Jeff Dickerson, Chicago Bears reporter at ESPN is taken too soon

No matter what you believe personally about this crazy world we live in, I think most of us can agree that dying of cancer at the age of 44 is too soon. Even worse, being an 11-year-old child and losing your father at such an early age is tragic. Top that off with losing your mother two years earlier, also to cancer, and tragedy doesn’t even seem like a strong enough word. This is what happened to the Dickerson family as ESPN’s Chicago Bears reporter, Jeff Dickerson was taken too soon.

If you are a Chicago Bears fan, most of you will know the name, Jeff Dickerson (JD). I was not lucky enough to know JD personally, but he has been a part of my life for over a decade. As an avid Chicago Bears fan who always had the dream of covering this troubled franchise, my ear was glued to both ESPN Chicago and 670 the Score. I had two people I always wanted to emulate if ever given a chance. One was Zach Zaidman (670) and the other was Jeff Dickerson (ESPN).

Zaidman no longer covers the Bears, but Dickerson has been covering the Bears for as long as I can remember. Dickerson still remains one of my favorite reporters who covers the Bears. Well, I guess past tense now needs to be used. This is such a sad day and I cannot even imagine beginning to feel what people are feeling who were close with Jeff Dickerson — not to mention what his son, Parker is going through.

A quick insight into ESPN’s Chicago Bears reporter, Jeff Dickerson

To get a better understanding of what Jeff Dickerson meant to those in the Chicago sports community and at ESPN, I encourage you to listen in to ESPN Chicago tomorrow. Here is the full lineup for tomorrow as they honor JD:

Every story that I have heard sounds like the same man I have heard over the ESPN airwaves all these years. Always positive, professional, non-biased and extremely knowledgeable of the ins and outs of the Chicago Bears. Furthermore, everyone speaks to how caring Jeff Dickerson was, no matter who you were or how much he was personally going through. The Chicago Bears released the following statement regarding Dickerson’s death:

This is just one of the many tributes that have been put out on social media. Before I share some of the others that really hit home with me, I wanted to touch on our very own Nicholas Moreano’s personal experiences with Jeff Dickerson. Moreano is one of the podcast hosts of The Chicago Audible and a contributor here at BGO. He has been blessed with earning media credentials this year, but that’s not the first time he’s encountered the infectious smile of Jeff Dickerson.

I reached out to Nick to find out if he had any more to add and he had this to say:

"On my first day covering Bears training camp as a credentialed media member, I sat near Jeff, Adam Jahns and Kevin Fishbain. He said, “Hi, I’m glad to see you finally made it.” Then as the practice continued, he turned around and gave me some tips. He told me he covered a countless number of training camps, so don’t worry too much what happens on the first day. Even though that seemed pretty straight forward, it was nice of him to even share that with me. He didn’t have to, but that’s who Jeff was."

Be sure to check out the next Chicago Audible podcast this week as I am sure Nick will have plenty to say about his experiences.

Alright, now for the many tributes that I thought should be shared. To read even more, just check out here.

Jeff Joniak is the voice of the Chicago Bears radio broadcast.

Adam Hoge wrote one of the most beautiful tributes I saw on Twitter this afternoon.

Make sure to read the full thread by Rich Campbell on Jeff Dickerson.

Alright, I think that’s enough. Again, if you’d like to keep hearing more stories, don’t forget to check out the ESPN Chicago tribute tomorrow and read more on Jeff Dickerson on Twitter and other social media outlets.

Finally, if you have any personal stories regarding Jeff Dickerson to share, please leave them in the comments.