Reporter Dale Hansen of WFAA-TV in Dallas has become a nationally-known personality thanks to his poignant and respected sports commentaries that have gone viral online. His “unplugged” commentary on Michael Sam landed him on “Ellen,” and was featured on websites throughout the world. Most recently, he went viral after unloading on the Dallas Cowboys for signing Greg Hardy.
The veteran TV anchor hosted an “AMA” on Reddit Monday, which is the website’s version of a Q&A between a subject and the site’s users. Hansen’s AMA was informative, and the best anecdote had to be about how he got his big break by wrestling a bear.
Here’s how the Q&A exchange went:
Q) Dale, I’m a huge fan of your work and your persona. That said, I’ve heard from several folks that you got your big break in Dallas because of something to do wrestling a bear on local TV in the Midwest (Omaha? Iowa?). I’m foggy on the details, but is this story true? I really want to believe it.
A) yes it is … wrestled a bear at an Omaha boat show … it was the only tape I had since I never thot I’d be leaving Omaha … sent the tape to the dallas station … the gm asked me if I’d wrestle a bear in dallas – i said “find me a bear and i will” .. and they did … I lost both times …
Now that is pretty awesome. But don’t expect to ever see Hansen try it again. He also said he would never go for round three because his neck still hurts from the first round when he got hit in the head causing it to snap.
Hansen shared another wild story in his AMA when asked about his coverage of the SMU scandal that led the program to receive the death penalty from the NCAA. Hansen was all over that saga and says he received death threats from fans as a result.
“I did (receive death threats) .. but I’ve never been too concerned about a death threat .. I doubt anyone who wants to kill me would tell me 1st … I did receive a dead bird in a box with a mangled neck .. stuck to the bird’s chest was a note saying .. ‘Hansen you’re next’ … it was a weird time .. and smu fans hated me .. fan of other schools smu was beating back then loved me … funny how that works.”
Below is video of Hansen’s Michael Sam commentary:
Photo: Twitter/Dale Hansen
