Dan Patrick | |
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 Patrick on Football Night in America in Denver, September 2013 | |
| Born | Daniel Patrick Pugh (1956-05-15)May 15, 1956 (age 69) Zanesville, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Dayton |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse | Susan White |
| Children | 4 |
| Website | www |
Daniel Patrick Pugh (born May 15, 1956),[1][2] known professionally asDan Patrick, is an Americansportscaster,radio personality, andactor. He hostsThe Dan Patrick Show broadcast on radio onPremiere Networks and streaming onPeacock. He co-hostedNBC'sFootball Night in America and served as a senior writer forSports Illustrated. He worked atESPN for 18 years, where he often anchored the weeknight and Sunday 11 p.m. edition ofSportsCenter. He is unrelated toBill Patrick, who he often worked with onSportsCenter. He is also the host of the podcast "Dan Patrick Takes a Gamble", about sports wagering.
Daniel Patrick Pugh was born inZanesville to Pattie and Jack Pugh and grew up inMason, Ohio in a family with six children, four boys and two girls.[3] He was a baseball and basketball player in high school atWilliam Mason High School, where he scored a single-game personal best of 36 points (he had four games with more than 30 points in an era before thethree-point shot) and earned AP Class AA All-Ohio third-team honors. He graduated in 1974. TheCincinnati Reds wanted to sign him as a pitcher and have him play for their Rookie League team inBillings, Montana. He opted out.[4][3]
He attendedEastern Kentucky University on a basketball scholarship for two years before transferring to theUniversity of Dayton, where he majored in communications. Patrick is an alumnus of the Eta Hexaton chapter of thePhi Sigma Kappa fraternity at Dayton.[5] His father Jack worked in the computer science department at the university until he died of cancer in 1981 when Dan was 24.[6]
Before working with ESPN, Patrick was known by his surname, "Dan Pugh", as an on-air personality with the album rock-formattedWVUD andWTUE inDayton, Ohio (1979–1983). Patrick then became a sports reporter forCNN (1983–89), where his assignments included theWorld Series,NBA Finals andWinter Olympics. Patrick explained in an interview on December 10, 2021, with Zachary Levi that his boss at CNN said to adopt his middle name, Patrick, as his on-air last name. From 1989–1995, Patrick did a daily sports segment forBob & Brian, a syndicated morning show inMilwaukee, Wisconsin and in the early 1990s, he did sports updates for theColumbus, Ohio rock stationWLVQ and appeared on the morning show "Wags and Elliot."[7]
Patrick was an anchor on ESPN'sSportsCenter (1989–2006). He also hostedThe Dan Patrick Show onESPN Radio from September 13, 1999, to August 17, 2007. In the mid-1990s, Dan andKeith Olbermann were among ESPN's most recognizable faces. Olbermann used thecatch phrase "Welcome to the Big Show" when Patrick worked with him onSportsCenter. After getting reprimanded by their superiors, they began saying "This isSportsCenter" sarcastically, accidentally spawning the show's new catch phrase as well as the name of their long-running promotional campaign. When Olbermann left, Patrick said, "This isn't the Big Show anymore."[8] Patrick stated on his radio program that the ABC sitcomSports Night was a semi-fictional account of the Olbermann/Patrick anchoredSportsCenter, with Casey McCall (Peter Krause) representing Patrick. Starting on March 19, 2006, until the final game of theNBA Finals, he became the host ofABC's then-titledNBA Nation, a pregame show for the network'sNBAtelecasts.
On July 9, 2007, on his radio show, Patrick announced his departure fromESPN/ABC effective August 17, 2007, stating, "I am leaving ESPN August 17 to go out on my own and be a free agent... I think I was starting to take it (ESPN) for granted," Patrick said. He said ESPN tried to talk him out of it. If there were any animosity, he says, "I wouldn't be sticking around until August."[citation needed] ESPN's statement released to the media said Patrick would be released from his contract August 31, 2007, exactly one year early from his deal that was to run until August 31, 2008. The statement also said it would be the final comment on Patrick's departure from ESPN. "ESPN contractually bans all employees from making specific announcements of their futures on their airwaves but out of respect to Dan and all he's done for ESPN we allowed him an opportunity to end the speculation".[citation needed]
Patrick remained off of the air from ESPN Radio until August 15 for his three farewell shows.[9] He was originally reported to be returning for a final week but returned on Wednesday of that week. He named his final three shows the "Farewell for Now" tour. The last 20 minutes of his show were filled with thank-yous and looks back. Guests includedBob Costas,Bobby Knight,Joe Montana,Jerry Rice,Ken Griffey Jr., and other sports stars.Will Ferrell also made a heavily promoted appearance in character asRon Burgundy.[citation needed] August 17, 2007, was Patrick's last day on ESPN Radio.
