Saunders was an all-star defenseman in the Montreal junior leagues, received a scholarship and played hockey at Western Michigan University from 1974 to 1976[1] with his brother, Bernie.

After the 1977–78 season, Saunders was named to the Ontario University Athletic Association All-Star team.

Saunders's memoir, Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope, which spans his three-decade career at ESPN and ABC, was published posthumously in 2017.

In 2008, he began hosting the 7pm ET Sunday SportsCenter during the NFL season with Chris Berman and analyst Tom Jackson.

[18][19][20] John U. Bacon, who co-authored Saunders's autobiography, stated in the book that the coroner found that Saunders died from a combination of an enlarged heart, complications from his diabetes, and dysautonomia, a condition that affects the part of the nervous system which regulates breathing, blood pressure and heart rate.

[21] Saunders's brain was donated to Mount Sinai School of Medicine for research, at his request.