Award-winning journalist Chris Mortensen died on Sunday. He was 72. During his time, he reported on the National Football League (NFL) for ESPN for decades. The news about Mortensen’s death was confirmed to ESPN by his family. While a reason for his death is yet to be revealed, it should be noted that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer in January 2016.
“Mort was widely respected as an industry pioneer and universally beloved as a supportive, hard-working teammate,” Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, said in a statement posted on X/Twitter.
https://twitter.com/ESPNPR/status/1764401633520484766
“He covered the NFL with extraordinary skill and passion, and was at the top of his field for decades. He will truly be missed by colleagues and fans, and our hearts and thoughts are with his loved ones,” the statement further read.
Mortensen joined the ESPN network in 1991 and reported on the NFL for over 30 years. A regular contributor to ESPN’s NFL shows and “SportsCenter,” the veteran journalist often broke news for ESPN, such as Peyton Manning retiring from the NFL in 2016.
In the same year, he received the Pro Football Writers of America’s Dick McCann Award and was honored during the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremony. In 2023, Mortensen stepped away from his role at ESPN to focus on his “health, family and faith.”
Before his stint with ESPN, he was a writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1983 to 1990. There, he covered the Falcons, Braves and the NFL.
In 1987, he earned recognition with the George Polk Award for his reporting. Mortensen’s career milestones include being among the inaugural writers hired at The National, the sports daily where he served from 1989 to 1990. Furthermore, he contributed as a columnist for The Sporting News, lent his insights to Sport magazine, and served as a consultant with CBS Sports’ “NFL Today.”
In a career spanning decades, Mortensen received 18 journalism awards and two Pulitzer Prize nominations. Commencing his journalism career at the South Bay Daily Breeze in 1969, he garnered the National Headliner Award for investigative reporting across all categories in 1978. A native of Torrance, California, Mortensen pursued his education at El Camino College before dedicating two years to military service.
Mortensen is survived by his wife Micki and son Alex.
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