Patrick announces that he will exit ESPN

Hollywood Reporter - United States - Dan Patrick, half of the duo that helped bring "SportsCenter" to fame in the 1990s, will leave ESPN next month after 18 years at the network.

Patrick, 51, said Monday that for the past three years at ESPN he felt like he was "running in quicksand" and had talked to management about doing other things beyond his TV work and hosting the weekday "The Big Show" on ESPN Radio.

"I felt like I was doing assembly line work and I really wasn't doing anything I was proud of," Patrick said.

Patrick said he had told ESPN management of his feelings and had suggested that he might need a change of scenery telling them: "I don't want to get to the point where I'm not enjoying what I'm doing here." They agreed to meet after the NBA Finals where Patrick reiterated his feelings, and made the decision.

Patrick isn't sure what he will be doing in the future, though he would like to do either TV or radio or both. He said that he's appreciative of what ESPN has done for him and that he was grateful for the opportunity and the five years he worked with Keith Olbermann on "SportsCenter." It was a chance "to do what I thought was a little different and do it in a way that I was really proud of," Patrick said.