Robin Daniels: Ed is the ‘best thing that ever happened to me’

by Robin Daniels

By Robin Daniels

Life can change in an instant, and that’s what has happened to me and my family.

After midnight on July 26, my husband Ed Daniels, sports director for WGNO-TV News, suffered a massive heart attack while in Los Angeles covering the New Orleans Saints’ training camp. Ed never missed a training camp; his relationship with the Saints organization was that important to him.

He often covered Saints camp alone, but we decided to make this trip a vacation and booked a hotel in Los Angeles – one hour away from the Saints’ training site in Irvine. Ed usually stays at a hotel with other reporters near the training camp, but he wanted this year to be different.

Close to hospital

That was the first indication that God’s handprint has been on Ed and our family from the beginning of this unexpected journey we now tread. Our hotel was minutes from the Tommy Lasorda Heart Institute at Centinela Hospital where the ambulance took him. It’s no coincidence my sports-loving husband landed in a place named after legendary Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team manager Tommy Lasorda.

Other blessings have been sent our way by the countless angels who have warmed my heart and uplifted my spirit through generosity and love.

How can one express adequate gratitude for the meals, gift cards and household chores being done for us; for his friends of all faiths and walks of life who have prayed for and with us; to colleagues and athletes lending their support; the reaching out of Catholic priests including Archbishop Gregory Aymond, Ochsner chaplain Father Tom McCann (Ed’s childhood friend) for checking on us twice daily and St. Philip Neri pastor Father Andrew Rudmann, who coordinated a community rosary for Ed at St. Philip Neri Catholic Parish attended by so many people. (We watched it on livestream in Los Angeles).

I am forever indebted to Gayle Benson and the Saints organization for flying Ed home to New Orleans much sooner than we could have gotten him home.

God-guided choices

Ed’s Catholic faith has been a guiding post in his life. He was an altar server at St. Jerome in Kenner as a child. He graduated from Archbishop Rummel High School in 1975 and Loyola University in communications in 1979, interning at WVUE-TV Channel 8. After graduation, he worked in Lake Charles for a few years before returning home to New Orleans to WDSU, then WGNO-TV sports since 1991, where he has spent the majority of his career.

He has loved every aspect of his profession – whether it was radio, TV or print – and had an encyclopedic memory for sports stats and people.

He was instrumental in instituting “Friday Night Football” in 1992 on WGNO, starting the Allstate Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic basketball tournament and WGNO-TV baseball tournament. He even was a game show host of “N.O. It Alls” from 1993-96, chosen for his wit and his “game show hair,” a former news director told me.

Weekends during football season were his busiest. His schedule entailed covering prep sports on Friday nights, arriving home after Friday Night Football at 1:30 a.m., then waking up to prepare for a radio show with Kenny Trahan at 10 a.m. He loved seeing high school athletes he reported on ascend to professional ball.

On Saturdays, he covered LSU and Tulane games, then woke up on Sundays to cover the Saints games and later that night wrote a column for the Clarion Herald. He did his best to make it to the Sunday 6 p.m. Mass at St. Philip Neri where he sang in the choir. Then, on Monday mornings, he would drive to LSU for the morning press conference.

His loyalty to those he knew in and out of the sports world often had athletes calling him about family members dying and broadcast interns inviting us to weddings on a regular basis. He would attend both events when possible. Now, many of those he showed care to are calling us to check up on him.

Close, blended family

Ed and I first met at a Rummel High School football game on Nov. 2, 2002. My preconceived notions of him being like Will Ferrell’s character Ron Burgundy from “Anchorman” almost prevented me from going. My misgivings couldn’t have been more wrong. Ed was smart, kind, funny, cute, a lover of riding in the Endymion parade and, I later learned, someone who always did the right thing, no matter what the cost. And, he was extremely generous not only to family but also to random people.

Our 22-year journey has been the best years of my life, and one we both consider were meant to be. We genuinely appreciated what we had – since we had both been married before. From the beginning, our five children got along and didn’t push back from stepparenting. We truly blended.

Ed’s heart attack has hit my kids just as much as his kids. It’s definitely made our family closer than we’ve ever been. The kids have stepped up to support me and each other. Our blended family is one of my most cherished blessings.

Mutual love

Before training camp started and we were driving around Venice Beach, Ed kept telling me that I was the best thing that ever happened to him. He was the best thing that ever happened to me, too, and we’ve made beautiful memories together. His impact on my life has been immeasurable. I am a better person for knowing him, as are my children. I think the community and sports industry have also benefited greatly from my husband’s devotion and knowledge of sports.

Ed, a father and grandfather of five, husband, man of faith and trusted friend was where he was meant to be when this tragedy happened. He was living out his life’s passion – since age 6 – of covering sports. He’s now home in New Orleans where friends and family surround us with love.