more important stuff on his plate than covering the misdirection of this team? Perhaps the focus he had has shifted, and rightfully it shifted to his daughter. I lost my best friend since grade school in 2007, his wife passed away 2 years later they were both in their late 40's and they left behind a son of 8 years. So I have an idea of the dynamics behind all that. I lost my wife in 2015 to cancer, I remained positive throughout the entire ordeal and then one day it hits you and it just buries you. I went off the grid for a long while, and then a friend calls to check up on me and gets me out. That simple call perhaps changed my life. All the simple things that were done for me that I would more often than not take for granted were now mine to accomplish, like making brownies, because yeah, life goes on. So when BWW says this Just remember that, and tell them how much you love them too because they need to know that every f-u-c-k-i-n-g day! Happy New Year!!!
Really great to see all the support for his kid. They started up a fund for him and people from all over...fans, media folks, NFL players and teams, and even athletes from other sports have donated. Last I saw it was nearing 900K. Pretty awesome. Not that money can heal his hurt but it's still nice to see.
