Former college football analyst Ed Cunningham said he is "going to be around and involved in many different ways" with football after he announced this week he is not returning to ESPN/ABC due to the danger surrounding the sport. He said the tipping point to his decision was "becoming a father." Cunningham: "I have two young sons and ... I don't want my now five-year-old to be hit like that.” He added he does not see players as “products any more." Cunningham: "These are kids and I can't separate those two and my role as an analyst." He said he took "very fair criticism for how much I sort of pulled the soapbox out" during games in recent years, but added that role "didn't fit me anymore.” Cunningham: "People don't want to hear someone on Saturday griping about the safety of the game, and that’s true. That’s why I stepped away" (“OTL,” ESPN, 8/31).
NOW YOU'RE TALKING MY LANGUAGE: Every Oklahoma football game this season "will include an audio broadcast in Spanish" for the first time. Enrique Vasquez, who is beginning his sixth season doing bilingual play-by-play for the Texans, and Alex Parra, a former OU student, "will serve as announcers." An OU spokesperson said that the pair will "work remotely for OU road games and have a booth" during home games (NORMAN TRANSCRIPT, 9/1).
NOTES: SiriusXM and ESPN is producing a 24/7 college sports channel -- ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM -- that debuted on Thursday (SiriusXM)....Learfield will produce more than 650 hours of programming and more than 90 college football games this week as the CFB season gets underway (THE DAILY)....S.F.-based digital radio platform TuneIn will provide the home and away broadcasts for every game for more than 140 FBS and FCS schools this season, having added 26 new colleges heading into '17. TuneIn has partnerships with ESPN, Fox Sports, IMG College, JMI Sports, Learfield and Outfront (TuneIn).
