Turning off mic

Ed Cunningham, a longtime college football color commentator for ESPN, has left the company citing dangerous changes to the game, he revealed Wednesday in an interview with The New York Times.

“In its current state, there are some real dangers — broken limbs, wear and tear,” Cunningham said. “But the real crux of this is that I just don’t think the game is safe for the brain. To me, it’s unacceptable.

“I take full ownership of my alignment with the sport. I can just no longer be in that cheerleader’s spot.”

Cunningham is the first broadcaster known to leave football due to its increasingly violent nature and growing number of head trauma-related injuries.

Mike Patrick, who has been paired with Cunningham on Saturdays calling ABC and ESPN afternoon games for more than a decade, said he agreed with his former broadcast partner’s assessment of the game.

“The sport is at a crossroads,” Patrick told the Times. “I love football — college football, pro football, any kind of football. It’s a wonderful sport. But now that I realize what it can do to people, that it can turn 40-, 50-year-old men into walking vegetables, how do you stay silent?”

Al Michaels, the veteran broadcaster who does play-byplay for NBC’s Sunday night NFL broadcasts, told the Times he doesn’t see his role in the booth as an ethical dilemma.

“I don’t feel that my being part of covering the National Football League is perpetuating danger,” Michaels said. “If it’s not me, somebody else is going to do this. There are too many good things about football, too many things I enjoy about it. I can understand maybe somebody feeling that way, but I’d be hard-pressed to find somebody else in my business who would make that decision.”