Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN
When Mike Greenberg first came to co-host ESPN’s morning show with Mike Golic, he didn’t see it lasting for more than a week.
Or even a day.
Golic was searching for a new co-host after a year with his former one when Greenberg was called in as a substitute co-host. He had no interest in radio, wasn’t supposed to be auditioning for the job and really was just hoping to get more spots hosting SportsCenter. But then, the two said, something clicked.
“I accepted the job with the agreement that I would continue to anchor SportsCenter and I was anchoring 100 SportsCenters a year for the first 11 years we were doing Mike and Mike,” Greenberg said. “The primary reason I accepted it because I thought maybe the executives at ESPN would hear my work on the radio and like it and it would serve me well in my goal to get a higher-profile position on TV at ESPN.”
From the start, they had some immediate chemistry though — something even Golic’s wife, Christine, pointed out when he called her during a break after 15 minutes of the show. Their first conversation, which was five minutes before the show, mostly consisted of Greenberg mocking Golic for his weight.
“As he puts it he thought I was either going to laugh at him or punch him — one of the two,” Golic said, “and I’m pretty self-deprecating, so I laughed.”
What began as a potential stepping stone for one of the hosts reached its 15th anniversary this week and has risen to be one of the most popular shows on the sports network. It’s also grown from two guys on the radio to a daily radio and TV show aired on ESPN2 that’s hosted presidents, celebrities, athletes of course, and even Jerry Seinfeld. Golic said his favorite moment of the show’s history was when they got to call an annual softball game at the White House. Greenberg added the duo’s first time on the David Letterman show as another highlight.
“I think it’s less the on the-air-moments than the opportunities the show has created for us,” Greenberg said.
For the past 15 years, the two have often joked about their differences — one is a former NFL player (Golic) while the other draws from his experience in journalism and as a reporter (Greenberg). And even outside the office, they say, their lives aren’t that similar. The two live about 90 minutes away from each other and have kids that are different ages. So as close as they seem on the air, they said, their lives are completely separate once they leave the office.
“I think that has been extremely beneficial for us,” said Greenberg. “Our relationship is excellent. We have literally never had a fight. We have never had a serious disagreement off the air … and I think that is largely because we haven’t let a lot of that peripheral stuff get in the middle of it.
“You hear about partnerships where people really dislike each other,” he added later. “And having done this for 15 years now, I really don’t understand how they do that. I really don’t.”
