Patrick began his broadcasting career in the fall of 1966 at WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pa. In 1970, he was named Sports Director at WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Fla., where he provided play-by-play for Jacksonville Sharks' World Football League telecasts (1973–74). He also called Jacksonville University basketball games on both radio and television. Since 1975, he has worked for WJLA-TV, Jefferson-Pilot and ESPN, where he is best known for his role as play-by-play announcer on the network's Sunday Night Football with Paul Maguire and Joe Theisman telecasts from 1987–2005. He was briefly replaced in 2004 by Pat Summerall, while Patrick recovered from heart bypass surgery.