If you've followed sports for any number of years, certain broadcasters come to hold a special place. For a rare few, an entire country comes to hold that voice in a special place. That was the case of Mike Patrick, legendary ESPN anchor, who passed away this week at 80.

Mike Patrick was an ESPN play-by-play man for 36 years across multiple sports, college and professional. If you lived in ACC country, Patrick called 30 championships for the league in his career.

But what I'll remember most is his time in the booth calling college and professional football.

First, on the college football front, Mike Patrick called almost all the pivotal ESPN college football night games in the 1990s and 2000s. He called his last game, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, on December 30, 2017.  In my mind, he represents the pre-playoff period, even though that started in 2014.

Patrick called a ton of games in the BCS era of college football before the various conferences imploded into impending super-leagues, and most of us in the South complained about how poorly ESPN covered college football outside College Gameday.

Mike Patrick was a unique bright spot because he was always cheery, especially with his color announcing partner Todd Blackledge, who had a segment on the college town's cuisine. They covered the pomp and pageantry of the schools and games, gave you local flair, and covered the games really well.

After he died, people immediately started sharing one of the funniest moments he ever called. It was an extremely tight game between Georgia and Alabama in 2007. Alabama was leading by 3 points in overtime, and Georgia's offense was taking the field.

While everyone waited for Georgia to take the field, Mike Patrick randomly asked Blackledge and the listeners, "I have an important question. What is Britney doing with her life?"

Blackledge didn't know how to respond to the question and didn't even know who Patrick was referencing. In fairness to him, it was an overtime game at a critical moment. That was when Britney Spears went off the deep end and shaved her head, leading to a multi-year conservatorship.

It was an odd reference, to say the least. But also extremely funny. Todd Blackledge could only ask if Spears was a fan or liked college football, and both laughed it off. A few seconds later, Matthew Stafford snapped the ball for Georgia, drifted back, and tossed a beautiful pass that Mikey Henderson reeled in to defeat Bama in an instant SEC classic.

But his legend went beyond college football because he was the first voice for ESPN's push into NFL games. And for Tennessee Titans fans, Mike Patrick proceeded to rattle off the most important play in franchise history in its first season in the new stadium: the Music City Miracle.

Patrick was part of a three-man booth consisting of Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire for ESPN's NFL coverage. While local coverage still venerates the Mike Keith radio call from that day, if you weren't in the stadium, you were watching the television coverage that day, which had Mike Patrick on the call.

Buffalo had just taken the lead in the game with 16 seconds left, and all Titans fans were depressed. It was the team's first playoff game in the stadium, and everything seemed lost. Wade Phillips and the Buffalo Bills were celebrating.

And then Patrick described live one of the most inexplicable plays in NFL history. Fullback Lorenzo Neal catches the kickoff and hands it off to the now-late tight end Frank Wycheck. He runs a few steps to his right before whipping around and throwing a backward pass to the waiting Kevin Dyson.

Dyson had a convoy escorting him down the sidelines for the touchdown score. Titans staff called it the Homerun Throwback play. But it became known as the Music City Miracle after Patrick's call, with everyone in the crowd stunned and cheering.

When he called it, Patrick believed it could have been an illegal forward pass - echoing the thoughts of all Buffalo fans. But the referees confirmed the news every Titans fan wanted to hear: touchdown Titans. Buffalo did nothing with the kickoff, and the Titans went to the Super Bowl.

It was a wild ending, but it was one of those critical plays that define a sport and a team for a fan. The voice of that moment, and so many others for this Tennessee fan, was Mike Patrick. He represented an era before college athletics lost its mind and the overwhelming spectacle that the NFL has become.

Mike Patrick was a legend in his own era. I thank his family for sharing him with us all and allowing him to do play-by-play every week.

Rest in peace, Mike Patrick. May your memory be a blessing.