Edward Aschoff.Photo: Edward Aschoff/Instagram
Edward Aschoff, an on-air reporter for ESPN, died on Tuesday — his 34th birthday — following a recent bout with pneumonia.
“We are very sorry to have to share the devastating news of the tragic passing of friend and ESPN colleague Edward Aschoff,” said ESPN in astatementon Tuesday. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones.”
Though a cause of death has not been reported, Aschoff had recentlycontracted pneumonia, a lung infection that kills approximately 50,000 Americans each year, according to theCDC.
College football fans will recognize Aschoff’s work from ESPN.com, SportsCenter, SEC Network and ESPN Radio, covering the sport on campuses all around the U.S.
Aschoff grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, with a father who was an Ole Miss professor and a mother who was a special education teacher at the local school district. He attended the University of Florida.
According toESPN, Aschoff was set to marry his fiancée, Katy Berteau, in April after she had proposed to him last December.
In his final Instagrampost, shared on Dec. 4, Aschoff described having pneumonia as the “absolute worst,” and thanked his fiancée for helping him through the difficult illness.
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“Having pneumonia is pretty terrible. Like the absolute worst,” he captioned aphotoof Berteau. “But it helps having this sweet angel taking care of you even when she’s risking getting this soul-crushing illness herself.”
He continued: “All the soup, tea and delicious meals have kept me from crawling into a corner and crying the days away. Love you, babe. Thanks for putting up with my 5 am coughing fits @katybert #wcw.”
Aschoff, earlier this month, had asked his followers on Twitter if they had any experience with multifocal (bilateral) pneumonia, describing himself as someone who “never gets sick.” He laterwrotethat he was on antibiotics but still spent nights coughing and sweating out a fever.
Aside from athletics, Aschoff was passionate about another figure in entertainment — Godzilla. The man loved the franchise so much that he was included as an extra in this past May’s sequelGodzilla: King of Monsters.
He was able to attend the Los Angeles premiere for the film with his fiancée to see his big-screen appearance, and he even got to meet one of the movie’s stars (and the fan’sFriday Night Lightsidol),Kyle Chandler.
“This kid who used to wake up early on Saturday morning to watch Godzilla movies until he was forced to play outside hit the red carpet at the #GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters world premiere at the @chinesetheatres in #Hollywood!”wroteAschoff on Instagram, documenting his excitement on the big day.
He added: “Oh, and I got to hang out with Coach Taylor for a second. NBD. Shoutout to @csetalent for the help and my beautiful date @katybert for letting me nerd out all night!”
source: people.com
