Former Bears tight end Chris Gedney passed away Friday at the age of 47.
Gedney was selected by the Bears in the third round of the 1993 draft out of Syracuse. He was plagued by multiple injuries while appearing in 28 games with 12 starts over four seasons in Chicago, catching 28 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns.
Chris Gedney
After leaving the Bears, Gedney played three seasons with the Cardinals, recording 55 receptions for 607 yards and five TDs while playing in 45 games with nine starts.
A consensus All-American at Syracuse in 1992, Gedney helped lead the Orange to four bowl games and set school records for receptions by a tight end in a season (34 in 1992) and career (91). He was named to Syracuse's All-Century football team in 2002 and is a member of the school's sports Hall of Fame.
Gedney had returned to Syracuse, working as senior associate athletic director since 2011 and serving as a color analyst for the school's football games.
According to his bio on the Syracuse website, Gedney began his broadcasting career in 1996 with Classic Worldwide Productions, where he collaborated on weekly broadcasts with a focus on professional and NCAA Division I athletics.
He was a football analyst on XTRA Sports 910 Radio for Arizona Cardinal broadcasts and the Insight.com Bowl, was a pre- and post-game host for Cardinals home game broadcasts and was a guest NFL analyst on the Arizona Fox Sports Network. Gedney worked in private business for six years with National City Mortgage, Meritage Mortgage Corporation and Countrywide.
Gedney was active in the community. He served on the National Down Syndrome Society Board of Directors, the Imagine Syracuse Executive Board of Directors, and was very active with the New York State Special Olympics. For seven years, Gedney volunteered for the Southwest Chapter of Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America as a fund raiser and spokesperson and he served three years on the board of executive directors, including a year as president.
