ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently lost her father, Jim. He died May 29 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
On Friday’s Around the Horn, Shelburne paid a touching tribute to her late father, heading into what will be a difficult Father’s Day weekend for the family.
Shelburne posted a nice tribute to Jim Shelburne on Instagram recently, but her comments about him on Friday’s broadcast were about as emotional a moment as you’ll find on live TV.
“I often hear athletes say, ‘I play this game because my mom would want me to or my dad would want me to,’ and I never understood that until now,” Shelburne said. “My dad was my biggest fan. I never doubted for one second how much he loved me. … In our religion, we say ‘May his memory be a blessing.’
“I was so blessed to have such a great dad my whole life, and everything I do after that I’ll think of him and I’ll think of his strength and it’s a blessing.”
“Ramona, the love that you show everyone, and your beauty, and your strength, that most surely came from an amazing father,” ATH host Tony Reali told Shelburne.
“Oh yeah,” Shelburne agreed.
“And we’re with you here the whole way,” Reali continued. “And everything you do, not just for him, but may you do it with him, forever. Happy Father’s Day.”
We send our condolences to Shelburne and her family in this time of loss.
[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.