Nick Wright, Fox Sports star, keeps cashing in on his Chiefs obsession

[Hammock Parties]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...source=twitter

The Monday after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills to advance to their third straight Super Bowl, Nick Wright appeared on the set of Fox Sports 1′s “First Things First” in a red-and-white-checked Louis Vuitton fleece jacket. He wore sunglasses and lounged in his chair, his feet up on the desk in front of him.

“How are you feeling today?” asked his co-host, Kevin Wildes.

“I don’t want to overstate it,” Wright said. “One of the best days of my life.”

All that was missing was a victory cigar, though Wright had broadcast himself smoking one the night before on Instagram, minutes after the final whistle.

Wright, 40, has been in a gloating mood this season — and, really, for the entire Patrick Mahomes era. Whenever the NFL commentariat has voiced any whiff of skepticism about the Chiefs, Wright, a Kansas City native and die-hard Chiefs fan, has promised victory. And the Chiefs have obliged.

“It is unbelievably fortuitous, professionally, and unbelievably gratifying, personally, that I have become the media avatar for what will go down as the greatest team in the history of the sport and who will go down as the greatest player in the history of the sport,” Wright said in an interview.

Driven by Wright, “First Things First” has become “appointment television” for Chiefs fans, said Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas, a lifelong friend of Wright’s. “I’ve got a busy job, but I’m trying to catch his takes on Mondays.”

Ahead of last season, Wright got a tattoo on his arm that reads “Never A Doubt.” He told viewers it was a prediction of the Chiefs going 20-0, but after they lost their first game, it morphed into a promise of the team’s inevitability even during an 11-6 season. The Chiefs, of course, won the Super Bowl, and Patrick Mahomes adopted the slogan, too. The show has traveled to Chiefs Super Bowl parades, and Wright’s commentary circulates in the Chiefs’ locker room.

Through it all, his career has flourished. Last week, he appeared on high-profile shows including “Pardon My Take,” Dan Patrick’s, Dan Le Batard’s and colleague Colin Cowherd’s, all while pumping out episodes of his own podcast and doing two live hours daily on FS1. He’s a growing face of the network and recently signed a new contract. It’s not all because of the Chiefs, but their run has undeniably been good business for Wright.

“Nick has reached the goal of every broadcaster of when you think of a thing, you want to be the person who comes to mind,” said Carrington Harrison, a sports radio host in Kansas City (and a former intern for Wright). “For every political crisis, CNN has a specific person they call. Nick is very uniquely positioned where the Chiefs are the ‘it’ story and there’s no better person to talk about it.”

Wright’s first foray into sports media was as a 10-year-old in the parking lot of Arrowhead Stadium. He called into the Chiefs’ postgame show one afternoon; when the show wouldn’t let a kid on the air, he put his dad on the line for the screeners. Wright got through and complained about Marty Schottenheimer’s clock management. His insights were so good that he got a regular segment as “Nick the Kid.”



That same energy shows up every day on the set of “First Things First.” Wright created a bulletin board on set where he collects slights against the Chiefs. In 2023, the Bills’ Twitter account tweeted “Never a doubt” after a regular season win over the Chiefs. The Chiefs would lose their first playoff game this year, Rex Ryan said on ESPN. Mahomes didn’t make the Pro Bowl this year. Adam Schefter noted the Chiefs’ good penalty luck, and Wright promptly called it terrible journalism. (Schefter was far from the only prominent media member to raise the point.)

Wright has comebacks for everyone else, too. He unveiled a banner with Mahomes superimposed on the face of Babe Ruth, and he called the Bills eternally cursed because they traded the pick to the Chiefs that was used to draft Mahomes. He compared Mahomes to Tony Soprano, calling him the main character of the NFL while Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow are compelling bit players such as Carmela, Christopher and Paulie Walnuts.

“It helps that basically every one of his Chiefs predictions is accurate,” Wildes said.

Wright didn’t plan it exactly this way. When he launched his first show on Fox in 2017, he discussed with then co-host Cris Carter how much to lean into his fandom. Wright decided he had to be a Chiefs fan to talk about the NFL authentically. Also, the Chiefs weren’t a national story. Four months later, Mahomes debuted.

“So much of the industry is fighting for the same two corners: who can be the biggest Cowboys fan in sports media and who can be the biggest Cowboys skeptic,” Wright said. “No one was looking for the Chiefs corner. It’s totally unguarded territory. And I’m like, ‘Well, I’ll take it’ — because it is what I believe. And now it’s the most sought-after real estate in sports media.”



