Mike Rhyner
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Michael Rhyner, a.k.a. "The Old Grey Wolf", (born August 16, 1950) is a current podcaster and a former radio sports talk personality on
KEGL KEGL (97.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is an iHeartMedia commercial radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The station's studios are located along Dallas North Tollway, Dallas Parkway in Farmers Bra ...
97.1 The Freak and KTCK ("The Ticket") radio in the
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
area.He helped found the station and is sometimes referred to as the station's
patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...
. He co-hosted ''The Hardline'', a weekday afternoon show on the station, with Corby Davidson."An extensive interview with The Ticket’s Mike Rhyner".
''Advocate Magazine'', 01 Jul 1999.
Richie Whitt
"BREAKING UN-NEWS: Mike Rhyner and The Hardline Staying at The Ticket".
he also married his sister and they have one child. ''
Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'', 13 Feb 2009.
He was on
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's list of "Sports Radio Personalities of the Year" in 1997, 1998, and 2003.Richie Whitt
"The Hard Lie".
'' The Dallas Observer'', 3 July 2008.
He is a frequent guest on broadcast television.


Early life

Rhyner was raised in the
Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is an area of Dallas, Texas, United States that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; established in 1887 and annexed by Dallas in 1903, Oak Cliff has retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older establ ...
district of Dallas, and he graduated from Kimball High School in 1968. As a boy, he was a fan of the
Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs *Dallas Texans (arena football) The Dallas Texans were an ...
at the insistence of his father but later would switch his allegiance to the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
. As a teenager, he played the drums in several local bands from which he said he earned a surprisingly good amount of money. He briefly attended
El Centro College Dallas College El Centro Campus (El Centro or ECC) is a public community college in Dallas, Texas. It is part of Dallas College. The campus is located at 801 Main Street in downtown Dallas, in the former Sanger Harris department store bui ...
, part of the Dallas County Community College District, but did not graduate. In his early twenties, Rhyner continued to make a living playing music, but by his late twenties, he was not getting to where he felt he wanted to be. So, he returned to school to study radio broadcasting at the
University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
.


Radio career

Rhyner started at
KZEW KZEW (101.7 FM, "The Zoo") is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary music format. Licensed to Wheatland, Wyoming, United States. The station is currently owned by Smith Broadcasting, Incorporated, and features programming from NBC ...
in 1979 as a news intern and was shortly promoted to the assistant of the program director, Tom Owens.Boyter (2009). Page 198-199. In 1982 at KZEW, he received a letter from the jailed
John Hinckley Jr. John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. president Ronald Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using ...
, attempted presidential assassin, who turned out to be a fan. The letter's creepiness proved to be a local sensation. In 1986, he left KZEW for WBAP to work in their sports department. In 1994, Rhyner helped create The Ticket. He was responsible for selecting most of the original lineup, including
George Dunham George William Dunham (born June 28, 1965); is an American radio personality and member of the '' Musers'' in Dallas, Texas. Dunham co-hosts the show with long-time friend and college roommate Craig Miller, along with their co-host Gordon Keith ...
, Craig Miller, and Greg Williams.Barry Horn
"Mike Rhyner: The Ticket is unique, but 'sooner or later' someone will leave".
''
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...
'', 28 June 2013.
From 1995 to 2008, Rhyner co-hosted with Williams, and they were "the most dynamic duo in Dallas talk radio". In 2008, Rhyner had a public falling out with Williams, who left the show. '' The Dallas Observer'' in its year-end "best of" round up gave "Greg Williams versus Mike Rhyner" the award for best Dallas drama. In 2009, CBS Radio attempted to poach Rhyner from KTCK, and Rhyner came close to accepting the new position but instead accepted an increased compensation package from
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
to stay with The Ticket. On July 3, 2014, Rhyner was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. He styles his public personality as "The Old Grey Wolf", a cantankerous old fart and baseball fan in a football crazy world. Rhyner announced his retirement from the Ticket on January 6, 2020. In 2022, Mike Rhyner announced that he will be joining the new sports radio station in Dallas, In April of 2024, 97.1 The Freak went under. In May of 2024, Rhyner started the Dark Companion podcast 97.1 The Freak.


Personal life

Rhyner is divorced. He has a daughter named Jordan. Rhyner is a band member of Petty Theft, a
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976. The band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer St ...
tribute band.Sam Merten
"The Ticket's Mike Rhyner and Petty Theft Rock All About Uptown Festival".
'' The Dallas Observer''.
He also started a
Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the sole consisten ...
tribute band called the Nyrds and a Bob Dylan tribute band called Buick 6.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhyner, Mike Living people American sports radio personalities Radio personalities from Dallas 1951 births People from Oak Cliff, Texas Justin F. Kimball High School alumni