Mortensen was a pioneer in sports TV news. But to define him by his legendary work would not even begin to come close to best describing him. Email not displaying correctly?
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** OPINION
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** Remembering groundbreaking NFL reporter Chris Mortensen
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Longtime ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen. (Melissa Rawlins/ESPN Images.)

One of the NFL’s best and most important and influential reporters has died. But to define Chris Mortensen by his legendary work would not even begin to come close to best describing him.

Mortensen was best known by his colleagues and those who knew him as one of the nicest people they had ever come across.

Mortensen died Sunday at the age of 72. The cause of his death was not immediately announced, but he had been battling cancer for years. He was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer in January 2016 and stepped away from his full-time role at ESPN last year to, he said, “focus on my health, family and faith.”

Known simply as “Mort,” Mortensen had a long career covering the NFL, particularly at ESPN and, before that, newspapers including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He joined ESPN in 1991 and was a staple on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and various NFL shows, consistently breaking news. His biggest scoop might have been that Peyton Manning was retiring from football. In 2016, Mortensen received the Pro Football Writers of America's Dick McCann Award and was honored during the Pro Football Hall of Fame's enshrinement ceremony that year.

In an Instagram post ([link removed]) , Manning wrote, “Heartbroken. We lost a true legend. Mort was the best in the business and I cherished our friendship. I trusted him with my announcement to sign with the Broncos and with the news of my retirement. I will miss him dearly and my thoughts and prayers are with Micki & his family. Rest in peace, Mort.”

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement, “Mort was widely respected as an industry pioneer and universally beloved as a supportive, hard-working teammate. 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.”

So what made Mortensen’s work so influential?

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch wrote ([link removed]) , “He first joined ESPN at a time when most sports information brokers such as Mortensen plied their trade for local newspapers. His work ultimately helped develop an entire cottage industry that is ubiquitous today — the sports television insider.”

Peter King — who just retired last week after more than four decades of covering the NFL, mostly for Sports Illustrated — told Deitsch, “He belongs next to Will McDonough on the Mount Rushmore of NFL information people. They are the two guys. He did it for so long and did it so incredibly well that it was the sort of thing that for years no matter where I was, I would make sure that I watch every one of his segments on the ESPN pregame show. I’m a little emotional about it because after I retired the other day he called me. He sounded great. He called me and he said a bunch of nice things. I just always appreciated my relationship with him and appreciated his vigor.”

Tributes poured in across social media.

ESPN host Mike Greenberg tweeted ([link removed]) , “Chris Mortensen was one of the kindest, most generous gentlemen you could ever come across, in any field. His professionalism and decency earned him universal admiration - his enthusiasm and good nature made him everyone’s friend. His mark on the business will last a long time, his impact on those of us lucky enough to know him well will last the rest of our lives. Rest in peace, Mort. We will treasure your memory forever.”

NFL reporter Andrea Kremer, who worked with Mortensen at ESPN, tweeted ([link removed]) , “Just saw the news about Mort and an incredible, profound sadness overcame me. He was a decades long friend and someone for whom I had total admiration as a professional and love and respect as a wonderful person. My deepest condolences to Micki and Alex and so many he impacted.”

Rich Eisen, who is now at the NFL Network after working with Mortensen at ESPN, tweeted ([link removed]) , “Crushing. Mort was a delight to be around and nice to everyone.”

ESPN’s Mina Kimes tweeted ([link removed]) , “One of the kindest and funniest people I've encountered in our industry. Chris was incredibly supportive of me long before we were colleagues on TV; he had a rare combination of wit and warmth, and made everyone around him better at their jobs. I feel lucky to have known him.”

Mortensen’s longtime colleague and friend Jeff Schultz, who recently retired after a career that included long stints at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Athletic, tweeted ([link removed]) , “Crushed. Chris has meant so much to so many of us for so long. Worked together at AJC. He recently sent me a nice note after I retired. Exchanged messages. Said, ‘Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.’ He did this when he was in declining health. Prayers.”

On and on and on it went, with dozens upon dozens tweeting about how kind Mortensen was, as well as how talented.

Longtime ESPN personality Steve Levy put it the best when he tweeted ([link removed]) , “The Mort tributes are all nearly identical. That’s how you know they’re true. He led the league in being a great human, every season. This is so upsetting on every level.”

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** Succession-like
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If you read this newsletter regularly, you might remember that I was a huge fan of the HBO show “Succession.” It probably is my favorite show of all time.

It was the story of the Roy family — owners of various media properties. Throughout its four-season run, there were comparisons to media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his family.

Murdoch swears he never watched the show, and the family has always been pretty dismissive and vague when asked about it.

