Ed Cunningham abruptly left his job with ESPN and ABC shortly before the college football season began because he’s worried about his role in the sport and its safety. The broadcaster worked for the network covering games for more than two decades and has spent a lifetime in the NFL, but he said his time as a broadcaster, specifically for football games, is done.
“I take full ownership of my alignment with the sport,” Cunningham told the New York Times in an interview published Wednesday. “I can just no longer be in that cheerleader’s spot.”
He cited injuries, specifically traumatic brain injuries, as the reason he could no longer do the job in good faith. Cunningham, who played offensive lineman for the University of Washington and played five seasons in the NFL, said the physical toll the sport takes on athletes was too much for him to bear.
“In its current state, there are some real dangers: broken limbs, wear and tear,” Cunningham said. “But the real crux of this is that I just don’t think the game is safe for the brain. To me, it’s unacceptable.”
Perhaps the most telling quote is about a sentiment that’s often been expressed in recent years: fans don’t know whether it’s okay to cheer big hits when you now know the human toll they can take on the players suffering the blows.
“I know a lot of people who say: ‘I just can’t cheer for the big hits anymore. I used to go nuts, and now I’m like, I hope he gets up,’” Cunningham said. His eyes welled with tears. “It’s changing for all of us. I don’t currently think the game is safe for the brain. And, oh, by the way, I’ve had teammates who have killed themselves. Dave Duerson put a shotgun to his chest so we could study his brain.”
The Times piece is certainly worth reading, especially for the thoughts from Mike Patrick, who worked with Cunningham in the booth for more than a decade. The football world is changing these days, and many of the people involved in that world are coming to terms with what we’ve learned about the sport. For many it’s not something they’ve found sustainable.
