“I appreciate life”: Dan O’Toole emotional celebrating one year of sobriety
Dan O’Toole’s public departure from TSN last year was a shock to many.
O’Toole was a part of a series of Bell Media cuts last February after spending nearly two decades at TSN over two stints with the network one of the late-night anchors on both SportsCentre and Jay & Dan.
O’Toole said that he was “out of his mind” during the week following his departure, turning to “a lot to smoke and a lot to drink” to deal with the news of his sudden dismissal.
“One year ago today I woke up at my buddy’s house after the Super Bowl and had a big gash on my head and didn’t know how I got into… where I was sleeping,” O’Toole said on this week’s episode of Boomsies!, his new podcast hosted by BetRivers Sportsbook.
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“I got fired on a Wednesday, the Super Bowl was on a Sunday. So once my kids got picked up on their usual schedule on Thursday, it was game on. I was like, ‘Okay, so I’ve got no job,'” O’Toole added. “So it was game on.”
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Sensing something wasn’t quite right, O’Toole’s most well-known broadcast partner came to his assistance, making a trek to his residence in the small town of Orono, Ontario.
“Jay Onrait actually came out to my house,” O’Toole added. “He’s like, ‘Where are you?’ I’m like, ‘Right now I’m wandering around in the woods,’ which I think back, and I’m like, ‘That sounds crazy.’ So Jay and I had a grand old afternoon. We FaceTimed old friends and laughed our asses off.”
O’Toole credited his cousin Eric for being one of the family members who found him a rehab facility to check into.
“Eric and I drove to my mom’s house and I was like, ‘Mom, that’s my last drink. It’s gonna be a good one,'” O’Toole said. “I had a lot of good bourbon. My mom was like, ‘But I don’t do shots.’ I’m like, ‘You’re doing it.’ I didn’t say it like that. I’m like, ‘Mom. It’s my last drink. Let’s make it a memorable one.’ So we did a shot… and then Eric drove me to the rehab facility.”
O’Toole celebrated one year of sobriety on February 9.
“I said, ‘Okay, this has to stop.’ I had my pity party from Wednesday to Monday morning… I said, ‘I need help’.”
O’Toole added that he appreciates life more while sober and he would’ve been a “ball of rage” had he not chosen to make a lifestyle change, telling his peers “you would not want to be around me.”
“The reason I tell this story is if I can help one person…” O’Toole said. “You don’t need to go to a rehab. You don’t have to, you just need to make the commitment and have people there to support you. The people in the recovery community that you will find are the greatest humans and you’ve got the biggest cheering squad you’ll ever have in your life.”
O’Toole also said his friendship with Onrait wasn’t affected by his departure from TSN.
“He didn’t fire me. He didn’t lay me off,” O’Toole said. “So I guess [I was laid off]… you get fired because you did something. But I was laid off because they said it was ‘a business decision’. That’s the difference, I’m told. Either way, you don’t have a job. Whether you fire to lay up, laid off. You don’t have a job. You’re done.”
O’Toole admitted that the days seemed to blend into each other in the week following his departure.
“I think the weekend was good,” O’Toole said he told a friend. “But I don’t remember much. Because of the overindulgence.”
Onrait wasn’t the only member of O’Toole’s support circle who recognized that he could be heading towards a dark path if they didn’t step in.
The full episode of Boomsies! with Dan O’Toole is available below, as well as on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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