Shocking news rocked the sports world on Sunday night after the family of ESPN’s “Sports Science” host John Brenkus announced his death on social media. Brenkus was only 54 years old.
Without going into details, the post revealed that Brenkus “lost his fight” with depression at the end of May.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the news that John Brenkus has passed away,” the family’s statement said. “John, co-founder of BASE Productions, founder of Brinx.TV, and co-creator and host of the 6-time Emmy Award-winning ‘Sport Science,’ had been in a long, hard battle against depression.”
“John lost his fight with this terrible illness on May 31st, 2025. His heartbroken family and friends request privacy at this time, and encourage anyone who is struggling with depression to seek help,” the statement continued.
News of Brenkus’s tragic death reverberated across social media.
Brenkus himself was not shy about his battle with the so-called “black dog” known as depression. He spoke with former NFL star Marcellus Wiley about his descent into darkness after selling “Sport Science” to ESPN.
The “Sport Science” segments were a massive hit when aired during “SportsCenter” in the late 2000s and mid-2010s. The segments showed how huge hits impacted athletes’ bodies, along with other things that happened during games.
During the conversation with Wiley, Brenkus said he fell into a “very deep depression” after the sale of the program and was, at times, suicidal. He recounted an incident where he was close to taking his own life until his dog Zeppelin yanked on the leg of his jeans.
Brenkus credited the dog with saving his life.
“In my suicidal funk, I was like: ‘What am I doing?’ I literally picked up my phone, called my mom and said: ‘There’s something wrong with me. I am mentally lost,’” Brenkus told Wiley, according to CNN.
The road to recovery at the time consisted of a hard-fought “battle,” featuring visits to six different psychologists and psychiatrists.
Brenkus first created “Sports Science” and aired it on Fox Sports in 2007. Not long after, it was sold to ESPN.
ESPN aired a tribute to Brenkus following the news of his passing, referring to him as an “innovator, an entertainer, and an educator
