Mike Patrick, longtime ESPN play-by-play announcer, dead at 80

Mike Patrick, a 36-year play-by-play announcer for ESPN, died of natural causes on Sunday. 

Patrick was 80 years old. 

Patrick’s doctor, as well as the City of Clarksburg, West Virginia, confirmed the longtime broadcaster’s death on Tuesday. 

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After starting his career in 1982, Patrick became well known as the voice of ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football,” a role he starred in for 18 years. 

He began that job in 1987, calling some of the best in NFL primetime until 2005. He was in the booth with former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann, and then Paul Maguire. 

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He was also well known for his roles in college football and basketball for the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” 

For college basketball, Patrick was most known as the voice for ESPN’s Women’s Final Four coverage, which began in 1996 to 2009. 

“Thursday Night Football” and “Saturday Night Football” saw Patrick provide play-by-play coverage for college football as well. 

“It’s wonderful to reflect on how I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do with my life,” Patrick said when he retired from ESPN in 2018. “At the same time, I’ve had the great pleasure of working with some of the very best people I’ve ever known, both on the air and behind the scenes.”

Before breaking out with ESPN, Patrick began working for WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania, in 1966. He would eventually take the trip down to Jacksonville, where he became WJXT-TV’s sports director.

Patrick also worked for WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., as a sports reporter and a weekend anchor. It was there where he called Maryland football and basketball games.

Other than sports, Patrick served in the U.S. military, being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force following his undergrad at George Washington University. 

Many mourned the loss of Patrick, including fellow ESPN broadcaster Dr. Jerry Lee Punch. 

“I learned so much from this man. Mike Patrick could do it all,” he wrote on X. “His preparation, his delivery, his voice inflections & his amazing dry humor made him the GOAT in my book. I was so honored to work @ESPNCFB [with] him, & so blessed to call him a dear friend. RIP Mike, u earned it.”

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