Danny Parkins recounts ‘bucket-list thing’ hosting ‘The Herd’

Chicago radio host Danny Parkins missed a couple of afternoon shifts this week at 670 The Score.

He had a very good excuse – the popular radio personality was in Los Angeles, filling in for host Colin Cowherd on FS1’s The Herd.

Parkins, 37, returned to Chicago Wednesday and talked about his unusual opportunity, and he couldn’t hide his excitement. He shared his story with Dan Bernstein and Laurence Holmes on 670 The Score’s Bernstein & Holmes Show.

“It was incredible,” he said. “It was a bucket-list thing. I mean, (Herd) is one of the best sports radio hosts in the history of the medium. The show is a massive operation. Their crew is great. By far, the biggest platform that I’ve ever fronted. It was really, really cool.

“I am not going to even pretend to undersell it or be weird and self-deprecating. It was not something that I really thought was a possibility not that long ago and then it’s become a possibility and then when they said, ‘Do you want to do it?’ I immediately said ‘Yes’ and it was really dope.”

Parkins found himself in awe of The Herd‘s studio.

“It’s huge … I would say legitimately 30-plus-foot ceilings. It’s at Fox, their lot,” Parkins said. “There’s a fake town where they film movies and TV shows. The Simpsons. … Undisputed, Skip Bayless’ show is in the same room as Colin’s studio and there’s no break.”

Here’s Parkins in action on the show Monday.

The work also gave Parkins an appreciation for the scope of Cowherd’s staff and show.

“It’s a three-hour, solo, national TV and radio show,” Parkins said. “Everyone has different opinions on Colin, but it’s probably the toughest broadcast job in the sports opinion space. … It’s a huge operation. They’ve got a ton of producers, a ton of researchers, a ton of graphics people. … His crew was incredible. … I’ve never seen anything like it.”

[Barrett Sports Media]