Another prominent ESPN personality is facing a battle with cancer.
ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen is taking a leave of absence due to Stage IV throat cancer, he announced Friday in a statement released by the network. Mortensen says he was diagnosed “[m]ore than a week ago” and that he will begin treatment “in the very immediate future.”
Mortensen has been with ESPN for 25 years and is the network’s leading NFL reporter.
Friday’s news comes on the heels of a difficult stretch for ESPN and the sports media in general. Longtime SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott passed away after a long battle with cancer last year and reporter Shelley Smith spent much of the year battling the disease. Outside of ESPN, Turner Sports’ Craig Sager missed much of the past two years due to leukemia and Fox Sports’ Steve Byrnes passed away after his own battle in April.
(Fri. news from ESPN)
