Dusty Dvoracek's story is one of second chances, hard-fought battles, and unexpected turns. From a promising football career derailed by injuries and personal struggles to a successful transition into sports media, Dvoracek's journey is a testament to resilience and reinvention.
Early Life and Football Beginnings
Born on March 3, 1981, Dusty Dvoracek attended Lake Dallas High School in Corinth, Texas. A standout athlete, he excelled as both a defensive tackle and offensive guard. His performance earned him recognition on the Houston Chronicle's Top 100 list and the Dallas Morning News's Texas Top 100 during his senior year.
Dvoracek continued his football career at the University of Oklahoma, majoring in management.
College Career: Highs, Lows, and Redemption
Dvoracek's time at Oklahoma was marked by both athletic achievement and personal turmoil. In 49 games, he started 28 times, amassing 136 tackles (44 for loss), 16 sacks, one interception, and three fumble recoveries. He earned consensus All-Big 12 honors in 2003 and 2005, showcasing his talent and potential.
However, his career was also marred by off-field incidents. In 2004, Dvoracek was suspended from the Sooners after an alleged assault that resulted in the hospitalization of a long time high school friend, then 21-year-old Matthew Wilde. He was kicked off the team after a drunken bar fight left his childhood buddy in intensive care. This incident threatened to derail his football aspirations.
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Following the incident, Dvoracek underwent anger management and alcohol-related counseling. America is the supposed Land of Second Chances. (Though, if you ask me, Australia stakes a better claim to that title. America isn’t a Land of Second Chances. It’s a land of blindly overlooking indiscretion for the sake of the talented. Like Vick and countless other athletes, Dvoracek got a second chance - a lifeline. An honor roll student and team captain, he was kicked off the Sooners football team after a drunken bar fight left his childhood buddy in intensive care. Bob Stoops reinstated Dvoracek after he underwent anger management and alcohol-related counseling. Dvoracek was granted a fifth year of eligibility via a medical redshirt because of alcohol abuse. That’s right. Since 1989, the NCAA lists alcoholism in their by-laws as a possible cause for a medical waiver. It was a decision that shocked and enraged many a college football fan. Dvoracek finished his OU career as a two-time consensus first-team All-Big 12 performer and was taken in third round by Chicago in 2006. He didn’t shy away from the Chicago media. He told them of his story. Told them he used to be an alcoholic and angry kid. He said he never touched the booze again.
Bob Stoops, the Sooners' coach, reinstated Dvoracek, giving him a second chance. The Big 12 Conference initially denied Dvoracek's request for a medical hardship to the NCAA, but the request has been forwarded to the NCAA, which could grant a waiver that would allow Dvoracek to play next year. Burda says the Big 12 has asked the NCAA to make a ruling on the appeal in the next week. Dvoracek was kicked off the team by coach Bob Stoops in September amid allegations of violent behavior. After completing an anger-management and alcohol-related program, he appealed to the Big 12’s review committee on the basis of alcohol addiction. The senior was a captain and pre-season All-America candidate before his dismissal from the team. He was granted a fifth year of eligibility via a medical redshirt because of alcohol abuse. The NCAA lists alcoholism in their by-laws as a possible cause for a medical waiver. This decision was met with mixed reactions, but Dvoracek returned to the field and excelled, earning All-Big 12 honors once again.
NFL Career: Promise and Setbacks
Dvoracek's talent and potential led him to the NFL, where he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round in 2006. He didn’t shy away from the Chicago media. He told them of his story. Told them he used to be an alcoholic and angry kid. He said he never touched the booze again.
However, his NFL career was plagued by injuries. He began his sophomore campaign as the team’s starter and in the 2007 season opener (his first pro start) he tore the ACL in his left knee and was out for the rest of the year. The fourth-year defensive tackle left Saturday’s preseason game against the New York Giants with a right knee injury. After the game, Dvoracek’s knee was wrapped in ice. Dvoracek recovered during the 2008 offseason, injured his calf before the Bears training camp.[6] He was placed on season-ending injured reserve with elbow bursitis on December 9. Dvoracek suffered a sprained MCL during the Bears second preseason game on August 22, 2009. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to assess the severity of the injury. He started his first NFL game in 2007, and wound up tearing his left ACL. In 2009, he tore his right one.
