Over the weekend longtime ESPN researcher and star of the mid-2000s ESPN game show Stump the Schwab, Howie Schwab passed away at the age of 63. Schwab was a part of ESPN from 1987 until he was part of widespread layoffs in 2013. One of the people Schwab worked closely with was Dan Patrick, who talked about his passing on today’s Dan Patrick Show.
“Before we even get started, I want to say goodbye to a lifelong friend who just passed away over the weekend, Howie Schwab,” Patrick said. “I’ve known Howie for probably over 30 years and Howie was sports google before sports google. Google would’ve googled Howie Schwab.
“He’s the smartest guy that I ever met when it comes to sports knowledge, trivia, information. When I first started at SportsCenter I was lucky to have Howie Schwab there because he made us all better.”
Patrick continued and said he and Schwab worked together even after their ESPN days. “A generous wonderful person.,” Patrick said. “In fact, when I went to Sports Jeopardy, we did 100 episodes, I said ‘look I’ll do it, but I want Howie Schwab to come in and sort of be the lifeguard on duty.'”
Several former colleagues posted on X about how much Scwhab meant to them and to ESPN. Patrick echoed those sentiments. “He made us great,” he said. “There were so many of these people behind the scenes at ESPN that made ESPN so great, and Howie was certainly one of those people.”