Wright is not the first media member to follow a subject to a larger profile. Brian Windhorst famously covered LeBron James in high school before following him to Cleveland and Miami. Skip Bayless covered the Cowboys in Dallas as a columnist and then made his fandom part of his TV shtick.

Nor is Wright the first to realize the importance of fandom. Dan Katz, a Boston-area native better known as Barstool Big Cat, turned himself into a Chicago sports fan when he started blogging about the city’s teams. The best corollary, though, may be Bill Simmons, whose Boston roots helped make him an essential voice at the same time the Red Sox broke their World Series curse and the New England Patriots enjoyed the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era.

“I think fans like when certain members of the media are die-hards, too,” Wright said. “And I don’t think fans like at all when people look down on being a die-hard fan, as some people I think have.”

In Wright’s case, Chiefs players have noticed, too. He has gotten FaceTime calls from Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach after playoff victories. Mahomes sent him bottle service in a Kansas City club at a Super Bowl celebration, and Wright spent that night partying with tight end Travis Kelce until 5 a.m.

Asked whether he might be more critical of the Chiefs if he wasn’t also a fan, Wright said, “I like to think I wouldn’t be because this specific thing has been so blindingly obvious, and it’s been one of the biggest shockers of my professional life that people for the last couple years have been in such denial about this team.”

In 2012, Wright had a decision to make. He had come home after college and spent five years on local radio in Kansas City. He had a contract extension waiting to be signed, and he was house hunting with his fiancée. Then a radio station in Houston offered him a job. Wright chose to leave.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier than I was in 2012,” he said. “But I left because I had always said that I wanted the finish line of [my career] to be one day if you asked 100 sports fans, ‘Family Feud’-style, who is the biggest sports talk personality in America and that I get the most votes.

“I’m like seventh place now,” he added with a smile.

It was emotional to say goodbye to Kansas City. Wright’s dad was the president of the firefighters union there. He grew up with season tickets to Chiefs games. Mayor Lucas officiated the renewal of his marriage vows. But that has made this Chiefs’ run somehow even more special. Segments on his hometown team can sound like he’s doing local radio on national TV.

On Sunday, the Chiefs will play for history, and Wright is already preparing a victory show for a three-peat — even if, as Cowherd noted, Wright may get better ratings for a Chiefs loss. “The audience likes to see you bleed once in a while,” Cowherd said.

An anguished Wright certainly would make for good TV, even if he can’t quite fathom it. “Intellectually, I know they can lose. I know the Eagles could win,” Wright said. “But spiritually, it seems impossible.”

[Chieftain]

For a big nose person, he does sneeze out huge amounts of truth.

[kstater]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

LOL I remember when people on here absolutely hated him while he was on 610....

I hated him when he was in KC. But, love his show now. I don't know if just putting a face to the voice completes the image in my brain or what. It's not like his views or mannerisms have changed

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using Tapatalk

[BWillie]

You don't have to agree with Nick to know he oozed pure media and radio talent when he was in KC. It was clear as day. It is no surprise he is where he is. The only thing that I thought might hold him back is his voice so being on TV is actually good for him.

We were an incredibly lucky sports town to get DA, then Nick and then Danny Parkins. Carrington is solid but just doesn't have the ammo for really good arguments.

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Dude’s hair and clothes are ridiculous, but he’s doing the Lord’s work.

[Demonpenz]

Shasta Adam Driver

[siberian khatru]

Nick Wright is spitting 100 percent facts about Patrick Mahomes! 🔥pic.twitter.com/EQuw45U8a1

— Brad Henson Productions (@BradHensonPro) February 7, 2025

[PatMahomesIsGod]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

I would never pay a twentieth of what it's worth, but that coat is ****ing dope.

I’d wear that jacket.

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Which poster here is Nick?

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

Which poster here is Nick?

I think there is a very real chance Nick reads the Planet at least sporadically to get a pulse of the old Chiefs fan.

[suzzer99]

Chiefs not making the Super Bowl this year. Quote me on that

— Brocktober (@risotto41) October 23, 2024

As you wish.

[BigRedChief]

I just heard on the SVP podcast a story from Nick that he was the 10 year old "Nick the kid" that would call into the post game show. I remember him. A kid calling in and complaining about Schottheimer clock management. I never put that kid and the one that's blown up nationwide as the same person.

[PatMahomesIsGod]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I just heard on the SVP podcast a story from Nick that he was the 10 year old "Nick the kid" that would call into the post game show. I remember him. A kid calling in and complaining about Schottheimer clock management. I never put that kid and the one that's blown up nationwide as the same person.

No one could **** up clock management quite like Marty.