Dick Schaap
September 27, 1934 - December 21, 2002

Award-Winning Author and Sportscaster

Dick Schaap


Emmy-winning sports broadcaster Dick Schaap died on Friday, December 21, of complications following hip replacement surgery at a New York hospital. He was 67.

Schaap won two sports Emmy Awards for his work on ESPN and three Emmys for features on ABC's "20/20" and ABC's "World News Tonight."

Schaap was host of "The Sporting Life With Dick Schaap" on ESPN Radio, host of "Schaap One on One" on ESPN Classic, and co-hosted ESPN's "Sports Reporters" with his son, Jeremy.

He also wrote more than 30 books, including the 1968 best seller "Instant Replay," the first of four collaborations with former Green Bay Packers lineman Jerry Kramer.

He published his autobiography, "Flashing Before My Eyes," earlier this year.

A native of Brooklyn, Schaap graduated from Cornell University in 1955 and attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Schaap worked for Newsweek from 1959 to 1963, then at the New York Herald Tribune from 1964 to 1966, first as city editor and later as a columnist. He was with NBC from 1971 to 1980, serving as a correspondent for the "NBC Nightly News" and the "Today" show. He was also editor of Sport magazine from 1973 to 1977.

He is survived by his wife, Trish, and six children, including ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap.