After a personal tragedy, he co-founded Hayden's Hope, a foundation aimed at helping families pay for their children's organ transplants
The Society of Professional Journalists awarded him First Place in Sports Reporting while he was sports director at KCFW-TV
Earned his degree in broadcast journalism in 1998 from the University of Oklahoma
Earned his high school diploma at Union High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Started co-hosting ESPN Radio's "Dari and Mel Show" on a weekly basis
Joined ESPN in 2004 and over time began to work on college football and college basketball programing on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network based out of the same studio
Worked as a sports anchor and reporter at Tulsa, Okla․'s, KOTV