Kenny Mayne Kenneth " Kenny " Wheelock Mayne ( born September 1 , 1959 ) is a sports journalist and comedian for ESPN . He currently appears as host of " Kenny Mayne ' s Wider World of Sports on ESPN . com and as a weekly contributor to " Sunday NFL Countdown " with his weekly " Mayne Event " segment . Sports career . A native of Kent , Washington , Mayne is a former honorable mention junior college All - American quarterback in 1978 at Wenatchee Valley College in Wenatchee , WA . Kenny graduated from University of Nevada , Las Vegas in 1982 , with a degree in Broadcasting , where he was the back - up quarterback and ahead of future NFL star Randall Cunningham on the depth chart . While at UNLV , Mayne played football for two years and later signed as a free agent with the Seattle Seahawks . He has been the manager for the American League team in the Legends and Celebrity All Star Softball Game since its inception in 2001 . In 2010 , he chose not to appear in the game . KSTW . After beginning his television career with a brief stint as a reporter for KLVX - TV in Las Vegas , Nevada , Mayne spent seven years ( 1982 - 89 ) at KSTW - TV in Seattle , Washington . Eventually he became a weekend sports anchor and weekday news reporter . Mayne resigned from KSTW in 1989 . ESPN . ESPN hired Mayne in 1994 after Mayne had sent ESPN a note inquiring whether the network would hire him . The note simply asked to check a box , including one option that read , " " We ' ll hire you when there ' s an ESPN5 . " " Mayne started at ESPN in 1994 as a " SportSmash " anchor on ESPN2 , and soon moved over to the main network . He became well known for his dry sense of humor and his unique home run calls . For a time , he served as co - anchor of the 11PM " SportsCenter " with Dan Patrick after Keith Olbermann left ESPN . He left " SportsCenter " two years later , moving to an assortment of late night ESPN shows which were usually re - aired throughout the next morning . Included in his repertoire was the game show " 2 Minute Drill " . Mayne is now most often seen as the host for ABC and ESPN ' s horse racing events , as well as providing offbeat feature stories on " Sunday NFL Countdown " in a weekly segment called " The Mayne Event . " On January 17 , 2007 , ESPN signed Mayne to a one year contract to do features and cover horse racing , as well as return to " SportsCenter " for about 50 shows in 2007 . Beginning October 2 , 2008 , Mayne starred in ESPN ' s first scripted web series , " Mayne Street " , playing a fictionalized version of himself . In 2011 ESPN launched , " Kenny Mayne ' s Wider World of Sports " a series of videos on ESPN . com highlighting Mayne ' s trips around the world . In the first season the show visited six countries ( England , Ireland , Brazil , South Africa , Thailand , and New Zealand ) with Mayne participating in events like the King ' s Cup Elephant Polo tournament in Thailand , the world ' s longest par - 3 hole ( Extreme 19 ) in South Africa , and a road bowling match in Ireland . A television version of " Kenny Mayne ' s Wider World of Sports " , featuring highlights from the internet series , aired on ESPN / ABC in December 2011 . Season 2 of " Wider World of Sports " is currently in production with Mayne and company set to visit the Netherlands , Nicaragua , Mongolia , Italy , Switzerland , and Scotland . Other ventures . In January 2006 , Mayne participated in the second season of ABC ' s " Dancing with the Stars " with partner Andrea Hale , but after a disastrous cha - cha , Mayne was the first contestant to be eliminated . In an interview with Brian Falvey in the Spring of 2007 , Mayne joked that he left the 2006 Rose Bowl at halftime in order to get up early the next day to practice for " Dancing with the Stars . " Subsequent seasons have seen Mayne return to the show for " DanceCenter , " a parody of " SportsCenter " alongside former contestant Jerry Rice and judge Len Goodman . DanceCenter appears on the results show night of the week in which either five or six contestants remain . Mayne was also in the 1998 film BASEketball which featured the creators of South Park Trey Parker and Matt Stone . He was alongside Dan Patrick and appeared on SportsCenter to cover the latest BASEketball playoff competition . In 1999 , he played himself on The Drew Carey Show in the episode titled " Tracy Bowl " . Before agreeing to the deal with ESPN , Mayne had talks with Comedy Central about doing a sports - themed " The Daily Show " - style program and was a finalist to be the host of the syndicated version of " Deal or No Deal " . He confirmed both discussions . Mayne has recently appeared in commercials for Progressive auto insurance , and Top Flite golf balls . In November 2006 , Mayne hosted the pilot episode of the CBS Primetime game show " Power of 10 " which would later be hosted by Drew Carey . " Power of 10 " producer Michael Davies was impressed with his performance on " 2 Minute Drill " , and wanted him to host one of his other game shows . After Mayne hosted the pilot , he decided to decline this hosting opportunity and it was given to Drew Carey . In 2008 Mayne penned his first book , " An Incomplete And Inaccurate History Of Sport " , a collection of offbeat musings on sports and pop culture . In 2010 he appeared in the animated film Kung Fu Magoo as himself .