But now, Charlotte Freud — the 23-year-old granddaughter of Rupert and daughter of Rupert’s daughter, Elisabeth — tells The Daily Mail’s Isolde Walters and Charlotte Griffiths ([link removed]) that she was a fan of the show and, “It's totally accurate that it is based on my family. I loved watching it.”

She went on to say that her mother, Elisabeth, is very much like the “Succession” character Shiv, although her mother disagrees. To be clear, Freud added that she doesn’t have the exact same life as the ultra-spoiled Roy children, saying, “I (expletive) wish I'd had the ‘Succession’ life. When I watch it, I say to my mum, ‘Where's my helicopter?’”

Freud also said, “I've probably spent more time with Logan Roy than I have with my actual grandfather. I see him at Christmas. We don’t hang out.”


** Saturday Night Lame
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Actress Sydney Sweeney, shown here at a movie premiere last month. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Last week, I wrote a bit ([link removed]) about “Saturday Night Live.” I was commenting on how Feb. 24 host Shane Gillis blew his opportunity to talk about past racist comments and getting fired from “SNL” before even doing one show. Instead, he gave a cringeworthy and, frankly, lazy monologue. As NPR TV critic Eric Deggans wrote ([link removed]) , it was “an opportunity missed. Or a subject ducked.”

While writing about Gillis, I defended “SNL,” saying it was a better show than often given credit for. But Saturday’s show made it a tad harder to defend.

First, “SNL” has fallen into the trap of having its cold opens revolve around the latest in politics. It’s the show’s obvious attempt to seem relevant and timely, but too often falls into tropes and tired cliches: Biden is old and Trump is, well, Trump and everything that entails. Throw in the low-hanging fruit of characters such as, say, Mitch McConnell, Lauren Boebert and the like and you end up with skits that looked as if they were written 10 minutes before the show started.

They went down that familiar road again this past Saturday, joking about Biden and whether he’s up for the job of president. It was the kind of ho-hum, boring, seen-it-before cold open that “SNL” is becoming too known for.

But then it got worse.

The host was actress Sydney Sweeney, and my hope going in was that the show would be respectful enough (of the audience and Sweeney) to not go for the cheap laughs of building skits around Sweeney’s looks and, specifically, her body. But deep down, I was afraid they would go for the easy joke.

And, sadly, my fear came true.

They wrote a skit that Sweeney was a new waitress at Hooters and made more tips than any of her co-workers no matter how bad she was at her job. You can guess why.

Look, I’m not a prude. I have nothing against a late-night show getting a little naughty. But, seriously, a Hooters skit? What made it so bad was it was exactly the joke everyone thought it would be — and when it’s that predictable, when you can see it coming before anyone says a word, is it even funny? I wish the writers could’ve worked hard enough to avoid such a lazy choice, but if you are going to do a Hooters skit, at least be clever enough to do it with a twist and have her, I don’t know, get no tips for some zany reason.

But, nope, why do that when the first joke that pops into your head apparently is good enough for viewers they must think are rubes?

I’m not here to suggest that being a writer for “Saturday Night Live” is easy, or that I could do better. But I also would think that being a writer on “SNL” is a tough job to get, reserved for the very best comedy sketch writers on the planet. You would think that those talented enough to work there in the first place are talented enough to come up with something better.

Let me put it another way that gets more to the point: You would think they could come up with something funnier.


** Media tidbits
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* Semafor’s Ben Smith, the former New York Times media columnist, with “How the Times stumbled on a sensitive Israel story.” ([link removed])
* The Wall Street Journal’s Sara Ashley O’Brien with “She Was a Mommy Blogger. Now She’s Covering Trump and Kennedy on the Trail — and Making a Fortune.” ([link removed])
* The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “They are TV’s ghosts — networks that somehow survive with little reason to watch them anymore.” ([link removed])
* Mediaite’s ​​Jennifer Bowers Bahney with “NBC’s Kristen Welker Gets Pummeled By the Online Left for (Accurately) Saying Trump ‘Allegedly’ Tried to Overturn the 2020 Election.” ([link removed])
* My Poynter colleague Angela Fu with “Unionized Desert Sun journalists launch first open-ended strike in paper’s history.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* “60 Minutes” and correspondent Cecilia Vega with “Texas and federal government clash over how to deter illegal border crossings.” ([link removed])
* The Washington Post’s Ben Terris with “Lauren Boebert doesn’t want to lose the House.” ([link removed])
* Paul Farhi was a longtime media reporter for The Washington Post. Here’s a piece he wrote for The Athletic, and it’s a must-read about one of the most famous games in sports history: “Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game: Why are some saying pics or it didn't happen?” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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* Subscribe to PolitiFact’s weekly newsletter ([link removed]) . Get facts delivered straight to your inbox.
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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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