The Fund Set Up For Jeff Dickerson's Son, Parker, Is Fast Approaching $1 Million Dollars Raised!
Chicago Tribune - The NFL and Chicago sports communities have helped raise more than $750,000 to support the family of late ESPN reporter Jeff Dickerson, who died Tuesday at the age of 44 after a year-long battle with colon cancer.
Dickerson’s wife, Caitlin, died from complications from melanoma in 2019 at age 36. The couple is survived by their 11-year-old son, Parker.
Parker’s aunt started a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $100,000 to support his education, health and athletics, his love of which is well known to anyone who knew Dickerson.
In less than 48 hours, some of the biggest names in the NFL, Chicago sports and media contributed in honor of Dickerson, who was known for his talent and professionalism as a journalist and his positivity, kindness, humor and love of his family.
The Bears, the team Dickerson covered for 20 years, donated $25,000. So too did Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay and Washington Football Team owners Dan and Tanya Snyder.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie donated $10,000, and Chicago sports figures Tom Ricketts, Andy Dalton and Anthony Rizzo, journalist Jay Glazer and the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation were among other big donors.
Though no amount of money can make up for an 11-year-old kid losing both his parents to cancer in less than two years, it's a great thing to see people showing they care and knowing Parker's schooling and college tuition will be taken care of.
Jeff Dickerson's passing came seemingly out of nowhere, with even his closest friends and associates being caught off guard. He hid it so well with his upbeat and positive demeanor that he had many convinced he was healthy. The more I've read about the story, the more heartbreaking it gets.
I blogged about it on Tuesday and the amount of messages and outpouring of stories I got describing just how amazing this guy was, really makes me sad I never got to meet him. Sportswriters, from my personal experience crossing paths with them, sharing a cafeteria, and pissing next to them in the press box urinal at Wrigley for 6 years are some of the most miserable (and rude) people I've ever met. To see and hear them ALL speak so highly, and vividly, about Jeff's character truly says a lot.
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Major props to Adam Schefter who has been promoting this GoFundMe for Parker like a madman on Twitter and encouraging more and more big names to step up and pitch in. Love to see it.
You get the feeling this is just getting going.
You can contribute here -
There's still a lot of good people in the world.
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