Jeff Duncan: Ed Daniels was the last of his kind. New Orleans sports lost a great one.

They don’t make them like Ed Daniels anymore.

He was cut from a different cloth than most of us on the New Orleans sports scene.

Tough.

Tireless.

Passionate.

Anyone who worked with, for or alongside Ed Daniels would describe him that way. He was that way when he started at WGNO in 1992, and he was that way in Year 32 at the station.

In the wake of Jim Henderson’s retirement in 2018, Ed was the last of a generation of great New Orleans sports journalism legends: Henderson, Hap Glaudi, Buddy Dilberto, Peter Finney and Bob Roesler.

Ed, who died Friday from complications after a heart attack, was the longest tenured sports broadcaster in New Orleans, having run the WGNO sports desk for more than three decades. It’s rare for someone to last 32 years in the media business anymore. It’s almost unheard to do it at one station for that long. Like Hondo at WWL-TV and Buddy D at WWL radio, Ed became synonymous with WGNO-TV.

If you worked for Ed, you were going to work. And you were going to do things right. Over the years, Ed mentored a slew of journalists and sent them on to bigger and better things. Among them: Kristina Pink, Karen Loftus and Jori Parys, who are now working in Los Angeles, Tampa and Chicago.

And even with all his experience and seniority, Ed never rested on his laurels.

No one worked harder than Ed. His passion for New Orleans sports, particularly the local prep scene, was reflected in his ubiquity. Ed was seemingly everywhere all the time. It was not uncommon to see him at Saints camp on a Friday afternoon, then to run across him on the sidelines of a prep football game later that evening, then to catch him on WGNO still later that night, anchoring his beloved “Friday Night Football” show, then to see him at Tiger Stadium on Saturday night and run into him back at the Superdome on Sunday afternoon for a Saints game. 

Ed was relentless.

And because of his passion, drive and news, Daniels earned the respect of his peers and sources. It was evident in the way coaches like Sean Payton and Dennis Allen interacted with him during press conferences. They treated Daniels differently, even when he asked them difficult questions.

Ed was never afraid to stick his nose into a controversial story. His interview with Saints quarterback Jameis Winston after the controversial ending to the Saints-Falcons game last season was a prime example.

Winston tried to downplay the incident, but Ed would have none of it. Despite their different viewpoints, Daniels maintained his professionalism throughout the entire exchange, and the two parted on good terms.

That was Ed. Tough. Fair. And always professional.

What I loved and respected most about Ed was the way he went about his business. He was an old-school throwback, the ultimate professional. A New Orleans native and proud Archbishop Rummel grad, he clearly cared about the teams he covered, but no one would ever accuse him of being a homer. He was far too professional for that.

Equally impressive, he covered the local prep beat with the same importance and sense of purpose as he did the Saints, Pelicans and LSU.

Our conversations often revolved around work, but in recent years a different side of Ed started to emerge. He and his wife, Robin, were traveling more often and seeing the world. He was enjoying time at their condo on the Florida panhandle. It felt like his life was starting to blossom, which is what made the news of his passing on Friday all the more sad to digest and difficult to comprehend.

We lost a great one in Ed Daniels. He was one of the good guys, the last of his kind. And the New Orleans sports scene won’t be the same without him.