Sports TV legend Dan Patrick is officially taking over from Joe Buck on AT&T's interview show "Undeniable."
The one-hour interview program will be renamed "Undeniable with Dan Patrick," as Patrick will be formally announced as Buck's successor on Tuesday. The new season is slated to begin production Sunday in Los Angeles, with NFL legend Ray Lewis in the chair opposite Patrick as the first guest.
Bobby Burack of The Big Lead first reported the news that Patrick would replace Buck. This fall, Patrick will leave his long-time role as host of NBC Sports' primetime pregame show "Football Night in America," according to the New York Post.
Buck, Fox Sports' lead announcer for NFL, MLB and golf, has hosted "Undeniable" for its first five seasons. With Buck's wife — Michelle Beisner of ESPN — recently giving birth to twin boys, Buck wanted more time with his family. Patrick volunteered.
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The host of "The Dan Patrick Show" on Fox Sports Radio, NBC Sports Network and AT&T Audience Network admires what Buck has done with the sit-down interview show, which is filmed before a live audience.
Patrick, the former SportsCenter anchor along with partner Keith Olbermann, sees an opening for retired sports champs to have "definable" interviews similar to Roy Firestone's old interview show on ESPN. He looks forward to having NFL Sundays off for the first time in a decade.
"Roy was somebody I always admired, still admired, with his ability to ask tough questions. But he also did his homework. So he was one of the true pioneers of it," Patrick said. "To bring out something that you probably haven’t heard (about interview subjects). That’s something I’ve always been fascinated with. To have them sit down in a format where they know we’re kind of in it for the long haul. Hopefully, it’s the definable interview post-career for these people."
Buck blessed the handoff to Patrick, along with executive producers Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley of Wild West Productions.
"As I step away after five seasons and 50 episodes, I could not be more proud of the show we created with 'Undeniable,'" said Buck in a statement. "It is even more than Peter and Vince and I talked about years ago when we first got together."
Patrick and AT&T Audience Network have assembled an All-Star list of interviewees for the show's sixth season. Among them: Lewis, boxing great Oscar De La Hoya, Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, world champion golfer Greg Norman gold medalist Cheryl Miller, MLB Hall of Famer George Brett and 3-time World Series champion and Cy Young Award winner Jim Palmer.
Sports fans may know the broad strokes about these people, noted Patrick, but they don't know their backgrounds or the inside stories of their triumphs and tragedies.
Patrick noted he could spend an hour alone just talking to Norman about his gut-wrenching final round loss to Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters. Then there's Palmer, the 1970s Orioles ace mostly remembered these days for his matinee-idol good looks and underwear ads for Jockey.
"It's more than Jim Palmer was a Hall of Fame pitcher — and he did an underwear commercial. It's about how he grew up: adopted. To his relationship with his manager Earl Weaver. To being a part of team for 55 years, as a player and a broadcaster," said Patrick. "So you have this accordion that’s an hour. Sometimes you have to expand it, or contract it, to fit it all in."
