Ed Cunningham says he left ESPN/ABC role when he could no longer be a 'cheerleader' for dangers of football

— -- Former ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham told The New York Times?in a piece published Wednesday that he left his job earlier this year partly because of his discomfort with how the game affects its participants physically -- especially later in life.

"I take full ownership of my alignment with the sport," he told The Times. "I can just no longer be in that cheerleader's spot."

Cunningham told ESPN he was leaving his position as a college football game analyst earlier this year. He was not on the network's list of analysts released on Aug. 1. But Wednesday was the first time the former University of Washington star and five-year NFL veteran publicly shared his concern about the state of the sport.

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

Cunningham is a former teammate of Dave Duerson, who died by suicide in 2011 and was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He also played with Andre Waters and against Junior Seau, both of whom killed themselves and were found to have CTE.

"It's changing for all of us," Cunningham told The Times. "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."

The Times reported that Cunningham has displayed no Alzheimer's-like symptoms and that he was recently tested and showed no signs of brain problems.

Cunningham joined ABC Sports in 2000 and continued with ESPN/ABC until the end of last season.