Advertisement

ESPN's Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson dies at 44

ESPN Monday Night Football TV camera is seen during the second half of an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)
(AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)

ESPN's Chicago Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson died Tuesday of complications from colon cancer. He was 44 years old.

The network announced his death in an obituary Tuesday afternoon. Per ESPN, Dickerson died at the same hospice center his wife Caitlin Dickerson died in with melanoma at 36 years old in 2019. He entered the hospice center last week. Dickerson is survived by his and Caitlin's 11-year-old son Parker and his parents George and Sandy Dickerson.

The Bears released a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying, "we are absolutely heartbroken to learn of the passing of our friend and colleague."

Per the Chicago Sun-Times, Dickerson got his start covering the Bears with ESPN 1000 radio in Chicago in 2001 before writing for ESPNChicago in 2009. He moved to ESPN.com full-time in 2013, where he covered the Bears until his death.

In 2020 he joined the board of the Vaughn McClure foundation, a non-profit honoring the memory of the former Bears and Atlanta Falcons beat reporter who died in 2020 at 48 years old.

Dickerson was remembered fondly Tuesday by his friends and colleagues.

“He was simply the best,” ESPN 1000 morning-show host David Kaplan told the Sun-Times. “It sounds like when people die, everyone says nice things. He was truly that guy. Never had a mean bone in his body.”