This undated photo provided by ESPN images shows ESPN college football reporter Edward Aschoff. (Rich Arden/ESPN Images via AP)
NEW YORK - ESPN reporter Edward Aschoff died on his 34th birthday after a brief illness, the network reported.
Aschoff posted on Instagram that he had come down with pneumonia after covering the Michigan-Ohio State football game on Nov. 30.
"Covering #TheGame was a lot of fun," Aschoff wrote two days after the game. "Getting pneumonia … not so much."
ESPN didn’t announce Aschoff’s cause of death, but sports reporter Steven Abolverdi blamed pneumonia.
“Devastated to hear my friend @AschoffESPN has passed away after a battle with pneumonia,” Abolverdi tweeted.
Aschoff joined ESPN in 2011 after covering football for The Gainesville Sun.
"We are very sorry to have to share the devastating news of the tragic passing of friend and ESPN colleague Edward Aschoff," ESPN said in a statement.
"Ed was one of the smartest, brightest reporters I've ever had the pleasure of working with," ESPN executive editor Lauren Reynolds said.
Aschoff leaves behind his fiancée, Katy Berteau. They planned to marry in 2020.