The Joker’s Wild
An inmate runs the asylum in the WFAA-TV Sports Department, but instead of a white straightjacket he sports vibrant Hawaiian patterns.
Upon walking into the department, it is obvious who is in charge. Dale Hansen sits in a swivel chair at a long table with his feet up, his body reclined back in his seat. He has the undivided attention of every coworker in the room and provides the comic relief.
“Nobody tells a good story like Dale,” WFAA-TV’s executive sports producer Sean Hamilton said. “He tells us some of the same stories time and time again. He always prefaces it by saying, ‘Stop me if I’ve already told you this one’…. Most of the time he has already told us the story, and most of the time we don’t stop him.”
The Logan, Iowa native was a class clown from the start, and he loved to be on stage. Hansen played an escaped inmate in a school play, and when he attempted to climb through a set window in galoshes his 6-foot-4-inch frame destroyed the set. He and a friend improvised the next few minutes of the play and had the audience roaring with laughter.
Though he has come a long way from the Iowa stage, 57-year-old Hansen’s zest for life and desire to entertain still prevail. His Hawaiian shirts are a trademark, and he parties and plays poker with his buddies when he can escape from the station. He plays golf with his son on the weekends and they even vacation together.
Though he is known for his humor, he is also famous for being direct and outspoken. This sportscaster was the first to cover high school sports in Dallas, and he is just as tough on teenagers as he is on the professionals. Hansen holds people to standards of honesty, integrity and high achievement.
He spoke at a high school years ago and was told to avoid the topic of “no pass, no play,” since a star athlete was in attendance who had been affected by the rule. Disregarding these warnings, Hansen not only addressed but stressed the issue of “no pass, no play.” He told the student he could do better and should expect more from himself. Hansen refused to make excuses for the player as others had. The player thanked him after the speech and went on to graduate high school and play college football.
Never shying away from controversy, Hansen got himself knee-deep in one of the most notorious scandals in college sports. Hansen wishes the issue could have resolved itself. For all of the awards he received for exposing the SMU football scandal in the 1980s, he said he would give every one back.
“We knew this story was going to destroy SMU,” Hansen said, adding that he knew it had to be told. “I have this legitimate high regard for institutions like SMU,” he said. However, he also said he felt like he could not sit back knowing that SMU was repeatedly breaking the rules despite warnings from the NCAA.
A dead crow was left at Hansen’s country home with a note that said, “You’re next.” Though death threats and hostility were prevalent, Hansen believes the expose changed the entire culture of SMU for the better. He holds SMU’s current head football coach in high regard. “Phil Bennett is doing a lot of good things the right way,” he said.
Hansen has managed to do a lot of things the right way, as well, and much of his success can be attributed to the life philosophies he adheres to. His advice is to “be who you are and hope it works for you.” Hansen tried to play the strong, silent type in the past, but said he perplexed his friends with this change. He finally decided that loud was who he was and admitted, “I’m a smartass.”
Besides staying true to oneself in an industry that often stresses conformity, Hansen also believes that “life is a series of compromises and tradeoffs.” If anyone has the right to say this, it is he.
Hansen did not take the most direct route to local fame. His journey began in a country town with a nuclear family. It was “like growing up in the Cleaver household,” he said. As a child, Hansen’s dream was to be a radio disc jockey. Though his parents thought it was impossible for a small-town boy, his English teacher, Frank Weiland, encouraged him to pursue broadcasting.
After high school, Hansen went straight to the Navy in 1966, declining numerous offers to play college baseball and basketball. His experience in the Navy profoundly affected him. Hamilton said, “I one time saw him walk up and give a marine on the street a $100 bill. He then says to me, ‘I was in the Navy … times can be tough when you’re a kid in the Navy.'”
Life was tough for him at times, and by age 21 he was married with a child and working odd jobs. Hansen proudly stated that he has never interviewed in person for a job and not been hired. He attributes this accomplishment to his extensive experience interviewing for new jobs.
Despite his trouble getting started, Hansen firmly believes that he has “been incredibly lucky” his whole life.
On a late night television advertisement, Hansen saw an opportunity he could not resist. The commercial was for Career Academy. Hansen enrolled in the fall of 1972 and started by taking correspondence broadcasting courses. Before he could complete the program in Milwaukee, a DJ position became available in Newton, Iowa, and he started on Jan. 2, 1973. After just three days, he said, “This is the worst job in the world.” People told him he had a good voice and reading skills, so he jumped into news reporting.
