John Peterson Saunders (February 2, 1955 – August 10, 2016) was a Canadian-American sports journalist. He worked for ESPN and ABC from 1986 until his death in 2016.
Early life and career
Saunders attended high school in Châteauguay. Saunders was an all-star defenseman in the Montreal junior leagues, received a scholarship and played hockey at Western Michigan University from 1974 to 1976[1] with his brother, Bernie. He transferred to Ryerson University in Toronto and played for the Rams from 1976 to 1978. After the 1977–78 season, Saunders was named to the Ontario University Athletic Association All-Star team.[2]
Saunders joined ESPN in 1986 and was the host of ESPN's The Sports Reporters, starting with the illness and subsequent death of Dick Schaap on December 21, 2001.[4][5] He previously co-hosted NFL Primetime from 1987 to 1989. He was also the secondary studio host for the network's NHL broadcasts from 1986–87 to 1987–88, filling-in for lead host Tom Mees when needed. Then, he became the lead studio host from 1992–93 until 2004 and NHL on ABC from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2000 to 2004[6][7][8][9][10] and hosted College Football on ABC from 1992 to 2015. He has also hosted ABC's coverage of baseball under the Baseball Night in America banner and was involved in ESPN's coverage earlier in his career. He also anchored the 1995 World Series for ABC.
From 2002 to 2004, and occasionally during the 2007 season, Saunders did play-by-play for ESPN's coverage of the NBA, mostly on Sunday nights. He was the studio host of ESPN's NBA Shootaround from 2004 to 2006.
He was the television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Raptors from 1995 to 2001, eventually being replaced by Chuck Swirsky.
Personal life
John was an advocate for juvenile diabetes research, having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as an adult in the early 1980s after his then-girlfriend dragged him to the hospital to get tested.[13][14] He was also a founding board member of the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research, a charity that has raised $200 million with 100% of the proceeds funding cancer research. Saunders lived in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with his wife Wanda, and two daughters. He was the brother of former National Hockey League player Bernie Saunders.[15]
Death
On August 10, 2016, Saunders's wife discovered him not breathing in their New York home. Emergency responders attended the scene but at around 4 a.m. he was pronounced dead. He was 61 years of age.[16][17] Family members stated Saunders had not been feeling well in the days leading up to his death but no specific cause of death was publicly announced, though foul play was ruled out by the authorities.[18][19][20]
John U. Bacon, who co-authored Saunders's autobiography, stated in the book that the coroner found that Saunders died from a combination of an enlarged heart, complications from his diabetes, and dysautonomia, a condition that affects the part of the nervous system which regulates breathing, blood pressure and heart rate.[21] Saunders's brain was donated to Mount Sinai School of Medicine for research, at his request. He was included in the "In Memoriam" segment at the 2017 ESPY Awards.
^"Hockey History: Player Register"(PDF). 2007-08 Western Michigan Hockey Media Guide. Western Michigan University Athletics. p. 80. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
