Mike Patrick dies at 80

BRISTOL. Conn. — Mike Patrick, ESPN’s first play-by-play announcer for its NFL coverage, has died. He was 80.

Patrick’s physician and longtime friend sent a text to friends of the longtime announcer that Patrick passed away in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sunday due to natural causes.

Patrick joined ESPN in 1982, and was with the network for 35 years.

Even though he called countless college football and basketball games, he is best known for his work on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football” from 1987 through 2005.

Patrick was teamed with Roy Firestone for the first season in 1987, before Joe Theismann became the lead analyst the following season. Paul Maguire came aboard in 1998 to make it a three-man booth. Patrick missed most of the 2004 season due to open heart surgery.

NBC took over the Sunday night package in 2006 when ESPN became the home of “Monday Night Football.”

Dick Vitale called Patrick “Mr. ACC” because of his love for doing big games from the conference.

Before joining ESPN, Patrick worked in radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Elsewhere in sports:

n NASCAR driver Katherine Legge said she has been receiving “hate mail” and “death threats” from auto racing fans after a crash last weekend at Rockingham. Legge was off the pace when she was hit by William Sawalich and collected Kasey Kahne. Legge said Tuesday on her “Throttle Therapy” podcast that “the inappropriate social media comments I’ve received aren’t just disturbing, they are unacceptable.”