As a newscaster he worked 15-hour days, broke big stories and saw the job offers pour in. He left his comfort zone, taking serious pay cuts, to see just how far he could go.
Hansen went farther than he ever imagined. He traveled to Japan and London for work. He has been a part of three Super Bowl broadcasts. He was on the investigating team that exposed SMU football for its corrupt practices, and he knows many Hall-of-Fame athletes on a first-name basis.
He won the duPont-Columbia award for the SMU story, as well as numerous prestigious honors in his field. “I’m pretty proud of what I’ve done – and been a part of,” he said.
Despite his success, Hansen claims most professional awards are “goofy,” because you win for the years you should not and get overlooked for the years you should.
Hansen is content at his home at WFAA, where he has been since 1983. He turned down a position as a main anchor for ESPN that year and has never regretted it. He declined because he thought it was wrong to leave after WFAA had done so much to get him there. The station rescinded its offer to another anchor after Hansen became available.
Hansen is established at WFAA because of the unique flair he brings to the broadcasts, and he never wants to retire. This broadcast veteran believes longevity is an advantage in the business. Being an avid golfer and card player, Hansen wonders what he would even retire to.
Hansen said he has been in love with Texas since the early ’80s. After an interview, he walked the streets, stopped for a beer and a sandwich, and talked with people in the city. After an hour, he called the woman he was dating and went on to marry and told her that he had “every intention of dying in Dallas, Texas.” For Hansen, his job is about the people, not the sports.
Hansen loves the “stories behind the personalities.” As much as he loves the Cowboys and Tiger Woods, he said, “[S]cores bore me.” Hansen noted countless instances when he was more interested in the minds and hearts of the players than their statistics. He mentioned the pitching outing of Roger Clemens the day his mother died. He did not want to discuss the strikeouts or innings pitched and wondered how Clemens kept it together despite the distressing circumstances.
Hansen was also impressed with SMU’s victory against TCU. He wanted to know how Bennett motivated the team coming off the Baylor loss to win such a big game.
While he understands the responsibilities of coaches and players to perform, he also recognizes his duties as a member of the broadcast media. He listed the customary duties of informing and being fair and accurate in reporting, but true to his personality, he embellished a bit more.
He believes news should be provided with a heavy dose of entertainment, opinions and thought-provoking arguments. “I bring an attitude – an opinion – an interpretation,” he said.
One of the highest compliments ever paid to Hansen was when a man told him he was like the guy at the next barstool with an opinion. Hansen speaks the same way in everyday life as he does on television; he says he is successful because he taps into the “common man’s thinking.”
This extraordinary man keeps the common touch despite the wealth and benefits of his position. He claims, “I’m stealing money – I get paid to do what most people can’t afford to do on their vacation time.” He has access to tickets most people could never attain, he waits in few lines and he gets paid to go to Super Bowls. Because he is so fortunate, he tries to give as much of his time and money to others as he can.
Hansen’s down-to-earth image is enhanced by the fact that he is so approachable. Men have asked him to escort them into Cool Water to impress their dates. Hansen always agrees. When the man and his date and are waiting to get into the restaurant, Hansen passes by and the man calls him over. To the surprise of the man’s date Hansen replies, “Hey, (insert name),” and escorts them in like his best buddies.
Besides playing “Hitch” to help men on their dates, Hansen is extremely generous with his time and money when it comes to youth. He is involved with Texans Can! and puts on an annual Dale Hansen Golf Classic that benefits the Dallas Can! Academy that gives second chances to academically “at-risk” students.
Hamilton added that Hansen “really is a good guy … despite what some of his critics might lead you to believe. This is a guy who goes to lunch with his granddaughter at her school and then buys the entire school ice cream. Dale loves kids, especially his grandkids.”
Hansen is family-oriented and is proud of his son and daughter. He hopes that when he is long gone people will remember his honesty and how he cared a great deal for his own and other children. He wants someone to say, “Have you ever met that man’s children? – The man in the ground must have done something right.”
His sometimes brash opinions have offended some and endeared the rest. To this Hansen said, “I’m not here to please everybody – [I don’t want to be] the guy in the middle nobody really thinks about.” If he has done anything, he has made people think.
Though Hansen has always done things unconventionally, there has been a method to his madness. The country boy from Iowa never imagined the opportunities and wealth he would have today, and, despite daunting circumstances, he has always kept life in perspective. He quoted the Arabic proverb, “I complained because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” It seems this “ex-inmate” turned father, sportscaster and charitable friend got by in his bulky galoshes just fine.
