Stuart Scott’s eye appearance was the result of serious injuries and eye disease that affected his vision and eyelid.
Initial eye condition
As a teenager, Scott was diagnosed with keratoconus, a degenerative disease of the cornea that distorts vision and weakens the eye. This condition affected him for the rest of his life and made his eyes more vulnerable to later injury.
Jets mini‑camp injury
In April 2002, while filming a feature at a New York Jets mini‑camp, he was hit in the face by a football, which damaged his cornea in the eye where he had better vision. He needed surgery afterward and later developed ptosis, a drooping of the eyelid, which is why one of his eyes looked partially closed on television.
Vision loss and long‑term effects
Reports describe that he ultimately lost vision in one eye and had significant damage in the other, leaving him with major vision challenges while continuing to work on camera. He spoke publicly about being blind in one eye and adapting to read a teleprompter and do his job despite these injuries and his underlying eye condition.
