Joe Theismann On Chris Mortensen: "He Meant The World To Me"

The late great ESPN reporter gets a powerful sendoff.

During a new installment of his podcast Bleav In Bengals With Solomon Wilcots, the titular former Cincinnati safety-turned-television analyst and broadcaster spoke with former NFL MVP quarterback Joe Theisman about their comrade, ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen, who sadly recently passed.

"He meant the world to me, Solly," Theisman said. "He was just a really special guy. If anybody could be around Chris, they'd understand in a very short period of time. Just how wonderful a human being. He was the most giving person in the world. The thing I'll always remember about him is his constant smile. He always had a nice word for somebody."

"He was always smiling," Theisman added. "You know what people forget is he was the original inside. He was the one that started all this background information that we see now in all of sports. And he was the original. And it was great to be at ESPN with them, to have a chance to be able to grow with them. We grew and as a network, we grew in our broadcasting days as Chris grew in his coverage of the NFL and and just, you know, my heart is heavy because of a dear friend that's gone.

"I tell you what he was to me," Soloman chimed in. "I came to ESPN as a a cub reporter later. I was fortunate enough to get on shows and then get on games where I went to work with you on the Sunday night NFL on on ESPN on the Sunday night show. But I remember him just calling me on a story that I was reporting on that he understood I was reporting on it even before it aired."

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Alex Bleavs in bios.