Former MSNBC Host Ed Schultz died Thursday (July 5), the network reported. He was 64 years old.

Schultz joined MSNBC as the host of a weekly talk program with a progressive point of view, The Ed Show, in 2009. The show stayed on the network until 2015.

More recently, he hosted a program on RT America, News with Ed Schultz.

Born in Virginia, Schultz had a brief professional football career. He then went on the air as a radio sportscaster in Fargo, N.D.

He became a conservative talk show host and his program was picked up throughout the region. He views later turned more liberal after visiting a Salvation Army cafeteria.