DALE HANSEN HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

drunk? Rape a woman? People are OK with that. But love another man? Now you've gone too far.”

The report struck nerves, gaining widespread attention and features in the New York Daily News, Newsweek, People Magazine and more. As the story swirled publicity flourished.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres invited Hansen on her show on Valentine’s Day in 2014 to discuss his comments.

Hansen subsequently questioned criticism of NFL players for kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.

Again his comments blew up, receiving millions of views and magnifying his influence.

In 2017, the New York Times profiled “The Progressive Voice Bursting From Texas and Spreading Everywhere.”

But Hansen was just getting started.

The uncompromising commentaries kept coming about once a month, touching hot buttons such as racism, the epidemic in gun violence and school shootings, politics and politicians, veterans affairs and the traumatic cost of war.

He even exposed his own deficiencies as a parent and candidly discussed being sexually assaulted by an adult when he was 10 years old.

Nothing was off-limits.

As a result of his frank delivery and uncanny ability to connect with people, Hansen’s fame extends far beyond Dallas-Fort Worth, reaching national audiences with stinging commentaries on a variety of social topics that had previously been considered forbidden in a local sportscast.

In March 2019, Hansen received perhaps the most important professional recognition of his career when he was honored by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

The evening also honored slain Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Shepard Smith of Fox News and CNN.

Hansen accepted the award to the only standing ovation of the evening, telling the audience, "What we do matters; what we do is too important to give up now.”

When Hansen announced his retirement in May, he made a point of saying that all good things come to an end, and that he’d been waiting 25 years for the Cowboys to win another Super Bowl and just couldn’t wait any longer.

It’s doubtful Hansen’s voice has been silenced forever. Insiders expect to see him working the talk circuit, or perhaps with a national gig on radio or via the Internet.

Time will tell.