During the NCAA baseball super regional held in Winston Salem, North Carolina, the 42-year-old was director of ESPN. Brown was able to fulfill his lifelong goal of working in television while being nominated for and winning two Sports Emmy Awards during his 18 years with the network. After suffering a medical emergency on Saturday, former 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes pitcher and team captain Kyle Brown died. “Kyle was a deeply admired and very accomplished member of our production team,” ESPN reporter Kris Budden remarked in a tribute to Kyle after his passing. Brown was born and raised in Washington Court House, where he participated in both football and basketball before attending Ohio State University to focus on his throwing. According to what he said on the school’s website in 2003, he started working for ABC and ESPN during his freshman year when the networks televised games in Columbus. “When Dick Vitale came to town, I practically drove for the day,” he says now. “When I was in town, I drove it everywhere.”
Brown also worked as a lead producer for “Morning Drive” on The Golf Channel. In that capacity, he frequently interacted with John Cook, a former Ohio State Buckeyes golfer, who called Brown’s passing “an unimaginable loss.” Brown’s death came in 2013. Brown was also recognized by Phil Mattingly, an Oregon State University graduate who currently works for CNN. Brown served as groomsman for Mattingly’s wedding due to his closeness to Mattingly. “I’m disgusted,” Mattingly wrote in a Twitter post, “because he was a wonderful husband and father of 4 fantastic children.” Makayla, 14, Carson, 11, Camden, 9, and Madyn, 6, all of Brown’s children, and his wife, Megan, are survived by him.
