Dan Patrick knows a thing or two about ESPN, and he has a message for his former employer of 18 years after they fired multiple key talents in another cost-cutting move.
Karl Ravech, a 33-year ESPN veteran, was among those fired Tuesday but didn’t find out until a reporter reached out to him requesting comment.
“I’ve been done from ESPN for 20 years now,” Patrick began on his self-named podcast. “I’m asked a lot of times about things that are going on at ESPN, and I always say ‘I don’t know.’ For the most part, I kind of leave ESPN up in Bristol, Connecticut. I had a wonderful 18 years there.
“The only thing that I would say is show dignity to those people in how you let them go. That’s all. It can’t happen that Karl Ravech is contacted by somebody wanting a comment. Thirty-three years and that’s how it ends? Show dignity. Give them that dignity.”
Patrick then commented on the way that Ryan Clark was fired, learning off camera during an appearance on “NFL Live” that he would be laid off.
“Ryan Clark is on ‘NFL Live.’ ‘Hey, it’s about to break. Let’s break the news to you right now in real time,’” Patrick continued explaining what happened. “If you get to the point where you know you’re not going to keep them, then contact them right away. Not wait. Not wait until someone gets on set. Not someone from a website is going to contact Karl Ravech. Give them the dignity they deserve. Not someone calling you saying, ‘Hey, can you comment on you being let go after 33 years?’ That, to me, that really bothered me.”
Ravech started at ESPN in May 1993 and steadily built his career from a studio anchor to the network’s baseball voice, and also worked on “Baseball Tonight.”
Patrick, who started at ESPN in 1989, and Ravech were teammates at ESPN for 14 years.
“It’s a tough conversation to have,” Patrick explained. “Bring them in. Call them. Go see them. Zoom with them. Like, 33 years and you find out for someone else other than your boss. That’s a shame. I felt really bad for Karl Ravech. He had a great run. But that’s not how you should be told that your services are no longer needed here. Give them dignity so they can prepare, and maybe they can get out in front of it.”
Patrick pointed out that Clark was told he was done because ESPN executives are fearful of a fired employee saying something live on air that they don’t want aired publicly.
Clark said he asked whoever was firing him if he was going to continue his “NFL Live” segment.
“I ask, should I be done now?” Clark recalled on X. “The answer was ‘yes.’”
“I would have said [if I was Ryan Clark] ‘Look, I’m a professional; I’m finishing the show. I promise I won’t say anything,’” Patrick explained. “That’s always what happened when people were let go or left for other jobs. They immediately took you off the air because they thought you might go on ‘SportsCenter’ or ESPN outlets and say something. And that’s why, as soon as it was announced, you’re ushered out the door. But look, it’s not the ESPN that I worked at or grew up in or was a part of. But they’re very successful.”
