Darius Rucker has a line, “Thank God for all I’ve missed, because it led me here to this.”
Dan Patrick, the venerable radio host who had a long and distinguishe✅d career as an anchor for ESPN and later NBC, had some wild near-misses over the years.
Patrick recently spoke to The Post on behalf of his book, which he co-authored with “Simpsons” writer Joel H. Cohen.
He revealed that his apparent near-misses in his broadcasting career ran🌸ged from iconic game shows to the legendary Fox NFL studio program.
Price is Right
“They were giving me the job at ‘Price is Right,'” Patrick said matter-of-factly.
He recalled that the programmers were going to erect a sample set for him in San Antonio, wh🙈ere he was hosting the NBA Finals for ESPN at the time.
He said that they informed him that he had the job, which ultimately went to Drew Carey, and then he asked, “Well what’s it pay?”
“They said, ‘If you take the job, we’ll tell you what it pays.'”
Patrick sought clarification: “So I go, ‘You want me to take this job, I don’t even know what it’ll pay me, and I’ll take over for Bob Barker.’ And they go, ‘Yes, and Bob has signed off on this, by the way.'”
I go, ‘No I’m not taking the job. You can’t even tell me what the salary is!’ I later found out it was $8-10 million.”
Jeopardy!
“I was up for ‘Jeopardy!'” Patrick said, explaining that these conversations occurred when they didn’t know if Alex Trebek was going to retire, but he ultimately ended up signing one last deal.
He said that he got a phone call from ♊former Sony Pictures TV chairman Steve Mosko, asking to meet in New Yor෴k after flying back from Paris.
Patrick asked him what this was about and Mosko answered that it was about “Jeopardy!”
He explained that it was a serendipitous moment because that very day on his radio show he had said the only job he’d ever leave it for would be “Jeopardy!”
“I think he’s having fun with me or joking with me and I said, ‘Do you know what I said on the show?’ And he goes, ‘No, I’m in France.'”
After the meeting, Trebek signed another contract, and Patrick hosted “Sports Jeopardy!” but said that made him realize that hosting the game show was not actually his dream job.
“I just wasn’t ready for that, where you’re working 50-60 days, doing 4-5 shows a day, I needed to be connected every single day doing sports. I was flattered with ‘Price is Right’ and certainly ‘Jeopardy!’ but I don’t look back and go, ‘Oh God, what if?'”
Fox NFL Sunday
Patrick’s hair may or may not have been one of the big reasons he was not offered the job hosting Fox Sports’ NFL pregame show.
“I was up for the Fox pregame show, and interviewed, was given the green light, and then something changed, and it went to Curt Menefee,” he explained
Menefee replaced James Brown, who departed🥀 for CBS, on the program 🔥in 2007.
“I wasn’t campaigning for it. I was flattered that they wanted to talk to me, and I was probably using it as leverage. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I loved ESPN,” Patrick continued.
He said he met former Fox Sports president𒀰 David Hill at a Super Bowl out in Arꦜizona.
“I remember we went out to lunch, and he wanted to talk to me about the pregame show,” he said
Patrick recalled that Hill had said he’d talked to Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw, executive producer Scott Ackerson and Fox Sports’ vice chairman Ed Goren about the possibility of succeeding Brown.
“I liked all those guys, and I remember David Hill, he gets up, and says to me in his Australian accent: ‘Two words: Cream rinse,'” Patrick said, later figuring out that Hill apparently meant that he needed to use conditioner when washing his hair.
“I thought it was some code, like to get into the building or something, but he was talking about my hair. He goes, ‘Your hair. It’s too poofy. Cream rinse.’ That was the last I heard from David Hill.”
