Let’s say you live in Indianapolis and you’re hungry. You open up the DoorDash app on your phone. You find something delicious and place your order. 40-50 minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. You open it and ESPN radio host Dan Dakich is standing there with food.
What do you do?
That’s a dilemma you might need to contend with because Dakich has been delivering food as a DoorDash driver for a while now as a side gig when not hosting his weekday show between 12 and 3 p.m. on 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan. Dakich has been pulling double-duty for a few months now and says that he started the side hustle, not as a way to make extra money but to remind himself about the value of a dollar.
The radio host found himself in hot water in February when he was called out over misogynistic comments and doxxing others during a Twitter spat over student-athlete compensation. While the oft-combative radio host avoided any major punishment from ESPN at the time, he did speculate publicly that the sports broadcaster wouldn’t want him back once his current contract expires.
Related or not, Dakich told Tyler McComas at Barrett Media that he started racking up some big gambling losses in March during the NCAA Tournament. That’s when he decided that, despite being a radio host and part-time ESPN college basketball commentator, he was going to find another work opportunity to get back to his roots.
“I come from iron and steelworkers, teachers, and I lost sight of the value of a dollar,” Dakich told Barrett. “I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and I told my wife I had to make it up. Seriously, I went to the hardware store about a mile from my house and applied for a job, because I wanted to make the money back. I owe my family and I lost the value of a dollar.”
…Then my stepson is doing Grubhub and I found out I could make around $25 an hour. He told me to do GrubHub or DoorDash so I started doing it. I had to punish myself, you don’t just piss money away. My wife called me an idiot and said I didn’t have to do it but I wanted to because I’ve preached the value of a dollar to so many people.”
And so he has, often driving food around Indianapolis four or five times a week. In a March 30 appearance with ESPN Chicago’s Waddle & Silvy, Dakich talked about a day-in-the-life of an ESPN radio host/DoorDash driver.
“Sometimes I can’t sleep. So I got up yesterday, Five in the morning. So I went in worked out. Sent some emails out…it was 6:30, I’m like ‘I’m gonna go Dash for a few hours.’ So I went and DoorDashed, did interviews on the radio, made about $150-$200, came home, had breakfast, went out, and was going downtown to my show, I’m like, you know what, I’m early, I’m gonna Dash for another 45 minutes, made another $50…went downtown, did my show, on the way home, I’m like, you know what, I’m gonna Dash. I Dashed for another hour.”
When asked by the radio hosts if he was using his time as a DoorDash as a replacement to being on Twitter, Dakich replied, “Yes!” Probably for the best.
Dakich told Barrett that he has since re-learned the value of the dollar but it doesn’t seem to have stopped him from delivering food every so often. So just remember, Indianapolis, that Mr. Beast burger or tofu curry you just ordered might be coming courtesy of Dan Dakich. Tip wisely, lest you end up hearing about it on the radio the next day.
