Danny Parkins expects a thank-you card from the Chicago Bears after leaving WSCR-AM 670 for a national TV gig.
He figures his departure can only mean big things for quarterback Caleb Williams.
“I left Kansas City right before Patrick Mahomes won MVP,” he said. “So I’m kind of expecting a care package.”
Parkins was talking from a Manhattan hotel room Thursday after rehearsals for his next venture — an FS1 morning sports-talk show called “Breakfast Ball.” The network announced their daily lineup Thursday, including the morning show that teams Parkins with veteran FS1 talker Craig Carton and former NFL player Mark Schlereth, also a Fox Sports football analyst.
The show will air from 7-9 a.m. weekdays in Chicago, though next week’s shows will begin at 11 a.m. to replace the vacationing Colin Cowherd’s “The Herd.”
For Parkins, 37, it’s a life-altering moment he didn’t envision ever happening only a year ago. But doing a Bears segment on FS1’s “First Things First” during a trip to New York last spring served as a pseudo audition. He later filled in for Cowherd’s show, and when the network recently committed to creating a new lineup of sports talkers, Parkins was asked if he would be interested in a full-time co-hosting gig.
After spending the last 7½ years co-hosting sports radio for the Score, mostly with longtime partner Matt Spiegel, Parkins was ready for a new adventure. He grew up dreaming of being a drive-time sports talker and was able to live out that dream.
But Parkins has two young children, ages 2 and 4, and felt that this was the right time to try something new and different.
“I loved Chicago and the Score and Spiegs and (producers Shane Riordan and Chris Tannehill),” he said. “It took a life-changing, massive, undeniable opportunity for me to leave. I would not have left for national radio. There are not many jobs in the country I would have left the job I had, and this just happened to be one of them.
”It was not the goal. It was not the plan. But when the opportunity became real, it was a no-brainer and I couldn’t pass it up. This is the top of the mountain of the sports-opinion industry. Not many people who are not athletes get a national TV show based around your opinion and personality.”
Parkins said the Score gave him carte blanche to “stay involved” and call into shows, and he’ll also continue his “Cubs for a Cure” radiothon next summer to raise money for cancer research.
Parkins is just the latest Score alumni to move onto a bigger stage, joining ESPN.com’s national baseball writer Jesse Rogers and play-by-play men Jason Benetti of the Detroit Tigers and Wayne Randazzo of the Los Angeles Angels, among others.
While talent from the Boston and New York markets seems to dominate these kinds of plum openings, it’s good to see the local guys getting chances and making the most of it. Chicago is still the best sports town in the country, albeit with some of the worst teams over the last five years.
Parkins, who attended New Trier High School and Syracuse, said the show will focus on national sports news, with an emphasis on the NFL and NBA.
“I’m not going to be doing Craig Counsell’s bullpen decisions any more,” he said. “The NFL will be on the show 365 days a year. It’s what drives the national sports-talk landscape, and the NBA is second, no question. Things like Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese and other topics will make the show. But NFL (talk) will be the bread and butter, for sure.”
I asked Parkins if his show would have the seemingly obligatory focus on the Dallas Cowboys, like many of today’s sports-debate TV shows, including the now defunct “Undisputed,” which featured unapologetic Cowboys cheerleader Skip Bayless.
“There’s no question the Cowboys get talked about a lot on national TV shows,” he said. “We play the hits, just like we talk about the Cubs and Bears every day on the Score. There’s no question we’ll talk about the things the largest amount of people care about.
“But for years they’ve gone away from the debate, debate, debate format. That was really just that one show. … It’s sports talk on TV. We aren’t going to be like ‘Let’s ask the question Danny and Craig disagree on’ and yell at each other.”
I told Parkins he doesn’t strike me as much of a yeller anyway. He’s more of a wise guy, ready with a quip to shoot down a bogus opinion.
“I’m not a yeller,” he confirmed. “I can craft an argument. I can debate and craft sports opinions for sure. But no, I don’t take myself too seriously. I just want to laugh. To me, the best shows, the ones I was able to create with Spiegs, Tanny and Shane, like we’re just friends talking sports.
“With this show, we’re like three brothers. Schlereth is the older brother with the experience. Craig is the middle brother who is the loudmouth and who says crazy things. And I’m the younger brother who thinks he’s the smartest one in the room.
“All three of us are radio guys, so two hours is going to fly by for us. We have a lot of experience with active listening and improv and thinking on our feet. I think it has a chance to be a really good listen.”
The Score will now be looking for a new “smartest guy in the room” to replace Parkins, and fortunately this town has a lot of wise guys who think they know more about sports than anyone else.
But knowing sports is just part of the job. Being able to laugh at yourself and admit once in a while that you’re wrong helps immensely.
Sports is not life. It’s entertainment.
Parkins realized that early on, and that’s why he’s moving on to bigger things.
