Dan Hicks, a prominent play-by-play voice for NBC Sports who spent more than 30 years narrating some of the sports world’s biggest moments, from major golf tournaments to Olympic swimming pools, died Wednesday, his wife, Hannah Storm, said in a statement. He was 64.
Hicks had been married to Storm, a longtime ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor, since 1994. She said in her statement Thursday that his death was “sudden and unexpected,” though she did not say where he died.
“Dan was truly one of a kind and, quite simply, the person everyone wanted to be around,” Storm said. “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.”
Hicks was due to call Notre Dame’s game Saturday against Boston College, according to an NBC schedule released earlier this week.
Hicks joined NBC in 1992 after a short stint with CNN. At NBC, he served as play-by-play commentator for Notre Dame football, contributed to NFL coverage, was a sideline reporter on “NBA on NBC,” and played a key role in the network’s golf and Olympics coverage, including five Winter Games in which he called speed skating and alpine skiing.
He also called eight consecutive Summer Games since 1996, and among his most memorable calls was a U.S. comeback in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Games, which secured Michael Phelps’ eighth gold medal of the Games.
On the course, perhaps his most famous call came when Tiger Woods sunk a 12-foot putt to force a playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open.
“Expect anything different?” Hicks calmly voiced after waiting for the Torrey Pines crowd to erupt, summarizing the most dominant decade golf had ever seen.
Dan Hicks was a master of unscripted play-by-play, voicing many of golf’s most famous moments over the last 30 years.
Jimmy Roberts remembers his iconic call of Tiger Woods’ putt at the 2008 U.S. Open:
“Expect anything different?” pic.twitter.com/sIzzzJDt89
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) November 12, 2026
In a statement Thursday, the PGA Tour called Hicks’ work with commentator Johnny Miller “one of golf television’s defining broadcast partnerships.”
At NBC, Hicks was known for being easy to work with in production, and willing to assist other broadcasters in their careers. And at Notre Dame, Hicks’ continuity connected with fans beyond simply broadcasting games, thanks to the unique media rights agreement between the network and the school, of which Storm is a 1983 graduate.
“Dan Hicks was an extraordinary colleague, friend and person,” NBC Sports said in a statement. “He was an exceptional storyteller and caller of games and events who elevated some of the biggest moments in sports history.”
Hicks — born in Tucson, Ariz. and a graduate of the University of Arizona — became NBC’s lead play-by-play golf announcer in 2000.
“Partner,” Hicks told Miller after the 2014 U.S. Open, as NBC’s broadcasting rights to the tournament were ending, “it’s been a great ride.”
Golf’s enduring tenor
There are just a few calls in golf lore — and sports history — that can be recited word for word as if the broadcast was fused to the moment like John Williams’ score to a bicycle crossing the moon. You’ve probably never seen Woods’ putt roll in on 18 at the 2008 U.S. Open without Hicks’ words, because Hicks made the moment grander, and Hicks knew it was about the moment, not him.
He waited for the crowd to erupt. He let a quiet moment pass. And then he summarized the most dominant decade golf had ever seen with the most honest assessment: “Expect anything different?”
Hicks’ rise as NBC’s lead golf voice coincided with Woods’ peak from 2000 on. But while Woods faded, Hicks remained a constant. He called Rory McIlroy’s runaway wins and the Miracle at Medinah. Bryson versus Rory at Pinehurst was Hicks, as was J.J. Spaun’s 64-foot birdie win at Oakmont just a year ago.
But perhaps the greatest compliment to Hicks is how those NBC broadcasts were remembered for his team. Hicks understood the art of a play-by-play man, letting his 19-year partner Miller be the star in golf’s longest-running broadcast tandem. He knew how to toss it to golf’s fun uncle, Roger Maltbie, or the great Gary Koch. Hicks never took up the oxygen.
