John Brenkus, host of ESPN’s “Sport Science,” died Saturday at 54 years previous after “battling melancholy,” according to a statement.
“His heartbroken household and mates request privateness at the moment and encourage anybody who’s combating melancholy to hunt assist,” the assertion reads.
Brenkus created and hosted “Sport Science,” which ran from 2007 to 2017 and and received six Sports activities Emmy awards.
The community’s “SportsCenter” aired a tribute to Brenkus over the weekend.
“John was uniquely gifted and singularly good at not solely analyzing sports activities however then translating sports activities and science to generations of followers in memorable methods, as a result of John was memorable,” host Randy Scott stated through the tribute.
In 2023, Brenkus said on the “Never Shut Up” show that whereas he was residing in Utah after he bought “Sport Science” to ESPN in 2010, he fell right into a “very deep melancholy.”
“The isolation that you just really feel residing in a mountain city, the chilly climate, accidents, issues not going proper, I spiraled right into a deep, deep melancholy and I used to be flat-out suicidal,” Brenkus stated.
He credited his canine with refusing to depart him alone, prompting him to ask himself, “What am I doing?” and name his mom for assist. He later noticed a number of completely different psychiatrists and “discovered an answer.”
Brenkus added he discovered that melancholy “isn’t about being unhappy.”
“It’s about the best way we’re constructed as people having thought loops,” he stated. “And other people get caught in thought loops they usually can’t get out of their very own manner.”
Brenkus wrote “The Perfection Level” in 2010, through which he sought out the “absolute limits” of 9 athletic occasions.
For those who or somebody wants assist, name or textual content 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for psychological well being assist. Moreover, you’ll find native psychological well being and disaster sources at dontcallthepolice.com. Exterior of the U.S., please go to the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
