He concluded saying, 'I'm not always comfortable when a man tells me he is gay I don't understand his world. He contrasted Sam's homosexuality making players 'uncomfortable', with criminal activity by other NFL players which is routinely condoned, and likened contemporary discomfort with gay players to white athletes' and fans' past discomfort with black players. In a February 2014 broadcast, Hansen delivered a commentary supporting NFL draft candidate Michael Sam coming out as a gay man. McDonald's then donates $250 (formerly $100) to the school in honor of the student. Scholar-Athlete of the Week Įach week since 1988, Hansen introduces his scholar-athlete of the week, a high school senior or recent high school graduate who excels in sports as well as in the classroom. Hansen used the segment in 2011 to admit he was a victim of sexual abuse as a child, in hopes that it would convince others to come forward. The video is played to ' Thank God for Kids' by The Oak Ridge Boys. At the end is young Hansen with his own children. He always shares a story of a child's death in the past year and talks about it before playing a video of clips from the 1980s of kids in Dallas. Since 1983, Hansen has had a segment during 'Sports Special' on the Sunday of the week before Christmas. On May 18, 2021, Hansen announced his retirement, effective September 2, 2021. A 2015 profile of Hansen at the now-defunct Grantland website noted that many viewers assumed Hansen was a former conservative, when in fact he has been politically liberal his entire adult life and his views have often clashed with the mostly-conservative Dallas fan base of the Cowboys and Mavericks.

Hansen became nationally and even internationally famous in recent years when his commentaries on matters such as racism and domestic violence were circulated widely on YouTube.

Hansen's reporting ultimately led to the NCAA canceling the Mustangs' 1987 season-the so-called ' death penalty.' His reporting of the scandal garnered him a Peabody Award for distinguished journalism, a duPont-Columbia Award, and several death threats. Hansen made his reputation in 1986 when he and his producer, John Sparks, broke a story about a massive scandal involving payments to players on Southern Methodist University's football team. Hansen was at 10 pm, and legendary anchor Verne Lundquist was at 6 pm, so WFAA had claimed them to be 'Texas' Best Sportcasters.' Hansen then took his first job in Dallas at KDFW, which at the time was CBS's Dallas affiliate. He then took a job as a sports reporter at KMTV also in Omaha. After that he got closer to his hometown of Logan, Iowa by working at a radio station he grew up listening to, KOIL in Omaha, Nebraska. After that he moved to Saint Cloud, Minnesota to KCLD radio.

He then went to Knoxville, Iowa to KNIA radio as News Director. Hansen began his career in Newton, Iowa as a radio disc jockey and operations manager at KCOB, covering the Newton Cardinals and the Newton Nite Hawks. The gift brought tears to Hansen eyes as he stated, 'Meyer had died 50 years ago today but Meyer will be 18 years old forever.' Television career On Memorial Day in 2018, the WFAA Channel 8 team surprised Hansen with a portrait of Meyer by a local artist. Dale's best friend, Carrol Meyer, served with him in the Navy, and was killed at the age of 18 just after six weeks of being deployed to Vietnam. He is married and has two children.Īccording to The New York Times, Hansen served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. After high school, Hansen served in the United States Navy. He also served as the station's Sports Director. His segment each night garnered an audience of over 300,000 people. He formerly also hosted Dale Hansen's Sports Special on Sundays at 10:35 pm, consistently one of the highest-rated local programs in Dallas-Fort Worth. For the American football player, see Dale Hansen (American football).ĭale Eugene Hansen (born August 2, 1948) is an American sportscaster, who formerly worked as the weeknight sports anchor during the 10 pm newscasts on ABC's Dallas affiliate WFAA, who left the station on September 2, 2021. For the Medal of Honor recipient, see Dale M. This article is about the Dallas sportscaster.

Dale hansen unplugged trump