Report: ESPN/ABC analyst steps down, cites brain trauma on field
A college football analyst who worked for ABC and ESPN has resigned from his position because he said, “I just don’t think the game is safe for the brain. To me, it’s unacceptable.”
Ed Cunningham, who has worked in television for nearly two decades, told the New York Times that he had growing discomfort with the damage being inflicted on the players each week.
That’s why Cunningham, 48, won’t call a game on Saturday as the new season begins.
“I take full ownership of my alignment with the sport,” he said. “I can just no longer be in that cheerleader’s spot.”
The Times suggested that while NFL players have retired early, Cunningham may be the first leading broadcaster to step away from football for a related reason. Several current and former players have said they couldn’t continue in a sport that profited from the collisions that injured or killed its participants.
Cunningham understands the future outlook of the sport hinges on more safety, especially at the youth and college levels, and he has suggestions on ways to make the game safer.
Cunningham was captain of Washington’s 1991 national championship team and a third-round draft choice in the NFL., where he was an offensive lineman for five seasons. He’s been paired for most of the last decade with the play-by-play announcer Mike Patrick for Saturday afternoon games.
That all came to an end after last season as he couldn’t move past the reaction to some of the injuries in the context of the broadcast.
“We come back from the break and that guy with the broken leg is gone, and it’s just third-and-8,” he said.