ESPN tried to destroy me with ‘smear campaign’ after I left

Dan Patrick had the ESPN machine behind him for all those years as a popular “SportsCenter” host.

But once he decided to move on and begin his own media venture, he had that operation against him.

Patrick alleged that the Worldwide Leader used a “smear campaign” against him following his shocking exit from the company in 2007 before launching his own version of “The Dan Patrick Show.”

“Oh, frightening. Because there was this smear campaign that started,” Patrick said of leaving ESPN on “Pardon My Take” on Wednesday. “Any radio affiliate that had my show, you’d be dropped as an ESPN affiliate if you decided you still wanted to carry me. It was heavy-handed, but I understood. It empowered me. Like, ‘Holy, s–t. I’m gonna matter. They’re gonna have to deal with me.’

“In my mind, I loved David against Goliath. I’m sure they didn’t care, but in my mind, I would tell the Danettes (colleagues), ‘These motherf–kers, man, we’re coming after them.’ I don’t think anybody was shaking in their boots because we were doing our little show.”

Patrick, 69, joined ESPN in 1989 and served as a “SportsCenter” host through 2006, while also hosting “The Dan Patrick Show” on ESPN Radio until his 2007 exit.

While he said he loved hosting “SportsCenter,” particularly the 11 p.m. version, he recalled feeling like a “fraud” while hosting the 6 p.m. edition since he believed he had mailed in a particular shift.

Patrick still intended to sign a five-year deal to remain with the company, but a talk with his wife about his role in his four children’s lives changed his outlook.

“She just said, ‘The kids are all going to be out of the house and you’re going to be a mess,” Patrick said. “She was right, and when I said no, I didn’t even know what I said no to.

“It was quick, they wanted me out.”

Patrick left ESPN in August 2007 and he relaunched his show in October 2007.

Despite some initial concerns, the show has lasted and its popularity led to it being nationally syndicated. It now streams on Peacock.

He said in 2023 he plans to keep hosting the show through 2027 before hanging up the microphone.

While leaving ESPN worked for Patrick, he cautioned that he may be the outlier.

“I probably had four people – one a big name and the other three were probably recognizable names – they wanted to know about leaving,” Patrick said on the show.

“And I said, ‘Don’t leave.’ They’re like, ‘Why?’ I go, ‘Its a million — even larger odds than that.’ I was doing the show in my attic for three years. We didn’t have it made. There was a six-month period where I made sure the Danettes cashed their checks cause I didn’t know if we were gonna make payroll. We changed ownership, and that changed everything for us, but it was not a success story. But I had to do it.”