Chris Mortensen, a longtime ESPN journalist, has died at the age of 72

For NFL watchers and readers of a certain age, Chris Mortensen was the knowledgeable insider of his generation. He first joined ESPN at a time when most sports information brokers like Mortensen were plying their trade at local newspapers. His work eventually helped develop an entire cottage industry that is ubiquitous today – sports television insiders.

Mortensen, who joined ESPN in 1991, has been a constant presence on the network's programming and platforms, from “Sunday NFL Countdown” to “SportsCenter” to ESPN Radio to the NFL Draft to Super Bowl coverage to offseason features. He has covered every Super Bowl since 1985, except for Super Bowl 50, when he was forced to take a leave of absence in 2016 after being diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. He announced on social media in September 2023 that he would be stepping away from ESPN.

ESPN announced that Mortensen died Sunday morning at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife, Mickey, and son, Alex.

Peter King, who retired last week from full-time NFL writing and whose career aligns with Mortensen's, said in an interview Sunday afternoon that Mortensen's career has been a testament to persistence.

“He belongs alongside Will McDonough in the Mount Rushmore of the NFL information men,” King said. “They're both guys. He's done it for so long and done it so well that he was the type of guy that for years no matter where I was, I would make sure I watched every bit of his clips on the pregame show on ESPN. I'm a little emotional about it because “After I retired that day, he called me. He seemed great. He called me and said a bunch of nice things. I've always valued my relationship with him and appreciated his activism.”

“Mort was widely respected as an industry leader and universally beloved as a supportive, hard-working colleague,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. “He covered the NFL with exceptional skill and passion and was at the top of his field for decades. He will be truly missed by his teammates and fans, and our hearts and thoughts are with his loved ones.”

“Absolutely devastating day,” ESPN's Adam Schefter wrote on X. “Mort was one of the greatest reporters in the history of sports, and an even better man. My deepest condolences to his family and everyone who knew and loved him. He did so much. Mort was the best of the best. We will miss him and remember him forever.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also issued a statement sending his condolences to Mortensen's family, his teammates “and the many people Chris touched throughout his life well lived.”

“It's a sad day for everyone in the NFL. I've been impressed by how hard Chris has worked to become one of the most influential and respected reporters in sports,” Goodell said. “He has earned our respect and the respect of so many others through his relentless pursuit of news but also from “Through the kindness he showed to everyone he met.” “He will be missed by many of us in the league who were fortunate to know him well beyond the stories he shared every Sunday.”

Fred Godelli, longtime Sunday Night Football producer and former lead producer of Monday Night Football and ESPN's NFL Draft coverage, called Mortensen one of the five most influential hires in ESPN's history.

“He was the first real person that ESPN hired,” Godelli said. “Suddenly, we were publishing NFL stories left and right and they were all accurate. He revamped our draft coverage. When I hired Chris for the draft, I was reading for him at The National, which a lot of people probably don't know yet. But it was a daily sports newspaper It had some great writers who unfortunately didn't last long. It really taught me and a lot of other producers and a lot of other talent how to report and get things right.

As an insider, he was bound to draw the ire of some fan bases. His reporting in 2015 drew the ire of Patriots fans during the Deflategate scandal, in which the league said the Patriots conspired to tamper with footballs to give quarterback Tom Brady an advantage in the 2014 AFC Championship Game. The story was huge at the time and Mortensen eventually A long interview with King years later admitted some errors.

Before ESPN, Mortensen covered the NFL as a reporter and columnist for The National (1989 to 1990) and served as a consultant on CBS Sports' “The NFL Today” show in 1990. He worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1983 To 1989 as a journalist. A successful writer covering the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons before becoming a national NFL writer. In 2016, he received the Pro Football Writers of America's Dick McCann Award.

King said the story he will always remember involving Mortensen was Peyton Manning's retirement break in 2016.

“The guy was sitting at MD Anderson Cancer Center in March of 2016, and he had recently been told, within the last six or seven weeks, that you have stage 4 throat cancer, and we have to start attacking this now,” King said. “Then one morning that month, we all wake up and see that Chris Mortensen has tweeted that Peyton Manning will be announcing his retirement from professional football tomorrow. I think most people know that Manning probably thought he was probably going to retire, but for Mort to break the story during… Being in the hospital receiving intensive treatment for something that was threatening to kill him, this is my Chris Mortensen story.

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(Photo: Kevin C. Cox/AAF/Getty Images)