In life, your dream job today can sometimes be different from when you were a child depending on how circumstances can change. That can hold true in this crazy world of sports media. Nick Wright knew what his dream job was when he was coming up in the business, and told Colin Cowherd he wanted to replace him.
Wright was a guest on The Colin Cowherd Podcast this week and he told Cowherd that his dream job back then was to be hosting the midday show on ESPN Radio. However, with all of the media outlets there today, he isn’t sure what would be his dream job if he was 18 or a 19-years-old today?
“My dream job was to one day replace you on ESPN Radio. By the time he’s about done, I will be there. Not that they fire you for me, but to me, that was the best real estate in sports media in America, the midday show on ESPN Radio because it was clear in all of the markets, it was mornings on the West Coast. It was the best real estate”
“Nowadays, I simply don’t feel that way…Dan Patrick, you, that doesn’t exist the way it used to on the national radio. Jim Rome first obviously, then from there. It’s not a bad thing because now this exists and podcasts and people have other opportunities, but I don’t know what my dream job would be if I was 18 years old right now.”
Even though Wright is on TV as the host of First Things First, he always views himself in his head as a sports radio host who just happens to be doing it on television.
“I didn’t think I was going to be on TV. I never thought I was going to be on TV. I always just wanted to have the biggest sports radio show in the country.”
“If someone were to ask me what I do with a living, I would say sports radio host. I’m not on the radio, but in my head, that’s what I am, I just happen to be on TV doing it, but that’s what I am.”
During their conversation, Wright and Cowherd talked about sports talk radio from a local standpoint. Colin Cowherd said that if he were doing a local radio show like people he knows in Los Angeles, he might not be talking about as much NFL as he does now on The Herd and he knows he could be more raw or unhinged if his show was just on radio.
“They can go places I can’t go because I have a television component. Minute-to-minute, my ratings are judged. There is no question I do more NFL now,” Colin Cowherd said. If I was just doing local radio, I probably would do 30% NFL. Now, I do 58-60%.”
“Every time I am in a local market, I talk to the local guys. I love the local guys. I think they are funny, I think they are interesting. I think those shows are raw. I’m not allowed to be as raw. They are unhinged. I’m not allowed to be unhinged because I have a TV component.”
Wright believes that the closest thing to the Wild West in today’s day and age is local sports talk radio because you can take more chances.
“There is a level of even in 2023, the closest thing to the Wild West of sports media is your local sports guys who can absolutely walk the line and cross it occasionally. I think it’s probably because it’s hard for a local radio gaffe to instantly go viral without the fear of oh my god, this is going to cost me my career. When you are not as concerned about that, you can take more chances. Sometimes it ends in disaster because you take too many. ”
