Top American football analyst quits over player brain damage - "walking vegetables"

Star NFL linebacker Junior Seau was found to have a degenerative brain disease, after he committed suicide in 2012. Photo / Photosport

A top American football analyst has quit his job, saying he can no longer be a cheerleader for a sport which is not safe for the brain.

Ed Cunningham, a colour analyst for ABC and ESPN college football, resigned from the plum job primarily because of his concerns over concussion, the New York Times reported.

Almost as significantly, his play-by-play caller Mike Patrick backed Cunningham saying American football was turning men into "walking vegetables".

Cunningham told the NYT: "In its current state, there are some real dangers: broken limbs, wear and tear. 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."

Reports about players including former teammates and peers suffering long-term effects and especially brain trauma led the 48-year-old Cunningham - an NFL offensive lineman for five seasons - to step down.

The NYT said Cunningham was brought to tears as he continued: "I know a lot of people who say: 'I just can't cheer for the big hits anymore. I used to go nuts, and now I'm like, I hope he gets up.'"

"It's changing for all of us. I don't currently think the game is safe for the brain. And, oh, by the way, I've had teammates who have killed themselves. Dave Duerson put a shotgun to his chest so we could study his brain."

Patrick said: "I could hardly disagree with anything he said. The sport is at a crossroads. 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?