Episode 40: Dan Patrick

On the 40th episode of “Great Dane Nation,” Morten is joined NSMA Hall of Fame broadcaster Dan Patrick (14:28 – 57:38). But first, he checks in with TommyFreezePops (Tom Carroll), where the guys reflect on the end of their unofficial “season 1” of the podcast (01:04)! Don’t worry, this feed will remain filled with great content from Morten and FreezePops throughout the summer!We then move to our interview with Dan, where he discusses a wide range of topics: why knowing what he wanted to do from a very young age was an advantage to him early in his career (15:44); why he almost quit broadcasting early in his career because he didn’t think he was good-looking enough (17:12); how a letter from Bob Ley while Dan was in college helped set him on a path towards ESPN (19:25); his incredible partnership with Keith Olbermann, and why the two of them never had to have a discussion about their partnership (23:11); why him and Keith tried to “get away with things” when hosting “The Big Show” together (24:35); how strange it was to go from an Average Joe to one of the most recognizable faces in all of sports (26:40); why the shows he is most proud of from his time at ESPN have to do with death (28:35); remembering Stuart Scott (31:33); getting confronted by angry athletes about how they were portrayed on “SportsCenter” (34:35); why he doesn’t regret leaving ESPN, and the story of leaving the worldwide leader to start his own project (37:03); why he decided to step away from “Sunday Night Football” after ten years with NBC Sports (44:44); why he thinks Aaron Rodgers would be a better “Jeopardy!” host than he would be, and where he thinks the Rodgers drama goes this summer (45:37); who is the one quarterback not named Patrick Mahomes that he would want to build his NFL franchise around (48:10); why he isn’t confident in Urban Meyer down in Jacksonville (49:51); and this week’s edition of “The Name Game,” featuring the biggest names in sports media (50:41).Then, TommyFreezePops is joined by Thom Cunningham for his weekly check-in with the experts from VegasInsider.com (58:26 – 01:04:02). Should bettors be looking to hedge their Milwaukee-futures-bets after falling to 0-2 against the heavily favored Nets (59:36)? How will the series between the Suns and Nuggets play out (01:00:33)? Which NBA player props should people keep an eye on over the few days (01:01:29)?Finally, we close things out with Morten’s “Game Winner” – a weekly segment where Morten monologues his biggest takeaway of the week. This week, Morten talks about Dan Patrick, and how a seemingly innocuous decision with his buddies in college led to one of the most storied careers in sports broadcasting (01:04:02).