Longtime broadcaster Jimmy Roberts calls Hicks the best, but of course Roberts is biased, the way so many in the golf world are predisposed to Hicks. He was a good hang, the type Storm said everybody wants to be around. Roberts, Maltbie and Hicks formed what they called the “Supper Club.” Roberts likes to say he ate more meals with Hicks than he did with his family. The scene of Roberts and Rich Lerner mournfully reminiscing Thursday morning on Golf Channel paints the painful picture.
“This is not losing a colleague and a nice guy; this is losing a pal,” Maltbie said Thursday on the network.
Hicks understood how to make golf about the moment, and now those moments will feel a little more empty. — Brody Miller
An Olympic broadcasting icon
Hicks was the fan’s connection to scores of American gold-medal triumphs at the Olympics as the play-by-play voice of swimming, Alpine skiing and speed skating.
He was the voice of some of NBC’s most memorable Olympic moments, dating back to Atlanta in 1996, including Phelps’ entire Olympic career, with his record 23 gold and 28 medals overall across four Games from 2004 to 2016. Phelps’ career peaked in 2008, when he went 8-for-8 in gold medals in Beijing.
That year also featured one of Hicks’ great calls. In the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Phelps and the Americans faced a tough test in France. Anchor Jason Lezak entered the pool for the final leg trailing France’s Alain Bernard, the world’s best 100-meter freestyler at the time. At the turn, the U.S. seemed destined for silver — Hicks even said as much during the call — until Lezak stormed to the wall over the final 25 meters to pass and out-touch Bernard, leaving Hicks screaming in amazement.
“Here comes Lezak!” Hicks yelled. “Unbelievable at the end! He’s done it!”
Lezak’s charge gave Phelps a second gold in Beijing with six more races in his eight-gold quest. It also launched one of the most famous celebrations in U.S. Olympic history, with Phelps — the top half of his suit removed and dangling at his waist — shouting and flexing to the crowd from the pool deck.
“Phelps’ hopes alive!” Hicks said over the scene.
Hicks has also been the voice of the Olympic careers of Katie Ledecky, Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin, Caeleb Dressel and many other U.S. swimming stars.
As NBC’s lead Alpine skiing voice for the past four Winter Games, Hicks has called Mikaela Shiffrin’s entire Olympic career, from her gold medals in 2014 and 2018 to her surprising medal shutout in 2022 to her return to gold in February in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Hicks called Lindsey Vonn’s last Olympic medal in 2018 and was on the mic again in Italy when she returned and crashed in the downhill.
Hicks’ first Winter Olympics assignment was speed skating. From 2002 to 2010, he called gold-medal performances from Shani Davis, Joey Cheek, Chad Hedrick and more. — Zack Pierce
A broadcasting power couple
Hicks and Storm are probably the most successful husband-wife team in sportscasting history.
Storm shattered the glass ceiling, becoming the first woman to host one of the four major sports when she led NBC’s coverage of the NBA Finals in the 1990s.
Hicks was just as successful. His broadcasts were consistently strong and never about him. In an age of schtick, he delivered the goods with rare versatility, where his bosses could ask him to call play-by-play on a whim or host. Hicks’ ability to host and call the action made him perfect for golf, and he became synonymous with NBC’s coverage.
His biggest highlights probably came at the Olympics, where he and Rowdy Gaines’ swimming coverage was a once-every-four-years treat that secured them a spot in the annals of all-time duos. They may not always be considered with the likes of Pat Summerall-John Madden, Vin Scully-Joe Garagiola, Doc Emrick-John Davidson or Marv Albert-Mike Fratello, but in some ways, the scarcity of Hicks-Gaines made it even more special.
It is an extremely sad day for the golf, Olympic and football communities with the news of Hicks’ passing. No words can make anything right for Storm and their three daughters. One day, maybe, they can find a little solace in the fact that Hicks left behind quite a legacy. — Andrew Marchand
Correction: A previous version of this article gave the incorrect birthplace for Hicks. He was born in Arizona.
Source: www.nytimes.com
