As announced on Friday, longtime ESPN reporter Mark Schwarz is retiring after 32 years with the network. His final day is Monday, Jan. 31.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Andy Hall shared Schwarz’s final report for SportsCenter, in which he detailed results from a network survey of 1,002 fans regarding how they felt about star athletes Kyrie Irving, Aaron Rodgers, and Novak Djokovic refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
As Schwarz explains in the report, fans participating in the study disapproved most strongly of how Rodgers handled being unvaccinated, in particular claiming that he was “immunized” when asked about it by media and misleading the public. Djovokic was also viewed unfavorably among those surveyed, though by less of a percentage than Rodgers. Contrast that with Irving, whom a majority of fans felt was up front about his vaccination status.
The report can be viewed below:
“The results of the ESPN study confirm one unmistakable truth about our country right now,” said Schwarz in the report. “When it comes to this virus and when it comes to the vaccine, America is a nation divided.”
As anyone who’s paid attention to the news, current events, and social media over the past couple of years, Schwarz’s final sentence applies beyond sports. (And it applies beyond COVID-19 and the vaccine for it.)
But the study and subsequent SportsCenter report do demonstrate why Irving, Rodgers, and Djovokic have dominated sports and mainstream news headlines in recent months and weeks. These are polarizing figures representing a divisive time in the country. Schwarz certainly took on a hot-button topic for his final ESPN report, not settling for a puff piece.
Kudos to Schwarz on an impressive, storied career for ESPN, with outstanding work for SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, and other network platforms. As he said in the official announcement of his retirement, Schwarz gave everything he had to his work and is ready to devote that time and energy to other aspects of his life. Here’s hoping he gets to enjoy that.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
