Danny Parkins is an accomplished talker. He has hosted sports radio shows for 13 years, including the last seven at The Score. But the kind of talking he did this week was different.
On Monday and Tuesday, Parkins filled in for Colin Cowherd on his FS1 show, “The Herd.” The live, three-hour show is largely a solo act with a few interviews. Instead of conversing with afternoon co-host Matt Spiegel on The Score, Parkins stared down the barrel of a TV camera and spoke to no one in particular.
“You’ve got to be a little bit of a crazy person to talk to yourself,” Parkins said.
But that was far from the case for those two days in Los Angeles, where Parkins ably and admirably sat in Cowherd’s chair, opposite fill-in news anchor Ashley Brewer. For those two days, Parkins lived the life of a TV star, checking off an item on his bucket list and proving himself in the video space.
That doesn’t mean he’s going Hollywood anytime soon, if ever. But his experience on “The Herd,” as grandiose as it was, certainly left an impression.
“It’s a huge operation,” Parkins said. “They are a well-oiled machine. Their staff was incredible and they took such good care of me and they really deserve a ton of credit for how seamless they make it look.”
The days began with a production meeting at 6 a.m. in a conference room with nine people around a long table. Unfamiliar with the etiquette at his first meeting, Parkins asked where he should sit. The staff responded, at the head of the table. At 5:58, there was a quiet moment when Parkins asked if more people were coming. The staff responded, no, we’ll start whenever you’re ready.
“They had to prompt me,” Parkins said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I was waiting for someone else to start the meeting.’ ”
On the table, the staff had 15 stories printed out and organized by topic. Parkins gave his takes on what he was interested in talking about, and the two lead producers asked him questions and helped shape his points. While they were talking, a research wiz was banging away on a laptop. He later printed out stats and information to support Parkins’ takes.
Parkins said the studio was “shockingly big,” the polar opposite of intimate radio studios. A divider separated “The Herd” studio from that of “Undisputed,” the preceding show hosted by Skip Bayless. Parkins and Brewer had to be at their desks while “Undisputed” was finishing because there’s no commercial break before they start at 9 a.m.
“So you’re just watching them do it, they say, ‘Back on “Undisputed” tomorrow,’ and then the Herd intro and you’ve gotta go while in your peripheral vision Skip Bayless is walking off,” Parkins said. “I felt much more comfortable on Day 2 than Day 1 because I just knew about things like that.”
On Tuesday, Parkins opened the show with an 11-minute monologue about Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s contract situation and Cooper Flagg’s play with USA Basketball. Parkins also had to create some content, which was understandable during a slow time on the sports calendar. So he ranked the top 10 NFL quarterbacks with which to start a franchise (he had the Bears’ Caleb Williams seventh). And he squeezed in enough talk about the Cowboys over two days to fill whatever quota FS1 requires.
“You’re a guest, you want to do a good job and you want to do it like how Colin does it in terms of pacing,” Parkins said. “I’m not trying to do a Colin Cowherd imitation. But people are tuning into a very specific show.”
Cowherd has taken a liking to Parkins. In April, Cowherd brought Parkins, 37, on his podcast and introduced him as “the most talented sports-talk radio host I think out there right now at his age.” Cowherd was introduced to Parkins by Nick Wright, the host of FS1’s “First Things First” and a close friend of Parkins’. They met at Syracuse’s student radio station and reconnected at KCSP in Kansas City.
Parkins’ first appearance on FS1 came serendipitously on Wright’s show, which airs from New York. Parkins was in town for the Barrett Sports Media Summit in March, and Wright needed an NFL-versed guest because former wide receiver Greg Jennings and former coach Eric Mangini weren’t available. Wright brought on Parkins to talk about the Bears, and Parkins returned several times.
“They reached out and wanted to see more, and I just kept saying yes,” Parkins said. “The last time I was in New York, they asked me if I would be interested in [filling in for Cowherd], and I said, of course.”
Parkins said he doesn’t know where these opportunities will lead, if anywhere. He didn’t foresee any of it happening even a few months ago. He’s just riding the wave.
“I’ve now been on national TV with my best friend and filled in on national TV for one of the greatest radio hosts in the history of the genre,” Parkins said. “I’m not looking to leave The Score. I have my dream job. But there are these other dreams that are now attainable, and that’s been pretty exciting to pursue.”
Remote patrol
- The NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday in Chicago drew 3.9 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and NBC Sports Digital, making it NBC’s second-most-watched Cup Series race since 2021, behind the Chicago race last year (4.8 million). Locally, Chicago was the No. 2 market for the race (5.1 household rating), behind Charlotte, North Carolina (5.2).
- The Cubs-Cardinals game Friday night will air exclusively on Apple TV+. Wayne Randazzo, analyst Dontrelle Willis and reporter Heidi Watney will have the call. Also, Apple TV+ picked up the Blue Jays-Cubs afternoon game Aug. 16.
- The Liberty-Sky game Saturday will air nationally on ABC 7 at noon. Pam Ward, analyst Carolyn Peck and reporter Holly Rowe will call it.
