Mike Patrick, a broadcasting legend and veteran ESPN play-by-play man, died Sunday at age 80. He died of natural causes in Fairfax, Virginia, by the account of the city of Clarksburg, West Virginia, and by his physician, his hometown.
Patrick had a 36-year career at ESPN, starting in 1982. The legendary broadcaster used to be the voice of “Sunday Night Football” starting in 1987 and left the program in 2005. He did his final broadcast at the network at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on 30th of December in 2017.
During Patrick’s outstanding career, he made a lot of in a wide array of sports. He was also a broadcaster at more than 30 ACC basketball championships and was the voice of ESPN’s Women’s Final Four broadcasts running for 13 years between 1996 and 2009. He also contributed to college football coverage, doing play-by-play of “Thursday Night Football,” “Saturday Night Football,” and the College World Series.
Patrick started working in broadcasting in 1966 with WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania. He went to Jacksonville, Florida, and was with WJXT-TV, broadcasting the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League and Jacksonville University basketball. He has a spot in the school’s Hall of Fame.
In 1975, he became a weekend anchor and sports reporter at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., and also broadcast Maryland football and basketball and preseason NFL games for Washington.
A George Washington University graduate, Patrick was also commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force.
His rich, deep voice and abiding enthusiasm for sports endeared him to generations of fans.
