BY DANE WINDISCH

Former NFL great Junior Seau and his tragic death have played out in the media since he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home on May 2. For the media, it’s always a sensitive topic to cover when a death such as this one happens and on top of that, to a future Hall of Fame linebacker who was still playing five years ago. ESPN was one of the networks I covered to see how the reporters acted while discussing it and what the different NFL shows on the ESPN networks responded to the death.

Former NFL great Junior Seau and his tragic death have played out in the media since he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home on May 2. For the media, it’s always a sensitive topic to cover when a death such as this one happens and on top of that, to a future Hall of Fame linebacker who was still playing five years ago. ESPN was one of the networks I covered to see how the reporters acted while discussing it and what the different NFL shows on the ESPN networks responded to the death.

During the ESPN’s NFL Live, there were former players coming on and talking about memories they’ve shared with Seau either personally or competing against him. This gave the audience a better understanding of just how Seau was as a person and player and you could see the emotion it brought to some players. No player showed more emotion on air then former teammate of Sea, Marcellus Wiley. Wiley, with tears rolling down his eyes, shared his moments with Seau and how he was as a friend and player.

When tragic events take place in sports it’s very important for all anchors and reporters to know the situation by having respect in their tone and actions while on air. ESPN’s reporters and anchors did a great job at capturing the special moments with the players being interviewed and having the utmost respect for Seau’s legacy.