Despite showing promise when healthy, Dvoracek's injuries limited his playing time. Twelve of his 13 games in the league came during the 2008 season. In 2009, he tore his ACL in training camp. That’s when Football Outsiders writer Bill Barnwell calculated Dvoracek was the most-injured NFL player of the entire decade.
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In 2010, Dvoracek was signed by the Omaha Nighthawks in 2010. Dvoracek wound up playing parts of two seasons in the short-lived United Football League for the Omaha Nighthawks, before hanging up his spikes after yet another injury in 2011. The severity of the latest injury may be career-ending. It more than likely has closed the book on Dvoracek’s Chicago chapter. Five surgeries in five years, by his count, is his legacy in one way.
Despite his short-lived and injury-riddled NFL career, Dvoracek left a lasting impression on his teammates. “My career with the Bears was short-lived and injury-riddled,” he said. “But I developed some great relationships and tried to leave my mark the best I could when I was there. I stayed good friends with a lot of teammates and Brian and I became really close. He’s one of my really good friends.”
Transition to Media: A New Chapter
After retiring from football, Dvoracek transitioned into the world of sports media. Dvoracek, who credits the McCaskeys and the Bears organization for giving him chance after chance to get healthy, had already sold his suburban Chicago home and moved back to Norman, Oklahoma with his wife and budding family. He had a business degree from Oklahoma and a famous name. What was he going to do next? He had some non-football business meetings, but nothing sparked his interest. “My friend Teddy Lehman, who was a second-round pick of the Lions and was wrapping up his career said, ‘Why we don’t we do a radio show?’” Dvoracek said. “We called up a mom-and-pop radio station in Norman and met with the owner who said he had no time and no money.”Dvoracek and Lehman, both former star players at Oklahoma, talked the owner of KREF-AM into giving them a tryout during a postgame show for the Oklahoma-Texas A&M game that fall. show that was syndicated on small stations in the state. It didn’t take long for Dvoracek to move up to a bigger station based in Oklahoma City at the end of 2014.
He began working as a color analyst for Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Oklahoma, and ESPN, showcasing his knowledge of the game and his engaging personality. Dvoracek wasn’t satiated just doing radio. He pitched himself as a sideline reporter for Oklahoma games on the radio (“I thought it was a little bland,” he said of the broadcasts before he arrived) and then started appearing on Fox Sports telecasts of Oklahoma games.He wanted more. So without an agent, he put together a highlight reel and sent it to three people: Kirk Herbstreit, Joel Klatt and Doug Gottlieb.Herbsteit and Klatt sent it to higher-ups at ESPN and Fox Sports, respectively, and Gottlieb told Dvoracek to get an agent. Dvoracek met with ESPN executives in Charlotte and started calling games for the first time in his life for ESPNU matchups in 2016.Last season, he was paired with Chicago’s own rising broadcast star Adam Amin. The two did so well last season, they were promoted, but split up. Dvoracek will join a Saturday night team with Mark Jones and Molly McGrath this season.“He’s the best,” Dvoracek said of Amin. at The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City. As if a weekly college game and a daily radio show aren’t enough work, Dvoracek has dabbled in radio broadcasts for NFL games and he’s going to coach his oldest son Hudson’s flag football team this season.He also became an analyst on SiriusXM and KWTV, further expanding his media presence.
Dvoracek never had media dreams growing up, but he said when he was a teenager, he’d wake up early to memorize SportsCenter before school. In Chicagoland, he used to turn on ESPN 1000 in his car. “Of course we all said we don’t [listen to sports radio], but yeah, I used to flip it on,” he said. “I loved, loved ‘Waddle and Silvy.’ I thought it was a great show. I’m sure it still is a great show. They entertained me, gave me sports nuggets. I try to do the best I can to do a similar show to them. There’s a sports aspect to it, but at the same time, it’s entertainment. It’s getting people from Point A to Point B.”
