Big Red
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
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Pasch's public plea has been effective. He said numerous people have messaged him to help, including former NFL quarterback Christian Ponder and his wife, NFL Countdown host Samantha, as well as former WNBA star Rebecca Lobo, former NFL quarterback Todd Blackledge, ESPN college football analyst Tom Luginbill and Suns broadcaster Tom Leander.
Pasch said he has followed the example of his church, Compass Christian, which routinely pays off medical bills and covers car payments for those in need. Pasch prefers to pay bills directly instead of transferring money through an app like Venmo.
"It's a way to give back, and also do it in a way that is as clear and efficient as possible," Pasch said. "That's the reason we did it this way. And the response has been pretty good. People have understood that, hey, we're not just going to give out cash. We're going to pay a bill.'"
In addition to his Cardinals duties, Pasch does basketball broadcasts, and was poised to announce the Kings-Pelicans game on March 11 for ESPN. That was the night Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, which suspended the Utah-Oklahoma City game.
Pasch's game was then postponed, followed quickly by the entire NBA season. The fast-falling dominoes brought Pasch's demanding professional duties to a halt.
"I went home from Sacramento not knowing when I would get on a plane again," Pasch said. "Initially, you start to think about yourself, and it's easy to fall into this selfish cycle, where all you're doing is worrying about yourself. It's important to realize there are a lot of people in far worse situations. It's a way of holding yourself accountable, to be thinking of others.
"Going through this process, realizing how many people have been impacted by this – whether it's people in my business that are freelancers that were counting on events to pay their bills; or it's people that work in the service industry. Restaurants. Uber. It's just amazing how so many businesses have been impacted by this."
Ferguson still has a tough road ahead. Her mother and grandparents have passed away. She never knew her father, and her sister lives out of state.
"I'm pretty much orphaned, I call it," Ferguson said. "I don't have anybody."
Ferguson considers herself lucky that, in the absence of family, a stranger like Pasch stepped in.
"I reached out not expecting anything," Ferguson said. "It was kind of like, 'Let's see if the universe will help me out.' And then he wrote me. It was definitely a big weight off my shoulders."
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