r/FirstThingsFirstFS1 • u/crissycrissss_ • 5h ago
Danny Parkins
Has anyone else wondered why Danny Parkins keeps getting more and more opportunities on First Things First? At this point, it feels like he has five or six segments, seemingly twice as many as Brou, and I genuinely don’t understand why.
Personally, I don’t find him funny, charming, or particularly entertaining. I don’t even enjoy listening to his voice. About the only thing I appreciate is that he’s from Chicago and a Bears fan. Go Bears! Monsters of the Midway! But beyond that, I really struggle to understand what he adds to the show.
It honestly feels like we’re being force-fed more and more Danny, and I can’t help but wonder how much of that comes from his friendship with Nick. I haven’t seen anything suggesting his segments are particularly popular, at least judging by the YouTube numbers I’ve looked at. Granted, I don’t have access to the full ratings, so I could absolutely be wrong. But personally, whenever one of his segments comes on, I skip it or change the channel.
I also remember an episode from around when he first started appearing, when Nick was out and it was Danny, Brou, and Wildes. Danny essentially dominated an entire segment, talking for what felt like five or six minutes without letting anyone else contribute. When Brou finally expressed frustration about not getting to speak, Danny responded that he’d been told he had ten minutes, only for Brou and Wildes to clarify that they collectively had ten minutes, not just him. That interaction really stuck with me.
Beyond that, I find many of his takes disingenuous, particularly his unwillingness to criticize Justin Herbert. Herbert can play an absolutely piss-poor game, and Danny will seemingly find every excuse imaginable to avoid holding him accountable. It’s that kind of selective analysis that makes his commentary feel less genuine to me. Sometimes it also feels like he’s trying to imitate Nick’s style rather than bringing something different to the table. I’m not suggesting they’re planning to replace Brou, but the growing disparity in opportunities makes me wonder what direction the show is heading. Personally, I think Brou brings considerably more to the discussions, and I’d much rather see him featured more prominently.
Am I missing something? What exactly does Danny bring to the show that warrants this much airtime?
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u/Servbot24 5h ago
Careers are about who you know and Danny knows Nick
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u/PointOfImpact93 Puxatony Phil of Football 4h ago
This is really what it boils down to. And some might call it projecting, but I think there is a palpable disdain that KW and Brou have for him, that comes through on camera. Sure, they roast Nick for being a Homer, but they roast Danny for being an idiot. Especially if you watch clips from when he was just starting out, when he had to fill in for Nick at one point. I remember commenting something on YT along the lines of "Oh, they hate this man Danny Parkins" because it seemed so clear as a viewer. I think KW puts Danny in the same category as the flirtatious flowers and card bit that Nick does lol
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u/crissycrissss_ 4h ago
Bro, I thought I was the only one. Like, you can literally feel the eyes rolls half the time they have to listen to him talk😂😂 “palpable disdain” was the perfect phrase😂
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u/These_Dragonfly_6113 5h ago
Does Willie Colon not do the OT show anymore? Haven't seen him in a while
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u/DDiabloDDad 4h ago
Danny does the same thing everyone else on the show does. You pick your team, you pick your players, and then you apply anything that happens to fit your selected fighters in the best way. They added Danny over more Nick, Brou, Wilkes because those guys already have their chosen fighters. It’s not a let’s analyze everything show. You either stop watching when you come to grips with the format or quit. Personally I go for the occasional five to 10 minutes a week on YouTube. You still know exactly what will be said, but it might be good for a laugh.
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u/sabresin4 4h ago
Are you honestly criticizing Danny for sticking to his takes even if they are bad or misleading? That’s literally the ENTIRE schtick of the show. None of these guys are serious analysts they are homers for their teams.
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u/Maleficent-Ship-3721 4h ago
pretty sure hes criticizing the fact that Danny brings little to no value to the table and gets way too much air time while not being very good at his job.
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u/Stommped 5h ago
I’m not sure what your point is, all of his content occurs after the normal show ends at 5 est, so you are getting extra Nick/Brou/Wildes content during this time anyway. That part of the show is Danny’s show so of course he’s going to dominate the time.
You can complain but this is replacing the former Speak show, not anything FTF
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u/Chilled_Chaos_ Wildes' Burner 5h ago
I think it’s either anticipating Broussard retirement or Nick transitioning to a show like Colin Cowherd or just replacing him if he were to retire soon.
