Mike Patrick, long time ESPN broadcaster, dies
Apr 22, 2025, 04:32 PM ET Mike Patrick, who invested 36 years as a play-by-play analyst for ESPN and was the network’s NFL voice for “Sunday Night Football” for 18 seasons, has actually passed away at the age of 80.
Patrick died of natural causes on Sunday in Fairfax, Virginia. Patrick’s physician and the city of Clarksburg, West Virginia, where Patrick originally was from, validated the death Tuesday.Patrick started his
play-by-play role with ESPN in 1982. He called his last event, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, on Dec. 30, 2017.
“Mike Patrick called countless significant events over years at ESPN and is one of the most influential on-air voices in our history,” stated Burke Magnus, president of content for ESPN. “In addition to calling ESPN’s first-ever regular season NFL game and voicing the ‘Sunday Night Football’ franchise for 18 seasons, Mike’s work on college sports was extraordinary.
“For 36 years, he called football and guys’s and females’s basketball, including the Women’s Last 4 therefore lots of historical matches in between ACC rivals Duke and UNC. Our deepest acknowledgements to Mike’s family and his many friends throughout the industry.”
Mike Patrick was the play-by-play voice for a few of college basketball’s greatest games during his 36 years with ESPN. He called more than 30 ACC championships, working alongside Penis Vitale, and anchored Women’s Final Four coverage from 1996 to 2009. ESPN Images
Patrick was the voice of ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football” from 1987 to 2005 and played a significant role in broadcasts of college football and basketball. He called more than 30 ACC basketball champions and was the voice of ESPN’s Women’s Final Four coverage from 1996 to 2009.
“I’m so sorry to discover the death of Mike Patrick. I called him Mr. ACC as he had a great love for doing the huge ACC games,” ESPN college basketball analyst Penis Vitale said Tuesday. “Mike had fantastic energy and an eager understanding of ACC basketball, and I genuinely delighted in sitting beside him calling so many special games over the years.”
Added ESPN’s Jay Bilas on social networks: “So sorry to discover of the passing of the fantastic Mike Patrick. Mike was the voice of ACC Basketball when I was a player, and I had the honor of dealing with him and calling him a buddy. Mike Patrick was a pro’s pro. RIP Mike Patrick.”
Patrick called ESPN’s first regular-season NFL game in 1987, and he was joined in the booth by previous NFL quarterback Joe Theismann and later on Paul Maguire.For college football, Patrick was the play-by-play voice for ESPN’s”Thursday Night Football “and”Saturday Night Football. “He also functioned as play-by-play commentator for ESPN’s coverage of the College World Series.”It’s wonderful to reflect on how I’ve done precisely what I wanted to do with my life, “Patrick stated when he left ESPN in 2018.”At the very same time, I have actually had the excellent pleasure of dealing with a few of the best individuals I have actually ever known, both on the air and behind the scenes. “Patrick started his broadcasting career in 1966 at WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1970, he was named sports director at WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, where he offered play-by-play for Jacksonville Sharks’World Football League telecasts(1973-74). He likewise called Jacksonville University basketball games on both radio and television and is a member of their Hall of Fame.In 1975, Patrick transferred to WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., as sports reporter and weekend anchor. In addition to those tasks, Patrick called play-by-play for Maryland football and basketball(1975-78)and NFL preseason games for Washington from 1975 to 1982. Patrick finished from the George Washington University where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Flying Force.