For those who celebrate, Monday, Sept. 18 marked the 10-year anniversary of that one time Matt Harvey really, really wanted to talk about Qualcomm. Because of this, we received one of the most painfully awkward interviews of arguably the last decade, which in turn has made Dan Patrick’s interview of Harvey one of the weirdest sports radio interviews of all time.
Harvey, who was then three weeks removed from being diagnosed with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, was a guest on that morning’s The Dan Patrick Show. At the time, Patrick asked him about the injury and his decision to not get surgery. The day prior, Harvey said he would try rehab before opting for surgery, but the New York Mets announced a few weeks later that he would have Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow.
One of the best young pitchers in the game, Harvey was the starting pitcher for the 2013 MLB All-Star Game, which took place at the Mets’ home ballpark, Citi Field. He had logged 178 ⅓ innings at the time of his injury diagnosis.
After answering a question about whether football was involved in his upbringing and detailing his decision not to initially undergo surgery, the interview with Patrick went off the rails.
“I strongly believe that’s going to work and pay off, but today I’m here to talk about Qualcomm and help that out as much as possible,” Harvey said.
Patrick tried to press Harvey about the term “Tommy John surgery” and get him to give more of a direct answer, but the young phenom was not having it at the time. Harvey did his best to dance around the question.
“I did all those answers yesterday and maybe at the appropriate time we can talk about that, but obviously, today’s about Qualcomm,” Harvey said, seemingly dancing around Patrick’s question.
“We can set up another call if you’d like to about that subject,” he added. “But today we’re honoring and supporting Qualcomm.”
Patrick finally relented and let Harvey give his picth about Qualcomm.
Harvey later tweeted an apology, but man, what a weird, uncomfortable moment that was.
Been an exhausting couple of days. Apologies to @dpshow and @Qualcomm
— Matt Harvey (@MattHarvey33) September 18, 2013
Harvey’s career was a tale of two halves. He burst onto the scene in 2013, establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball. He helped lead the Mets to the World Series in 2015, but his career was derailed by injuries and personal issues.
He returned from Tommy John surgery in 2015 and threw a career-high 216 innings, the most ever by a pitcher coming off the surgery. He was dominant in the postseason, carrying the Mets to the World Series. However, he suffered a loss in Game 5, and that would be the last time he would be the same pitcher.
Harvey had a disastrous 2016 season and underwent Thoracic Outlet Surgery. He never regained his old form, and the Mets eventually traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. He bounced around several teams in the following years, but his performance continued to decline. He was suspended 60 games in 2019 for participating in the distribution of prohibited drugs.
His career finally came to an end in 2023. He was a broken man, trying to cling on to the success he had achieved in 2013. His downfall was a product of both injuries and his own lifestyle choices. He will always be remembered for what could have been.
And he’ll always be remebered for how much he wanted to talk about Qualcomm with Dan Patrick.