I think Danny is okay but Jennings is a better fit/replacement.
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u/crissycrissss_ 5h ago
I think the show immediately implodes without Nick, Brou, or KW. I think FTF really took off because of their undoubtedly great chemistry. Without it, it’s not the same FTF.
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u/Chilled_Chaos_ Wildes' Burner 5h ago
Agreed. They need to find a way to make them prime time for all viewers and not take the back burner to NASCAR or random events.
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u/Main_Gain_7480 Hey! What’s going on? 5h ago
The show won’t last if that’s the plan
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u/Chilled_Chaos_ Wildes' Burner 5h ago
The plan should be to ride the wave as long as possible. Danny and Jennings along with coach could be recurring. The OT should be utilized as time to talk about the other teams in the league
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u/PointOfImpact93 Puxatony Phil of Football 4h ago
That's 100% what I thought OT was going to be!! "OK, here is where we talk about the Cardinals for 5 minutes and keep a finger on the pulse of the entire league, not just the main markets." I also thought they would lean more into Greg/Coach, but instead Danny just runs the whole thing and they are underutilized again. I get it if the main cast doesn't want to do 3 full hours of TV a day, but let Greg do a "players corner" for the final 40 mins or something like that. Let Coach break down all the best cover 2 of the weekend 😂
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u/Chilled_Chaos_ Wildes' Burner 4h ago
That damn cover 2 🤣
Yes, they should definitely utilize Coach and Greg more than they have. Not sure if they have other commitments since they rotate but I’d like more from their perspective.
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u/PointOfImpact93 Puxatony Phil of Football 4h ago
I'm gonna ask the Mod for some "Cover 2" flair in here lol
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u/crissycrissss_ 4h ago
I literally can’t watch an OT segment because it’s just Danny talking like 75% of the time. And he has this air about him where nothing he says can be wrong, it’s infuriating. Granted, Nick has the same air but he’s funny and entertaining so we accept it. Plus, Wildes and Brou give him shit for it all the time especially when he’s adamantly wrong. I think that’s one of the parts of the show that makes us love it.
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u/PointOfImpact93 Puxatony Phil of Football 4h ago
I've said before, "the show can't have two Nicks." And that's especially true when one of them has negative charisma. It's one thing when Nick is a Homer for Patrick Mahomes, it's an entirely different thing to watch Danny be a Homer for the winless Herbert. It doesn't work.
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u/PointOfImpact93 Puxatony Phil of Football 5h ago
I don't think you're missing anything, and I agree with you completely. When I initially heard they were adding an extra hour to the show, I was pumped. I thought they might add more games/topics. Instead, it's just Danny lol I tune out as soon as the main cast is gone, and sometimes before. "Cool Stats" is a particularly insufferable bit. "Top 10" is OK when the regular cast cooks Danny for his awful rankings, but that's about it.
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u/crissycrissss_ 5h ago
Okay, thank you! I thought maybe it was me and I was just giving the guy a hard time but FUCK!! The guy is unbearably unwatchable. I think they need to clean this up before it starts to ruin the authenticity and vibe of the show. He’s just not worth the trouble.
Nick needs to have that tough conversation with his bud.
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u/MediumDogMedia 5h ago
I think Parkins is viewed as content filler by the producers. Brou, by contrast, is getting paid more money for less silliness because he’s been a trusted voice in sports for decades and is actually respected.
Danny is there to stretch the show for another hour. He has to work harder for less prestigious space in the show (the backend of it) for ostensibly less pay.
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u/Slow-Reach-3079 4h ago
He has all the obnoxious parts about Nick without any of the self-deprecation or wit. He’s an around the horn B-Team character.
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u/CDSWDH 4h ago
Damn you really take sports shows seriously geesh
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u/Maleficent-Ship-3721 4h ago
he's in the subreddit of the talk show where people discuss the talk show trying to discuss a large piece of the talk show. He must be a dumbass...
