• Mike Francesa is a radio talk show host born in 1954 in Long Beach, New York and holds American nationality.
• He is best known for hosting the show “Mike and the Mad Dog” with Chris Russo.
• He has appeared in the films “Undefeated” and “Uncut Gems” as an extra.
• He is a fan of horse racing and owns the JEH Racing Stable.
• His net worth is estimated to be over $16 million.
Known for movies
Short Info
Net Worth | $4 million |
Date Of Birth | March 20, 1954 |
Spouse | Rose Francesa |
Fact | His voice can be heard over the radio in the Woody Allen film Mighty Aphrodite. He can be heard talking about the Knicks as Lenny (Woody) enters the bar to confront Linda's pimp. |
Contents
Who is Mike Francesa?
Michael Patrick ‘Mike’ Francesa was born in Long Beach, New York State USA on 20 March 1954 – his zodiac sign is Pisces, and he holds American nationality. He’s a sports radio talk-show host, probably still known best for having hosted the radio show “Mike and the Mad Dog” together with the American sports radio personality Christophe Michael ‘Chris’ Russo.
Early life and education
Mike was raised in Long Beach alongside his older brother John and young brother Marty, by their father Michael Anthony Francesa, and their mother Marilyn who abandoned the family before Mike turned 10; his brother Marty committed suicide on 27 November 1990.
Mike grew up being interested in a number of activities, but was mostly into sports; he watched football and basketball on TV nearly every day with his brothers and father, and started playing sports upon enrolling at Maria Regina High School (now Kellenberg Memorial High School). Mike matriculated in 1972, and in the following year enrolled at University of South Florida; he transferred to St. John’s University in 1974, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in communications and athletic administration in 1977.
Mike’s career
Mike launched his career straight out of college, when he joined the publication “College and Pro Football Newsweekly”, and went on to spend six years with them.
He joined CBS Sports in 1982, becoming their researcher and being focused on covering college football and basketball. Mike spent the majority of his initial time at CBS Sports behind the scenes, but because the network executives were amazed by his vast knowledge about sports, they made him a studio analyst for college football and basketball; not long after that, Mike attracted the attention of “The New Yorker”, and they published an article about him, referring to him as ‘Brent Musburger’s brain’.
In 1991, ESPN wanted Mike to leave CBS Sports and come to work as their studio expert on football, but Mike rejected the offer, but he eventually quit CBS Sports on 1 April 1993.
While still working at CBS, in August 1987, Mike was hired to host a weekend show about college football and basketball on WFAN; the show became somewhat popular after Mike was hired, and he was thus allowed to guest host various other shows on the network. In 1989, he was teamed up with Chris Russo and they were given their own show – “Mike and the Mad Dog” – which won them a Marconi Award for Major Market Personality of the Year in 2000, the first time in history that talk-show hosts had won the award. Mike did other work while still hosting “Mike and the Mad Dog”, including hosting the radio show “The NFL Now”.
He signed a five-year contract with WFAN in August 2008, and around the same time, Chris chose to leave the network, which marked the end of their show “Mike and the Mad Dog”. Mike was then given his own show “Mike’d Up”, which was renamed to “Mike’s On” on 17 January 2012.
He attracted a lot of attention on 10 September 2012, when he apparently fell asleep live on air during a segment involving Yankees reporter Sweeny Murti; numerous fans called into the show because of this, but Mike denied that he had fallen asleep. His show “Mike’s On” began being broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 on 24 March 2014, but Mike refused to renew his contract with Fox on 11 September 2015.
Mike quit WFAN on 15 December 2017, wanting to retire, but expressed his desire to return only four months later; he did make a return, but announced his second retirement in November 2019, returning again in January 2020, but then retired for the third time on 24 July 2020.
His YouTube channel
Mike launched his YouTube channel “Mike’s On – Mike Francesa” on 6 December 2019, and most of the videos uploaded onto the channel are either full episodes or segments of his former show “Mike’s On”. We’re going to mention three of the most popular videos amongst these, which have helped Mike build a fanbase on YouTube.
His #1 video “Francesa Rips President Trump For Lack of Action | Mike’s On (3/30/20)” has been watched over 35,000 times since 31 March 2020, and features Mike talking about the former President of the United States of America Donald Trump.
Mike’s second most popular video “Yankees Sign Gerrit Cole – Mike Francesa Reaction 10/11/2019” has attracted 20,000 views, and shows Mike’s reaction to Gerrit Cole being signed by the New York Yankees.
His third most watched video “Mike Francesa Remembers Don Imus” has been viewed more than 15,000 times since 28 December 2019, and features Mike talking about the late American radio personality John Donald Imus Jr., who had passed away a day earlier.
Wife and children
Mike prefers to keep the details of his love life to himself, but has still allowed his fans to have a glimpse into it. He exchanged vows with his first wife Kate in 1983, in a private ceremony attended by only the closest of their friends and family members; the two divorced in 1994 for unknown reasons, while it’s believed by some of Mike’s fans that it was because he wanted to focus on his career, while Kate wanted children.
On 14 July 2000, Mike married his second wife Rose, and she went on to give birth to their twins Emily Grace and Jack Patrick, and to their second son Harrison James.
Mike hasn’t spoken of any other women whom he has perhaps been with, and as of March 2022, he’s married to his second wife Rose, and they have three children together.
Hobbies and interesting facts
Mike is a huge fan of movies, and was thus given an opportunity to play an extra in the 2003 sports drama film “Undefeated”, written and directed by John Leguizamo, who also starred in it alongside Clifton Collins Jr. and Adrian Martinez. It follows a boxer who has just risen to stardom; the movie was nominated for a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a TV Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special (Vanessa Ferlito).
Mike also played a bookie in the 2019 crime thriller movie “Uncut Gems”.
Mike’s a fan of horse racing, and today owns the JEH Racing Stable; his horse High Oak won the Grade II Saratoga Special Stakes in 2021.
He’s a philanthropist too, and has donated money to a couple of charity organizations working with terminally ill children, as well as to several animal shelters.
Age, height and net worth
Mike’s age is 68. He has short brown and gray hair and brown eyes, his height is 5ft 10ins (1.8m) and he weighs around 165lbs (75kgs).
As of March 2022, his net worth has been estimated at more than $16 million.
General Info
Full Name | Mike Francesa |
Net Worth | $4 million |
Date Of Birth | March 20, 1954 |
Profession | Sports commentator, Radio personality |
Education | St. John's University |
Family
Spouse | Rose Francesa |
Children | Harrison James, Jack Patrick, Emily Grace |
Parents | Michael Francesa Sr. |
Siblings | Marty Francesa, John Francesa |
Social profile links
Source: IMDb, Wikipedia