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Weight Loss and Personal Transformation
Dvoracek is hardly recognizable from his “Lattimer from The Program” look during his playing days. For one thing, he says he’s lost about 60 pounds, dropping from a playing weight of 305. Dusty Dvoracek has cleaned up his look just a little since his truncated NFL career. Now he’s a successful football broadcaster and sports radio host. (Getty Images and USA TODAY Sports)
Dvoracek’s old look dovetailed with his collegiate reputation as a wild man, one earned through a string of violent incidents, with one getting him kicked off Oklahoma’s team before his senior season. He returned to the program, apologized profusely, graduated and was an All-Big 12 player in 2005. What did he learn from those days?“Gosh, what did I learn?” he said. “I think you learn a lot. You have to grow up. I was out of control. Those are good words to describe me, to a certain degree.”Now he’s married with three kids and a burgeoning media career. During football season, he said he’s lucky if he has a half-hour a day to himself, between his multiple jobs and an obsessive approach to preparation. During the offseason, he still has a daily radio show. All in all, not a bad life after a disappointing NFL career.
Brian Urlacher's Hall of Fame Speech
Despite playing only 13 games in the NFL, Dusty Dvoracek made it to Canton, Ohio.Hey, being friends with Brian Urlacher has its benefits. “I only played with this guy for three years, but Dusty Dvoracek influenced me greatly,” Urlacher said during his memorable Hall of Fame speech on Aug. 4. “Even as a rookie, he stepped in and took control of the huddle and he held people accountable. If he saw something he didn’t like, he’d shout, ‘Shut the blank-blank up and listen.’ As a rookie that’s pretty tough to do, but he did it. He set the tone for our defense.”During Urlacher’s heartfelt speech at the Hall of Fame last week, No. 54 didn’t have time to single out all of the former teammates and coaches he wanted to thank - the Hall of Fame forced him to cut his speech down, which eliminated mentions of Lovie Smith and other coaches - but somehow Dvoracek made it to a whittled-down list of six players: Mike Brown, Lance Briggs, Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Alex Brown and that wild-haired Bears lineman who was always injured.“It was incredible,” said the now close-cropped Dvoracek in a phone conversation a week later. Former Bears defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek reacts to being mentioned during Brian Urlacher’s Hall of Fame speech on Aug. 4. (Screen shot courtesy of ESPN)For Bears fans who don’t watch a lot of college football on ESPN, it was a real blast from the past. Dvoracek, a defensive lineman out of the University of Oklahoma, was a third-round pick in 2006 who had a lot of promise, but injuries crippled his career.
And that brings us back to Urlacher’s speech. When Urlacher mentioned his name among all of those football legends, well, it got a little dusty for Dvoracek.“I can tell you that night the water was a little colder and the food tasted a little better,” he said. “I was standing a little more upright. For a Hall of Famer, one of the 318 greatest people involved in the NFL, recognizing the small piece I played in his career … for me, the injuries sucked, but I still made an impact in the small opportunity I had. I’m still thinking about it.”
Reflections and Future Aspirations
“I’d really be lying if I said I wasn’t ever bitter or ‘Why me?’” he said. “At the same time, man, it’s no different than the bad choices I made in college, though those were self-inflicted. I wouldn’t take those back. I don’t look back and say what could’ve been or I was dealt a bad hand. I look back and say I played four years with the Chicago Bears and developed relationships with great people. I got to do more than 99.9 percent of the people on the planet. Wouldn’t it be selfish to look at it as a negative? I can be a pessimistic person, but I have made peace with it. Covering the sport, being there on game days, still being involved with football fills a void not being able to play football left. That’s really helped me feel like I’m still part of football.”
Dvoracek has done a little NFL radio, and obviously talks pro football on his radio show, but said he’s more comfortable as a college expert, considering his lack of success in the league. But he’s still an ex-Bear, the closest thing this city has to a royal family. What if, I posited, someone offered him a radio gig in Chicago? Would he consider moving up to a major market? He has immediate cachet and he’s actually entertaining on the radio. Could he be the next Tom Waddle?“Absolutely,” he said. “Somebody want to offer me a job?”He quickly added that while he loves Chicago, he’s comfortable and happy in Oklahoma, where he’s near family and friends, doing what he loves.
Dvoracek is still new in this media business, but he’s obviously a fast riser.