Ed Cunningham (born August 17, 1969) is an American sports announcer, film producer, and former professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player.
Following his career in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
, Cunningham worked as an commentator for different media outlets, most recently
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. In 2017, he resigned citing his personal concerns with safety risks posed by the sport of football.
Playing career
He played
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
for five seasons for the
Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
. Prior to his professional football career, Cunningham played center for the
Washington Huskies
The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...
, helping them win a
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
.
Sports commentator
After his football career, he became a football
analyst for
TNN (now known as Spike) calling games for the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
with Eli Gold as his broadcast partner. Cunningham also called
Arizona Rattlers games for
KUTP
KUTP (channel 45), branded on-air as Fox 10 Xtra, is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, broadcasting the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KSAZ-TV (cha ...
TV and
KGME
KGME (910 AM) is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. KGME carries a sports radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are in Phoenix near Sky Harbor International Airport.
KGME is powered at 5,000 watts, u ...
AM.
In 1997, Cunningham became a regional college football analyst for
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
. Cunningham moved over to
ABC Sports
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
in August 2000.
In 2006, with the merger of
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and ABC Sports, Cunningham began appearing as analyst on
ESPN College Football
''ESPN College Football'' is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN+, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews and ESPN Radio. ''ESPN College ...
as well.
In the years that followed, Cunningham's commentary increasingly drew the ire of college football coaches, resulting in at least two occasions where coaches responded directly to Cunningham's broadcasting commentary. These included Nebraska's Bo Pelini, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, who called comments by Cunningham "surprising and offensive," and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, who condemned Cunningham's comments regarding a Michigan player's injury. Cunningham later apologized for the Michigan comments.
Cunningham resigned from ESPN prior to the 2017 college season, citing disenchantment with football due to growing evidence of the risk of
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...
that the sport poses for its players.
Film career
Additionally, he was a producer on the documentaries ''
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'' and ''
Undefeated'' (2011), which won the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
.
References
External links
*
*
1969 births
Living people
American film producers
American football centers
American football offensive guards
American television sports announcers
Arena football announcers
College football announcers
Arizona Cardinals players
Seattle Seahawks players
Washington Huskies football players
Players of American football from Washington, D.C.
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