It’s been a bit since Bill Simmons entered the ring with a sports media rival, but The Sports Guy is back.
During the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast going through NFL win total over/unders for the AFC, Simmons took a pot shot at FS1 host Nick Wright over Wright’s propensity for hot takes. Not only did Simmons accuse Wright of throwing unsubstantiated bold opinions out for attention, he did it while simultaneously making the case for C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans to dethrone Wright’s beloved Kansas City Chiefs.
Defending his excitement for the Texans this season, Simmons said:
“The case for Houston beating KC in the AFC title game or Round Two, whenever it happens, for me, because I was really trying to think, do I really believe this? I don’t want to do like the Nick Wright, I’m just throwing crazy takes out hoping to get aggregated … Sorry, Nick.”
Simmons continued by stating he was bullish on Houston’s regular season bona fides and home field advantage over the Chiefs, but the damage was already done.
Perhaps Simmons saw a recent clip from Wright’s show First Things First in which Wright picked the Chicago Bears to make the Super Bowl?
The pick was certainly surprising, for how rare it would be both in Chicago and in NFL history among rookie QBs. But it took Wright more than 3 minutes to make the case!
While Wright is certainly known for his strong stances and occasionally grating debate style, the idea that he is making all of it up is a new one. Wright has often said of himself that he is never wrong, and that his strategy while giving sports opinions is to be so thorough and convincing that his cohosts and audience have no choice but to agree with him.
That usually involves some research, long, detailed explanations and pretty careful language.
But apparently it’s not enough for Simmons, who sees arguably the face of FS1 as simply here for attention.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.