Longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott died this morning at the age of 49 after a lengthy battle with cancer, the network reports.

Scott was born in Chicago and raised in North Carolina. He worked at ESPN for 22 years and leaves behind two daughters—Taelor, 19, and Sydni, 15.

At this year's ESPYS, Scott accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance just after undergoing a round of cancer surgery.

"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer," he said. "You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."

[Photo credit: AP Images]