NFL reporter left fighting for his life just two years after wife's demise
For most NFL fans, becoming a league reporter who can rove on the sidelines, meet their favorite players or get inside scoops before others is a dream job to aspire to. Jeff Dickerson of ESPN lived that dream but right now he is battling the toughest battle of his life. Unconfirmed reports say he is battling colon cancer. The news comes just two years after the NFL reporter tragically lost his wife to cancer.
Jeff Dickerson's personal and professional life as an NFL reporter
Dickerson is an NFL reporter for ESPN covering the Chicago Bears. The alumnus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign began his career at ESPN on radio in Chicago. Thereafter, he moved into digital content, first focussed on Chicago and then gradually onto the wider website. He is now seen across multimedia platforms.
While his job as an NFL reporter has seen him progress professionally, his personal life has been anything but serene. He used to live in Vernon Hills, Illinois with his wife, Caitlin, and their son, Parker. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, his wife passed away from cancer. She was an inspiration to him as she battled cancer for more than seven years before finally succumbing to it.
My beautiful wife Caitlin passed away today after fighting cancer for 7.5 years. Caitlin is an inspiration. She refused to let cancer dictate her life. Caitlin was the best wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend you could ever ask for. We love her dearly.
It seems now that Dickerson needs inspiration from his late wife's struggle as he fights his own battle. It is especially tough for their son who has seen his mother pass away due to a dreadful disease and now sees his father fighting a battle of his own.
Prayers have come flooding in for the NFL reporter due to his unique circumstances and also due to the fact that, by all accounts, he seems to be a genuinely nice person. Those sending prayers to him and asking others to pray for him involve not only his NFL colleagues, but other people who may have met him in other events in different capacities.
Please say a prayer for our friend @DickersonESPN. He is battling and he needs all the good vibes and prayers we all can send his way. 🙏❤️
@thekapman @DickersonESPN All your friends in the media community are praying for you JD!
Appreciate all these messages, but please direct the good vibes to my friend @DickersonESPN. As @CourtneyRCronin said so beautifully on @ESPNRadio last night, “If you can hold JD in your thoughts, please do so.”
Was with him yesterday. He’s fighting like mad. This is for him. twitter.com/fieldyates/sta…
Jeff Dickerson helped me when I was at a low point in my career. Please send good energy his way. One of the genuine nice people in the world.
Awful news about @DickersonESPN. Colon cancer and it does not sound good. Just horrible news. I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff several years back at a Bears event. Great guy. Just horrific to hear. Best wishes to him and his family.
Dickerson has shown his colleagues across the media landscape how to approach the work with dedication and has made the industry better for it. In these tough times, the entire NFL fraternity is rooting for him to pull through. We remain in the hope of reporting an update to this story where Dickerson's condition improves.