Mike Patrick, ESPN play-by-play voice for 36 years, dies at 80 - ESPN

Mike Patrick, who spent 36 years as a play-by-play commentator for ESPN and was the network's NFL voice for «Sunday Night Football» for 18 seasons, has died at the age of 80.

Patrick died of natural causes on Sunday in Fairfax, Virginia. Patrick's doctor and the City of Clarksburg, West Virginia, where Patrick originally was from, confirmed the death Tuesday.

Patrick began his play-by-play role with ESPN in 1982. He called his last event — the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30, 2017.

Patrick was the voice of ESPN's «Sunday Night Football» from 1987 to 2005 and played a major role in broadcasts of college football and basketball. He called more than 30 ACC basketball championships and was the voice of ESPN's Women's Final Four coverage from 1996 to 2009.

He called ESPN's first-ever regular-season NFL game in 1987, and he was joined in the booth by former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann and later Paul Maguire.

For college football, Patrick was the play-by-play voice for ESPN's «Thursday Night Football» and also «Saturday Night Football.» He also served as play-by-play announcer for ESPN's coverage of the College World Series.

«It's wonderful to reflect on how I've done exactly what I wanted to do with my life,» Patrick said when he left ESPN in 2018. «At the same time, I've had the great pleasure of working with some of the very best people I've ever known, both on the air and behind the scenes.»

Patrick began 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 provided play-by-play for Jacksonville Sharks' World Football League telecasts (1973-74). He also called Jacksonville University basketball games on both radio and