“What is Britney doing with her life” - Mike Patrick’s random Britney Spears quip resurfaces online as ESPN announcer passes away

ESPN’s former play-by-play anchor, Mike Patrick, passed away in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sunday, April 20. According to the network, the veteran sportscaster’s doctor and the City of Clarksburg, West Virginia, confirmed his death on Tuesday, April 22. In a statement, the City of Clarksburg said (via WHO13 Des Moines):

“Mike Patrick’s voice may have fallen silent, but his legacy as one of America’s greatest sportscasters and a proud son of Clarksburg will endure. He will be deeply missed by colleagues, friends, fans, and especially by the Clarksburg community that he so deeply loved.”

After his demise, a random “Britney Spears” moment from Patrick resurfaced on X. A senior writer at The Athletic, Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini), reposted an older video of the late sports broadcaster asking a question about the Princess of Pop. Paying his respects to Patrick, Vannini wrote:

“RIP Mike Patrick, one of the great voices of ESPN college football in the 2000s and 2010s. His trademark "Holy cow" was always classic, and I'll never forget this Britney Spears moment.”

In the video, Patrick is heard commenting during the overtime between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The late sportscaster then randomly asks Todd Blackledge during the 2007 college football game:

“I have an important question. What is Britney [Spears] doing with her life?”

He added:

“What is she doing with her career?”

Mike didn’t get an answer from his co-anchor. However, at the time, Britney Spears was reportedly undergoing some personal struggles while fighting a legal battle with her former husband for the custody of her children. The following year, she was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, which inspired the Netflix documentary Britney vs Spears.

Mike Patrick, who spent 36 years at ESPN, died of natural causes

The anchor of Entertainment and Sports Programming Network’s discontinued weekly NFL-centric show, Sunday Night Football, passed away at 80 on Sunday. According to ESPN, Patrick’s doctor confirmed that he died of natural causes. The well-known broadcaster spent 36 years at ESPN from 1982 to 2018.

Mike Patrick began his career at the network with a play-by-play role. Across a career that nearly expanded to four decades, the Clarksburg native called numerous games for the network. After Patrick’s demise, ESPN’s president of content, Burke Magnus, was quoted as saying:

“Mike Patrick called countless significant events over decades at ESPN and is one of the most influential on-air voices in our history. In addition to calling ESPN's first-ever regular season NFL game and voicing the 'Sunday Night Football' franchise for 18 seasons, Mike's work on college sports was exceptional.”

Magnus added:

“For 36 years, he called football and men's and women's basketball, including the Women's Final Four and so many historic matchups between ACC rivals Duke and UNC. Our deepest condolences to Mike's family and his many friends throughout the industry.”

Patrick’s broadcasting career had begun years before he started working at ESPN. Per the network, his first job was at Somerset, Pennsylvania-based WVSC-Radio. After beginning his career in 1966, Mike worked at WJXT-TV (Jacksonville) and WJLA-TV (Washington DC) in the 1970s.

During his time in Jacksonville, Mike called the Jacksonville University basketball games on the radio and TV in the ‘70s. The sportscaster was inducted into the JU Hall of Fame for his work in 2009. Speaking about calling the Jacksonville Dolphins’ games, Mike Patrick said after receiving the honor (via jacksonville.com):

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“Professionally, it was the happiest time of my life. I can't remember having more fun doing what I was doing. Play-by-play on the radio, especially for basketball, is the biggest challenge in the world. It was a thrill for me to try and bring a picture of what was going on so specifically for people who were listening to the Dolphins games.”

Patrick did his last event for ESPN in December 2017 before retiring the following year. He called his last event “AutoZone Liberty Bowl.”

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