A unique voice in the world of sports journalism dies way too young.

ESPN.com - Ralph Wiley, one of the original Page 2 columnists and former senior writer for Sports Illustrated, died Sunday night of heart failure. He was 52 years old.

Wiley joined Page 2 at its inception in November 2000 and had written more than 240 columns for ESPN.com.

"For the past three and a half years, Ralph has produced a body of work that was both exceptional and insightful and arguably the best sports commentary on the web," said John Walsh, executive vice president and executive editor, ESPN.

Wiley also had appeared on ESPN's "Sports Reporters" since 1990. He provided regular commentary for ESPN's SportsCenter and formerly worked as an NFL analyst for NBC.

Wiley was brash, controversial, opinionated. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him on a topic his writing invariably held your interest. For a columnist that is the ultimate compliment.