OT: ESPN Sports Reporters host John Saunders dead at 61

[Carnac]

John Saunders, one of the familiar on-air faces of ESPN for nearly 30 years, has died. He was 61.

[LINK]

 

[CocoHusky]

• RIP John

 

[Scoe]

Terrible he was just hosting the Sports Reporters just days ago looking like his usual self RIP. Huge loss in the sports world and a great person one of the few ESPN personalities that stayed true to himself, he was a true professional at his job.

 

[Carnac]

This is terrible news. I've been a regular viewer of the Sunday morning "Sports Reporters" sports talk program since the late Dick Schaap was the host, whom Saunders replaced. It's a bit ironic that the last two hosts of the show died while the show was currently in production.

I really liked Saunders. He was one of my favorite ESPN personalities. That's two of my favorite sports celebrities that have now passed recently. Saunders and the NFL's Dennis Green. RIP Brother John, you will be missed.

 

[VAMike23]

Shocked at his sudden passing - and poor Hannah Storm drew the unenviable task, again, of breaking this news live, just as she did when Stuart Scott passed.

John Saunders was a total pro. Classy, smooth, thoughtful and supremely articulate not just with packaged news delivery (where teleprompters and notes are an aid) but in roundtable discussions on any number of topics over many years. When you don't notice any flaws or idiosyncrasies on-air, even though the person has been on air thousands of times over decades of work, you know they are masters of their craft. (A counter example would be consider Trey Wingo.)

Gone way too soon.

 

[HGN]

I saw this report earlier.............Very sad news.

A very good sports reporter who was really easy to listen to.

RIP John.

 

[MilfordHusky]

RIP, John. You were always classy and professional and a mentor to many. You will be deeply missed.

I saw Hanna's on-air announcement. That looked really difficult and painful. I felt for her.

 

[geneticrex]

Another class act gone too soon.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Very sad. His "parting shot" on Sports Reporters each week was often deeply meaningful.

 

[cbraarj]

RIP John, you are missed. A Hall of Famer in my opinion !

 

[yanks61]

Spent about a hour with him some years ago. Very down to earth, a real gentleman. He will be missed.

 

[bags27]

It's funny how some media personalities seem unpleasant or manipulative, and others seem sincere and honorable. Sometimes it has nothing to do with what they actually say, but rather how they generally comport themselves. John Saunders was definitely among the "good people". Honest, straightforward, never tried to make himself bigger than the story, seemed to have a really good sense that, in the end, it was "just" sports. Really sad to read about it.