Kyle Brown, an ESPN director who worked for the company for 16 years, died on Saturday. He was 42 years. Brown suffered a medical emergency during the NCAA baseball super regional in Winston Salem, North Carolina. ESPN said Brown will be remembered as “a deeply admired member of our production team — and highly accomplished, having captured two Sports Emmy Awards while working a multitude of sports from baseball and basketball to Monday Night Football and college football.”
“A former Ohio State pitcher, Kyle cherished the opportunity to have a career in sports,” ESPN said in its statement. “His ESPN family wishes to extend our deepest condolences and full support to Kyle’s loved ones, including his wife, Megan, their four children, Makayla (14), Carson (11), Camden (9), and Madyn (6), and their beloved dog Rookie.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Several of Brown’s friends reacted the to news on social media. ESPN writer Ryan McGree wrote: “Kyle Brown was a good man, proud Buckeye and an amazing maker of television. “If you’re a sports fan who has consumed any ESPN over the last decade and a half then you have benefited from Kyle’s hard work. Hug your loved ones. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.”
ESPN NFL and college football analyst Louis Riddick tweeted: “This is unspeakably sad. Kyle Brown was a rock of consistency as a professional and as a person. My interactions with him were ALWAYS upbeat, full of positivity, unconditionally supportive, full of laughter, and I left feeling better for having talked to him every time. My deepest, deepest condolences to hisfamily and loved ones.”
During an interview in 2003, Brown talked about he wanted to be involved in sports broadcasting ever since his neighbor, who was a director at ESPN at the time, brought him along to watch Ohio State take on Purdue. He was working at ESPN and ABC while attending Ohio State and recalled the first he met ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale.
“When Dick Vitale came into town I was pretty much his chauffeur for the day,” Brown said, per Ohio State’s website. “You listen to him on TV and think ‘This guy most drink Red Bull by the gallon,’ but off the air he is one of the most laid back, nicest guys in the world.”
