NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Ed Daniels, a veteran sportswriter whose voice became synonymous with Louisiana sports, was laid to rest Thursday following a funeral service at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church.
Daniels spent more than four decades telling the sports stories of Louisiana. Outside the church, people told stories about him. Although the atmosphere was somber, many who attended Daniels’ funeral service remembered their memories of him with a smile.
“I think back to the times when we laughed. We joked about each other. We teased each other,” said Les East, a freelance sportswriter for Crescent City Sports.
East said he and Daniels have covered sports in the region for more than 40 years, occasionally working together.
“When I think of Ed, it was his work ethic. He worked as hard as anyone I know and he made it a point to be there whenever possible to tell stories,” East said.
“If you knew Ed as a person, you saw the real man. The man behind the microphone, so to speak. The family man, the man of faith, the man who reached out to other people. How are you? What can I do for you,” said former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard.
Last month, Daniels suffered a heart attack in California while covering the Saints’ training camp for WGNO-TV. His family was desperate to get him back to New Orleans. With the help of Saints owner Gayle Benson, Daniels was flown to his hometown where he was able to die surrounded by his loved ones.
“He has touched so many lives and when I got the call, it was a no-brainer. I just said yes right away. I didn’t even think about it,” Benson said.
Benson joined a who’s who of Louisiana sports, politics and journalism to pay their final respects to Daniels.
New Orleans Saints legend Archie Manning said Daniels’ legacy will include his coverage of local high school football on Friday Night Football, the weekly show he created in the 1990s. Manning said Daniels’ commitment to high school sports will be missed.
“My grandson Arch is really affected by this, and I thought about it, there must be hundreds of high school students who have met Ed. You can’t replace Ed. He’s a hard worker. He was a serious guy, I tried to lighten him up sometimes because he got so serious, but we had fun doing it,” Manning said.
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JT Curtis, longtime head football coach at John Curtis Christian School, co-hosted Friday Night Football. Coach Curtis said Daniel’s attention to detail was contagious.
“He was always a total professional. He wanted the show to be the way I wanted my game to be on Friday night,” Curtis said.
According to people close to Daniels, he covered and reported on high school sports with the same level of care he gave to professional teams. Given that, they say Daniels would have valued someone like Cheryl Gills.
“I’ve been watching him since I was a teenager. I’m 52 now, so I’ve been watching him for a long time,” Gills said.
Gills doesn’t see herself as part of a particular scene. Like most of us, she knew Daniels through his 33 years at Channel 26. Gills simply wanted to say goodbye to the man she relied on for regular sports coverage. Gills said the number of people with the same intention was overwhelming.
“When you see all these people, it shows nothing but love. And when you feel that much love, it doesn’t matter if you have a connection to him, if you knew him or not, it’s nothing but love,” Gills said.
A Superdome spokesman said the dome will be bathed in white light Thursday night to honor Daniels’ life.
He leaves behind his wife, children and grandchildren.
If sports are a metaphor for life, Ed Daniels gave it his all on the field. Now he can finally rest.
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