Reaction from media sources hit the internet by storm. Many webpages, blogs, and news media outlets speculated on the reasons for Patrick's departure and his possible future. On the July 10, 2007,The Dan Patrick Show,Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick himself put some of the rumors and comments to rest.[citation needed] Patrick confirmed that he was asked by the producers ofThe Price Is Right to audition for the vacant host position but he declined.[10] The job eventually went toDrew Carey. Patrick admitted he was hurt when good friend,Sports Illustrated writerRick Reilly (who would move to ESPN) wrote, "Patrick was making one of the top 5 biggest career mistakes in entertainment history,"[citation needed] ranking right underShelley Long's leavingCheers andKatie Couric's leavingNBC'sToday show for theCBS Evening News.[citation needed]
Keith Olbermann said that it was only a matter of time before a website erroneously reported Patrick was fired from ESPN, which was what happened in some reports when Olbermann left ESPN.[citation needed] Patrick again stated he was leaving on good terms with ESPN and he could return to ESPN if he should so choose. Patrick said he wanted to be on both television and radio again, although some newspapers reported he only wanted to do radio.[citation needed]
On his new show, Patrick often relates anecdotes of his ESPN career, in both positive and negative lights. He often refers to his former employer as "The Mother Ship" (and less frequently, "ESPeon") and expresses disappointment with their practice of preventing their talent from appearing as guests on his show and frustration when an ESPN employee has agreed to come on the show only to cancel.[citation needed] Patrick is often critical of current ESPN shows and personalities (such asSportsNation,SportsCenter,First Take and former ESPN hostColin Cowherd) for stealing content from his show.[citation needed] In September 2015, Patrick was a guest on the debut episode ofSVP, a midnight (EST) version of ESPN's flagship show,SportsCenter, designed as a single-host format hosted byScott Van Pelt. The SVPSportsCenter allows for some creative empowerment for Van Pelt. This was strategically evident when Van Pelt's first in-studio interview was Patrick.[citation needed]
Patrick signed a syndication deal with Chicago-based Content Factory, which launched his new version ofThe Dan Patrick Show on October 1, 2007. It was distributed nationally byPremiere Radio Networks. The show aired live on most stations from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern, although some delayed the show into the evening. The show ran delayed onSirius XM Sports Nation on Sirius Radio channel 122 and XM Radio channel 143. It was also available as a livestream and in podcast form via Patrick's website.
In January 2009, Dan Patrick's show replacedOut of Bounds with Craig Shemon and James Washington on Premiere Radio'sFox Sports Radio network. An additional 60 affiliates were added to Patrick's portfolio in the process, bringing his affiliate count to over 200. It allowed SiriusXM Radio listeners to hear the show live on the Fox Sports simulcast on channel 247.
In August 2009,The Dan Patrick Show began to be broadcast onThe 101 Network after a show ofDIY Network in which a toy-filled "man cave" studio was built inMilford, Connecticut. The radio-only show had been produced in the attic of Patrick's home. The Dan Patrick Show features "The Danettes", who assist Dan with the show. TheDan Patrick Show became the first show to premiere on theAudience Network,DirecTV's rebranded version of The 101 Network on DirecTV channel 239 on June 1, 2011, where it aired until February 2020.
Sports Illustrated announced in October 2007 Patrick would become the magazine's senior writer contributing blogs to SI.com's "Fan Nation" and hosting the magazine'sSportsman of the Year show.SI collaborated with Content Factory to produce Patrick's website, and helped stream his radio show. Patrick talked about producing non-television content exclusively forSports Illustrated.The Dan Patrick Show began simulcasting onRoot Sports in October 2010, and onNBC Sports Network in November 2012.
On July 7, 2008, it was announced Patrick would joinNBC Sports as a co-host of the third season ofFootball Night in America with formerSportsCenter co-anchor Keith Olbermann every Sunday night beginning in September during the NFL season.[11] Patrick and Olbermann host a series of highlights on the show and a segment called "The Little Big Show" with the day's top NFL plays. "The Little Big Show" refers to Patrick and Olbermann's time at ESPN where they referred to the 11pmSportsCenter they hosted as "The Big Show."
Patrick presented theSuper Bowl XLIIItrophy after thePittsburgh Steelers won against theArizona Cardinals, and again atSuper Bowl XLVI after theNew York Giants outlasted theNew England Patriots. He contributed for the network at the2010 Winter Olympics covering the women's downhill skiing and snowboarding. He hosted NBC's2010 and2011 Stanley Cup Finals coverage. In 2012, NBC named Patrick a daytime co-host withAl Michaels for theLondon Olympics.[12] Patrick again served as the trophy presenter atSuper Bowl XLIX when theNew England Patriots defeated theSeattle Seahawks.
In March 2018, it was announced that Patrick would not return as the host of NBC'sFootball Night in America after turning down a contract offer.[13] Soon afterwards it was announced that Patrick would take over hosting duties ofUndeniable (withJoe Buck) on Audience Network.[14]
On April 29, 2014, it was announced that Patrick would hostSports Jeopardy!, a sports-themed version ofJeopardy! shown onCrackle. The series debuted September 24, 2014, and featuredAlex Trebek as a special guest reading theFinal Jeopardy! clue in the third episode. Its last episode aired on December 7, 2016.
In late October 2017, it was announced that Patrick would begin a Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting withFull Sail University inWinter Park, Florida.[15]
Patrick met his wife, Susan White, when he worked atCNN and she was a producer of CNN'sInside Politics. They have three daughters and a son.[3] He received the University of Dayton Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997[16] and was inducted into the Mason High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.[17]
Patrick has made cameo appearances in many movies and TV shows, thanks in large part to his longtime friendship with actorAdam Sandler.[citation needed]
Dan Patrick has appeared twice inmusic videos:
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