Dan Patrick Says A-Rod Tried To Fight Him Over Derek Jeter Incident

Legendary sports broadcaster Dan Patrick revealed he almost came to blows with Major League Baseball legend Alex Rodriguez in relation to an incident regarding his eventual New York Yankees teammate Derek Jeter.

During an appearance on Barstool Sports' Pardon My Take podcast, Patrick said Rodriguez, then a member of the Texas Rangers, threatened to fight him over comments he made on Patrick's show regarding Jeter's contract when he thought they were off-air.

“Alex Rodriguez criticizing Derek Jeter’s contract when he was on my show … He thought he was off the air with me, but he was criticizing Derek Jeter," Patrick said. "Now, I don’t even know that he’s mad at me. We do the interview, and then, this is a couple years later, we’re in Dallas.

“I said to my guys, we should reach out and see if A-Rod wants to join us on the show. Called the PR guy, then he calls back and says, ‘Alex has a problem with you.’ I go, ‘OK, well just come over to the locker room.'”

Patrick said Rodriguez made him wait about 15 minutes before the confrontation took place.

“I thought he was going to punch me, because he started yelling at me," Patrick said. "I said, ‘Alex, it was on the record. You know it was on the record.’ I had [former MLB pitcher turned analyst] Rob Dibble with me at the time, I said, ‘If he hits me,’ he goes, ‘I got your back. I’ll take him out.’

“That got close to go-time, I think, for Alex."

Rodriguez's fallout with Jeter, which predated their 10 seasons -- excluding Rodriguez's yearlong suspension during Jeter's final season in 2014 -- as Yankees teammates, was chronicled in the seven-part ESPN docuseries The Captain. Jeter acknowledged that their once close relationship deteriorated after Rodriguez suggested that Jeter had "been blessed with great talent around him" and that he "never had to lead" after winning his fourth of an eventual five World Series championships during a 2001 interview with Scott Raab for Esquire.

The two have since reconciled, initially appearing together on the KayRod telecast of the Yankees' August 2022 loss to the Boston Red Sox alongside longtime play-by-play man Michael Kay.