Michael Golic Sr. is a former NFL defensive lineman. Golic graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1985 as a finance and management major. He served as captain of the football team during his senior season and also wrestled for the Irish.

Golic was drafted by the Houston Oilers selected in the 10th round with the 255th overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft. He was an eight-year NFL veteran, playing defensive tackle for the Houston Oilers, Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins. He played in 115 games (starting 49 games) and 5 playoff games during his 8 seasons in the NFL. After football, Golic went into broadcasting. He is a former analyst for ESPN and ESPN2's NFL studio programming, as well as for the networks' college football coverage. Golic joined ESPN in 1995 as a reporter/analyst for Sunday NFL Countdown. Since then he has worked as the color commentator for the Arena Football League (1996–98, 2007–2021) and the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars pre-season games (1995–98). In 1998, Golic began serving as college football analyst for ESPN and ABC, and was an original analyst for NFL 2Night (now known as NFL Live), the five-night-per-week news and information program on ESPN2.

Golic is also the host of the long-running syndicated sports highlights, bloopers, and gag show called The Lighter Side of Sports. As of 2021, Golic is an ESPN College Football analyst and a former co-host of ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike and Golic and Wingo.