Longtime NFL Reporter Chris Mortensen Passes Away at 72
Photo Credit: ESPN Images
The NFL world lost one of its greatest media members on Sunday, as Chris Mortensen passed away at the age of 72. Mortensen, a.k.a. “Mort”, started covering the NFL in 1985 with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, covering the Falcons. He spent the 1990-91 season covering the NFL for The National before transitioning to ESPN the next season, where he finished his career.
Mortensen’s career was highlighted by the awards he won and the trust that NFL players instilled in him. Mortensen received 18 journalism awards throughout his career, including the Pro Football Writers of America's Dick McCann Award and was nominated for two Pulitzer Prize awards. Mortensen even wrote a book, titled Playing for Keeps: How One Man Kept the Mob from Sinking Its Hooks into Pro Football. One of the closest connections that Mortensen had was with Peyton Manning, who trusted Mortensen to break the news of him signing with the Denver Broncos and his retirement in 2016.
Mortensen was at the center of many big stories in the NFL over the years, the Manning ones, Deflategate, and this infamous interview from 1994 with Bill Tobin, who was the General Manager of the Indianapolis Colts at the time.
Along with his writing, Mortensen was heavily involved in the TV side of ESPN’s business, making many appearances on a wide variety of shows such as SportsCenter, Sunday NFL Countdown, and Outside the Lines.
Mortensen was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer back in 2016. The fact that he was able to go on eight years while dealing with cancer was remarkable, as the five-year survival rate for someone with this condition is 39.1%.
One of the best things that Mortensen did was show everyone how to properly be a journalist. He was ethical, he was diligent, and he was precise in his craft of breaking every story as fast and as accurate as he could while being respectful to the players. Every young journalist should take notes from what he did in his career, as he is one of the best to ever be in the NFL media business.
