Dan Patrick has been around for the entirety of big-time sports media, and following the shock retirement of ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Patrick revealed who he believes is the best sports insider of all time.
To Patrick, the way that the late Chris Mortensen dominated NFL news before social media and the big money of agencies and management companies puts him above today’s insiders.
“It was different back then. Now, it feels like everybody is being fed things. It felt like Mort really worked the room,” Patrick explained. “When Mort told me something, then it was true. I didn’t need a second source, I just said, ‘Alright Mort’s reporting this.’ And he was rarely wrong, but I knew who he knew, so therefore you’re getting the information.”
Patrick acknowledged some bias because his time at ESPN intertwined with Mortensen’s breakout as a reporter, but he also believes Mortensen being such a great teammate is a big part of his legacy.
“Mort was a very, very generous person and he was a great team player,” Patrick said. “So I would just lean toward that because of my relationship with Mort.”
Mortensen passed away in March 2024 after a battle with throat cancer. Mortensen began at ESPN in 1991 and was in many ways the first insider ever, taking scoops that would have been overlooked or localized into the mainstream by reporting on television.
Today, people like Adam Schefter and Wojnarowski have carried Mortensen’s work forward. But they are doing a version of what Mortensen pioneered in the 1990s while working alongside Patrick for the Worldwide Leader.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.