Jay Morrison has covered the Cincinnati Bengals for decades. But with two weeks to go in the regular season, he will be stepping away from his reporting duties following the tragic death of his wife, Nicki.
Morrison currently covers the franchise for Sports Illustrated and has also been on the Bengals beat at The Athletic, the Dayton Daily News and Pro Football Network.
On Monday morning, he shared a heartbreaking post on social media, saying that he watched Sunday’s Bengals victory against the Miami Dolphins with his wife on Sunday. After having a routine medical procedure, she suffered severe complications and would be taken off life support.
The post reads:
“For the first time in 14 years, I watched a Bengals game with my wife Nicki yesterday.
It will be her last.
What should have been a routine medical procedure on Friday turned catastrophic.
She has been on life support since, waiting on organ recipient matches, her final gift in a magnificently beautiful and selfless life.
We will be saying our final goodbyes today and removing her from the machines.
My heart is shattered, and my world is obliterated.
I am only sharing this publicly to let all of you know I will be stepping away from Bengals coverage for an indefinite period of time.
For those of you who know me personally and want to pay respects, there will not be a funeral. It’s something we talked about a lot a few months ago when my mom passed.
Instead, there will be a celebration of life once my daughter, son and I can compose ourselves enough to plan a party worthy enough of the most beautiful, caring, bad-ass rocker chick I’ve been proud to share a life with for 37 years.
Morrison’s mentions were filled with well-wishes from many of his colleagues who cover football throughout the media. And at his Monday press conference, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor also shared a word for the longtime reporter and his family.”
“I know Jay Morrison and his family are dealing with something tough right now. Jay, as you all know, is one of the greatest guys in this business. So thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. I hate that he’s got to go through that, but I know we’re all here for him. So I just wanted to make sure he knows that and his family knows that,” Taylor said.
We all echo those same thoughts and best wishes for Jay Morrison and his family through this difficult time.
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