Mike Golic Has Been Gone From ESPN for Nearly 8 Months, and He Already Knows What He Doesn’t Miss
An era officially ended at ESPN on Jan. 2, 2021, when Mike Golic worked his final day at the Worldwide Leader.
Golic, the longtime NFL defensive lineman, spent over 25 years at the network. In a recent interview, the former host of Mike & Mike reflected on what his life has been like since he turned in his ESPN credentials.
Mike Golic confirmed he doesn’t miss waking up early each morning
For decades, Mike Golic’s voice served as a wake-up call for millions around the United States. Radios and smartphones played his commentary and reactions to the latest news and scores in the sports world.
If Golic wanted to be the voice playing on an ESPN2 simulcast when someone woke up at 7:30 a.m. on a Monday during football season, the ex-Eagles lineman needed to be awake long before then. During a recent interview with Barrett Sports Media, Golic made it clear that, no, he doesn’t miss waking up at 4:15 a.m. to prepare for the day ahead.
“Getting up sucked, but once you start going and getting to the studio and everybody is there, I loved it. There wasn’t much I haven’t missed outside of that 4:15 alarm, which I swore every single morning. Every time 4:15 hit, I had a bad word come out of my mouth.”
Mike Golic
Golic’s radio shows, Mike & Mike and Golic & Wingo, ran from 6-10 a.m every Monday through Friday. All parties should be grateful that none of his colorful language involving waking up early ever surfaced on the air.
Golic added he does miss aspects of the sports radio experience
Golic officially retired from ESPN Radio in July 2020. Trey Wingo, his co-host, left the network several weeks later, and Golic followed him in January 2021. He worked his final event, a Fiesta Bowl matchup between No. 10 Iowa State and No. 25 Oregon, and celebrated with a cake in the booth.
The last year has been a massive change for Golic, and that’s not even including the ongoing pandemic. When he spoke with BSM, the popular commentator admitted he still missed the daily grind of getting paid to talk sports. However, a certain part of the calendar stood out far more to him than when he’d get to discuss Tom Brady or LeBron James.
“Now sometimes in the offseason, the tougher times in June and July once basketball ended, you had a lot of that downtime before football started up; those were always tough. Then it was who’s the Mount Rushmore of the NBA, who’s the Mount Rushmore of the NHL, who’s your top-10 list? It’s a great list time, or let’s reminisce about old jingles. That’s kind of wacky radio stuff.”
Mike Golic
It may have been wacky, but Golic acknowledged he treasured those days of Mount Rushmores or debating a player’s ranking on an all-time list.
“But for the most part, I do miss it,” Golic said. “I loved it.”
Golic has tried staying busy since he and ESPN parted ways
Golic will not go gentle into that good night, even if he gets to enjoy sleeping past 4:15 a.m. each day.
The Radio Hall of Famer currently participates in Sorry in Advance, a podcast created and co-hosted by the Golic family. He’s also spent time around the Notre Dame football team over the last few months. Golic and his son, Mike Jr., each played for the Fighting Irish.
Learfield IMG named Golic as the analyst on a new weekly college football package this fall. He and play-by-play Kate Scott will work 13 games this season. It will be interesting to see if Golic, who turns 59 in December, focuses primarily on serving as a game analyst in the coming years. He held that role with ESPN last season and even called Monday Night Football games in the 2000s.
For his sake, let’s hope Golic can hop on some later flights for those games and avoid the dreaded early-morning alarm. It certainly sounds like he’s benefiting from the added rest.
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