Dan Hicks, longtime golf play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports, dies at 64 - USA Today

Longtime NBC Sports broadcaster Dan Hicks has died, the network and his wife, ESPN sportscaster Hannah Storm, announced Thursday, Nov. 12.

Hicks was 64 years old. Storm said on social media that he died following an acute illness.

Hicks spent 35 years with the network, recently covering the PGA Tour and calling Notre Dame football, and was scheduled to handle play-by-play duties for this weekend's game in South Bend, Indiana, in the "Holy War" battle between the Fighting Irish and Boston College alongside analyst Jason Garrett and sideline reporter Caroline Pineda.

The play-by-play announcer called iconic moments in golf, college football, and the Olympics, including the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, when the U.S. men’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming team, led by Michael Phelps, made one of the greatest comebacks in Olympic history to set a world record and take home the gold medal.

Hicks, a native of Tucson, Arizona, won a Sports Emmy in the Outstanding Live Special – Championship Event category as part of NBC's coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"Dan was truly one of a kind and quite simply the person everyone wanted to be around. When he walked into a room, he brought the energy, the laughter, and the people together. He was endlessly kind, thoughtful, and funny, and he made everyone feel like they mattered," Storm said on social media.

"Our three daughters and I are heartbroken. We are grateful for the love and support surrounding our family during this incredibly difficult time."

Hicks started his broadcasting career in 1989 with CNN and moved to NBC Sports in 1992, where he covered football, alpine skiing, and swimming. In 2000, he became NBC Sports' lead play-by-play broadcaster for golf and anchored The Players Championship for almost 30 years.

He called 27 PGA Tour victories for Tiger Woods, including three U.S. Open triumphs, and was in his seventh season calling Notre Dame football games.

“Dan Hicks was an extraordinary colleague, friend, and person,” NBC Sports’ Rick Cordella, Sam Flood, and Molly Solomon said in a statement. “In his 34 years at NBC Sports, he was an exceptional storyteller and caller of games and events who elevated some of the biggest moments in sports history.

“From Olympic swimming and skiing to Notre Dame Football, numerous other high-profile events and especially as the signature voice of our golf coverage for the last 26 years, Dan’s blend of knowledge, style, enthusiasm, and humor informed and entertained fans for decades. But far beyond his on-air excellence, Dan was a better person who welcomed teammates with a smile, a joke, or a word of encouragement, sometimes all three in the same sentence. Our heartfelt condolences and love to his wife Hannah and his daughters Hannah, Ellery, and Riley.”

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