Howie Schwab, longtime ESPN producer and host of “Stump the Schwab,” died Saturday, the network announced. He was 63 years old.
Schwab worked for the company for 26 years before spending time at Fox Sports. In the early years of ESPN’s now-famous show “First Take,” Schwab often appeared as a guest.
Schwab rose to prominence with the quiz show “Stump the Schwab”, which ran from 2004 to 2006. During the show, Schwab would compete against sports fans in a trivia game. In 2020, Schwab said Athleticism he had a record of 64-16 over the series’ 80 episodes.
“I’m proud of it. Eighty percent is really good,” he said of his winning percentage on the show. “There were many times when people were better. I admit it. I had no problem with it. I remember one time I was disappointed because this guy was an arrogant SOB who beat me and it bothered me a little. Ultimately, I’ve been through so much in sports and I’ve always been in sports, so (being perplexed) it was good.
So sad to hear of the passing of my faithful, devoted friend.@howieschwab– he was recently at my house. He had various health problems but felt well during his visit. Please, RIP pic.twitter.com/mbkiZ9h5cg
– Dick Vitale (@DickieV) April 20, 2024
Schwab’s impact on the industry
Growing up as a sports-loving and mostly unathletic kid in the 90s and early 2000s, ESPN was the primary source of entertainment in my life.
The “SportsCenter” anchors didn’t just tell you what happened during the games. They taught you to be funny when talking about these games. Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick, Linda Cohn, and Chris Berman were my Avengers (trust me, I know how cheesy that sounds).
To me, what was happening in the isolated outpost of Bristol, Connecticut, was more magical than anything Disney World had to offer. There was something confusing about all this. Wait, is there a place I could work where everyone loves sports as much as I do? And they talk about it all day?
No one represented this philosophy of “I LOVE SPORTS” better than Schwab.
GO FURTHER
Catching up with Howie Schwab, the man ESPN made into a quiz star
ESPN viewers probably never should have known who Schwab was. He was a television producer, a behind-the-scenes person who handed out nice notes and statistics to viewers. And yet, there he was, on our televisions, as the star of a show named after him – “Stump the Schwab.”
Seeing Schwab in all his intellectual glory was a peek behind the curtain for kids like me who grew up obsessed with ESPN. It revealed the type of people who filled the rooms and cabins of the world’s leading sports company. Nerds. Specifically, sports nerds.
“Stump the Schwab” only lasted three years, but the impact of Schwab’s on-air career far exceeded that brief window. In his own way, he broke the mold of the type of person who could talk about sports on television. You could be a geek. You didn’t have to be a former athlete. And more importantly, the way to win was to be informed, not to speak the loudest.
Since his passing, memories of Schwab have poured in from former ESPN players like Mike Tirico, Bruce Feldman And Doug Gottlieb. Schwab was so loved that his kindness is probably the only thing Dan Dakich And Keith Olbermann okay those days.
There are times today when you watch talking heads on sports television and wonder if they even like the sports they talk about. Schwab was the antithesis of that. He represented a joy and pure love of the sport more connected to the everyday fan. Rest easy, Schwab, and keep surprising these contestants during trivia nights in the afterlife. — Mike Smeltz, executive producer
Required reading
(Photo: Mike Windle/Getty Images for ESPN)