Chris Mortensen, the ESPN journalist who covered the NFL for decades, at died at 72.
ESPN announced the news Sunday and the network referred to him as an “industry pioneer” and a “hard-working teammate,” ESPNreported.
“He covered the NFL with extraordinary skill and passion, and was at the top of his field for decades,” network chairman Jimmy Pitaro wrote in a statement. “He will truly be missed by colleagues and fans, and our hearts and thoughts are with his loved ones.”
Mortensen’s cause of death has not been announced. He had been diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer in January 2016, ESPN reported.
Last year, he announced he was going to focus on his “health, family and faith” and decrease his time at ESPN.
ON ESPN, he was on “SportsCenter” and “Outside the Lines.”
Among the writing awards he received include the George Polk Award in 1987 for reporting, the National Headliner Award for investigative reporting in all categories in 1978, and earned two Pulitzer Prize nominations alongside his 18 total awards, per ESPN. He won the Pro Football Writers of America’s Dick McCann Award in 2016.
A publicist for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Mortensen’s death “a sad day for everyone in the NFL,” ESPN reported.
“I admired how hard Chris worked to become one of the most influential and revered reporters in sports,” Goodell wrote. “He earned our respect and that of many others with his relentless pursuit of news but also with the kindness he extended to everyone he met. He will be greatly missed by many of us in the league who were fortunate to know him well beyond the stories he broke each Sunday.”
Mortensen is survived by his wife, Micki, and son, Alex, per ESPN.