Dan 'The Duke' Davis, founding ESPN Radio voice, dies aged 84

Dan “The Duke” Davis, a founding member of ESPN Radio who joined the network at its launch in January 1992, has died at the age of 84, ESPN PR announced on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. No cause of death was given. (Barrett Media; Laughing Place / ESPN PR; The Sun)

Davis spent two decades as an ESPN Radio SportsCenter update reporter, co-hosted Brent Musburger’s SportsBeat from 1993, delivered sports updates on The Tony Kornheiser Show between January 1998 and March 2004, and retired from ESPN Radio in December 2011. (Barrett Media; Wikipedia)

Before joining ESPN, he spent ten seasons as the radio voice of Boston College football on a New England-wide network. His call of Doug Flutie’s last-second “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan in Boston College’s 47-45 victory over Miami on 23 November 1984 remains one of the most treasured calls in Boston sports history. (Wikipedia; That Eric Alper)

Tributes poured in from across sports broadcasting. Boston College Football said “his voice became part of the program’s history”. Mike Golic Sr said: “What a voice he had. What a great man he was,” while Scott Van Pelt called him “the best” and former ESPN Radio colleague Ron Flatter recalled his last visit with Davis in Las Vegas in 2017. (The Sun; Awful Announcing; Brit Brief)

Born on 20 September 1942, Davis’s hometown was Portland, Maine. He lived in Bristol, Connecticut, with his wife Annette; the couple had four children and two grandchildren. (Laughing Place; Wikipedia)