Dan Hicks, the longtime NBC Sports voice of golf, Olympic swimming and Notre Dame football, died Wednesday at age 64 in Connecticut after an acute illness.
His wife, ESPN broadcaster Hannah Storm, announced the sudden and unexpected loss Thursday on social media.
“Our family is heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected passing of Dan following an acute illness,” Storm wrote. “He was a devoted husband of over 30 years, loving father to our three daughters, and cherished friend to so many. His loss is immeasurable.”
She added that he was “truly one of a kind and, quite simply, the person everyone wanted to be around,” bringing energy, laughter and a sense that everyone mattered.
Hicks, a Tucson, Arizona, native born June 2, 1962, graduated from Sabino High School in 1980 and the University of Arizona in 1984 with a journalism degree. He began in local Tucson radio and as a public-address announcer for University of Arizona events before moving into television as a weekend sports anchor at KVOA. He joined CNN in 1989 and moved to NBC Sports in 1992, where he spent the next 34 years.
He became NBC’s lead golf play-by-play announcer in 2000 and held that role for 26 years, calling the U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, Players Championship, Presidents Cup and other major events. He narrated 27 of Tiger Woods’ tournament victories, including the iconic “Expect anything different?” call on Woods’ birdie putt at the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines that forced a playoff.
Hicks also covered 16 Olympics (15 as a play-by-play announcer), most notably swimming—where he called Michael Phelps’ historic eight-gold performance in Beijing in 2008, including Jason Lezak’s dramatic 4×100 freestyle relay anchor—and alpine skiing.
In recent years he returned as the lead voice for Notre Dame football and was scheduled to call the Fighting Irish’s game against Boston College on Saturday. He earned a Sports Emmy as part of NBC’s 2024 Paris Olympics coverage.
Colleagues remembered him as a steady, enthusiastic, inclusive presence who elevated partners and mentored younger broadcasters. NBC Sports executives Rick Cordella, Sam Flood and Molly Solomon called him “an exceptional storyteller and caller of games and events who elevated some of the biggest moments in sports history.”
Versant CEO Mark Lazarus, who worked with Hicks for decades, said: “Dan was one of the very best at what he did, but what I will remember most is the person he was: a loyal friend and a devoted husband and father.”
Mike Tirico described him as a “broadcaster’s broadcaster” who “nailed every big moment.”
Roger Maltbie called the loss that of “a pal.”
The PGA Tour said his voice provided the soundtrack to some of golf’s most memorable moments.
Hicks is survived by Storm, whom he married in 1994, and their three daughters, Hannah, Ellery and Riley.