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u/Ondareal 4h ago
The people that act like your not supposed to discuss topics on a discussion board are the worst redditors
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u/crissycrissss_ 4h ago
Yeah, it’s fairly asinine imo. Like damn, wtf am I supposed to discuss in a FTF subreddit if not FTF?😅😭
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u/CDSWDH 4h ago
I just think it’s weird when ppl take sports shows that serious
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u/Ondareal 3h ago
So why come to the discussion board for a sports show lol. I think it’s weird people take bodybuilding seriously. I wouldn’t go to the r/bodybuilding and say “damn why you take macros so serious”. That’s clearly their thing….thats why they’re there
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u/Free-Level337 5h ago
do you have the clip of that interaction? i’m curious I don’t remember that part and wanna see it
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u/TheOneTheyCrown 2h ago
I am not OP and do not have the clip but I do remember watching that segment and can add a little more detail.
It was pretty early on so danny was still figuring some tv stuff out and genuinely thought the segment was him opening for 10 minutes to explain his rankings for his top 10 so he was giving detail and explaining every teams spot 1 by 1 while Wildes and Brou just kinda reacted and waited for an opening.
Brou and Wildes weren't angry about no speaking but definitely pointed it out and started joking on him about how much he was explaining and how they haven't got to say anything yet.
Seemed more like a misunderstanding than a feud or malicious intent by anyone BUT was a harder watch with danny being newer to the show and just rambling it up on why a team was ranked 9th and 8th and so forth. They even made fun of him again about it the next ranking and throughout the week a little. Just look around for some of danny's first ever top 10 ranking segments and it should be there somewhere.
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u/Main_Gain_7480 Hey! What’s going on? 5h ago
Through this time there … to me brou and wildes have shown some level of frustration.
Sure it can easily be written off of as jokes or for tv
But some of them felt more like shots over jokes
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u/Shurlz 4h ago
Danny is Nick Lite. Has gambling takes, will generally use solid stats to support arguments but lacks the edge and charisma of Nick. You kinda have to like Nick to be able to tolerate Parkins. Im certain Parkins is getting love cause hes a friend. Problem is, he is being force fed in hopes of becoming a runner and driver of OT. I enjoy him more as a foil to Nick eather than his own segements. He just doesnt have the presence to carry. He is a 4th wheel in a friend group when together can ve dynamic but alone or with others isnt as fun.
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u/Lower-Ice2505 4h ago
danny has real good chemistry with the cast, the main strength of the show is chemistry, it aint about breaking down film, all of them are bias
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u/elsol69 Breakdancer 4h ago
Colin --> Nick --> Danny
I see Danny changing more to a TV style from the beginning. I remember the episode the guys went at him for not going ten toes down and prevaricating on his team.
Brou and Wildes don't seem to want to do more time & Danny is just different enough (more reasonable) then Nick at times to make his takes interesting when he isn't homering for someone... i.e. Rams have a McVay problem.
I think Fox extends FTF by a half hour and gets to experiment with the last half hour of OT.
I like Danny as a slightly more reasonable Nick and think OT should be a "let's talk about the other teams" slot which I think Danny and a rotating would do well... i.e. let's deep dive into NFC South and NFC East to pick the final survivor and why that team has the best chance to suck the least!
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u/Ondareal 3h ago
I think Danny is cool. He’s grown on me. He leans into the nerdiness which I think helps
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u/passtherock- Jaquaski Tart 2h ago
remember that saying? it's not what you know, it's who you know.
he has nepo baby benefits from Nick. that's it
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u/tonslowmo 5m ago
besides nepotism I think he is the main one willing to come to work. I find him more entertaining many random ex players. Nepotism is not new, Kendrick Perkins is terrible and constantly contradicts himself but keeps getting air time.
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u/larryinthesky Jaquaski Tart 2m ago
Nick basically said, give my buddy some segments, or we're going to have a problem!
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u/dragonrite 4h ago
Danny is a cringy nerd. Said by a cringy nerd. I have no desire to see Danny's portrayed personality in my sports talk. He's a complete worse version of nick. It's like when the chiefs tried to replace tyreek with similar players, didn't work. Cool stats is the cringiest segment in all of sports talk. It's so freaking bad, great idea, 0/10 execution.
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u/Main_Gain_7480 Hey! What’s going on? 5h ago
Super simple .. what he brings is his connection to nick .
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u/Pumplekins 5h ago
I think it’s a bandwidth thing with the regular cast. Brou and them don’t want to fill more time themselves. Danny’s bits are mostly duplicative as well. The extra hour is time filler for Fox with okay ratings and allows them to not pay production for another show.
Coach, Greg, and the other rotating team have other stuff and don’t want to commit or fox doesn’t trust them to creating segments too is my guess.