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Dan Patrick Says He 'Stayed Three Years Longer Than [He] Should've' at ESPN: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Dan Patrick shares details about his ESPN departure, his relationship with former SportsCenter cohost Keith Olbermann, and much more on the latest episode of the SI Media Podcast.

Jimmy Traina

1. Legendary sports broadcaster Dan Patrick opened up about several topics on the most recent episode of the SI Media Podcast, including his departure from ESPN in 2007.

"I stayed three years longer than I should've because I wasn't getting better. I was there 18 years. For the first 15 it was great. For the last three, I wasn't there, mentally. 

"Everybody had left the building. The first SportsCenter I did was with Chris Berman. There was Tom Mees, there was Bob Ley, there was Chris Fowler, Mike Tirico. Steve Levy was there, then Keith Olbermann came in, Linda Cohn, Charley Steiner, Robin Roberts, Stuart Scott. We had an unbelievable group of talent there. 

"And I looked up one day and I'll never forget, I was doing the six o'clock SportsCenter and it just dawned on me during a commercial break, 'I'm the last guy here. Maybe I missed out.'

"I was loyal to a fault to ESPN, but I was fine with that. I just didn't realize the other people were going on to other things and I was stuck in a time machine. And I could never replicate what I did with Keith Olbermann. I could never come close to that. I could do other things, but I was still searching for that magic on SportsCenter, and it wasn't ever gonna be there again. That one hit me and I just remember going, 'What am I doing here?'"

Speaking of Olbermann, I asked Patrick whether he's surprised so many sports fans still want to see the duo reunite in some fashion.

"I think there's a generation that grew up on this, especially a good 15-year window when we were doing second shift, and those shows would repeat in the morning. So it's part of your adolescences or it could be college. People love nostalgia. It's like an Old-Timers' Game. 

"I was lucky that I had a partner like Keith. We balanced each other out. It was exciting. It was interesting. There was drama. We were doing something at a high level and we were changing the industry as we did it.

"I would try to be a voice of reason sometimes with him. But you wanted him in the foxhole. If he had your back, he had your back. I can never re-create that. That's why I didn't want to go back for the 40th anniversary. I fought. I just said, 'Look, I just don't want to do it.' And my wife says, 'This isn't about you. It's about all the people who watched you.' And that's why I have a smart wife."

In addition to reminiscing about his ESPN days, Patrick opened up about his serious autoimmune illness and depression; his new podcast, That Scene With Dan Patrick, exclusively on Amazon Music; ESPN people seeking advice from him about leaving the Worldwide Leader; and how Howard Stern influenced him while creating the Danettes.

You can listen to the full podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.

2. Sports are dying. Baseball is dying. Only old people watch baseball.

Now that we got that out of the way, I just want to let you know Turner Sports and Major League Baseball have extended their television deal through 2028, with the network's weekly game moving from Sunday to Tuesday night. They will continue to air one wild-card game, two division series and one LCS each season. And MLB got a lot of money. 

3. Former Ravens star receiver Steve Smith told Kyle Brandt a wild story about how working at Taco Bell ended up saving him from getting shot when he was a kid.

4. Yes, please.

5. Tony Romo can predict football, but not getting hacked on Twitter. 

6. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Saw this tweet this morning.

 And it led me to watch this great performance from Prince.

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7. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: Today is the 20th anniversary of Terrell Owens trying to celebrate a touchdown on the Cowboys' star.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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