Nick Wright criticises ‘hysterical’ footage of Joe Burrow

Nick Wright has no problem calling out other sports talk show topics that he feels don't line up with reality. The star of FS1's First Things First already tangled with Dan Orlovsky for calling Josh Allen “overrated,” and now he's banging the Joe Burrow drum, slamming the notion that the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has been somehow bad the past two seasons.

There are many sports media personalities Wright could talk about, especially with Burrow being on everyone’s lips right now. But one particularly interesting Burrow feature came on Wright’s own network when former Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones claimed The attachment that Burrow has not been good the last two seasons.

Thank you, James Jones. Finally someone said it pic.twitter.com/KK9l3FUeY3

— Justus General (@JA17MVP) 11 September 2024

Wright responded to the increasing coverage of Burrow on FTF on Thursday.

“I found the comments from Joe Burrow over the last 72 hours almost hysterical, and not almost, just completely ridiculous,” Wright says. “There's so much 'Where's that energy for Joe that we had for Lamar (Jackson); that we had for Josh Allen?' It's like when … Kevin Durant is struggling in a playoff series and they say, 'Where's the energy that you have for Joel Embiid or Kevin Durant?' Well, they're different guys with different stories, and that's important when we talk about them.

“Joe Burrow is a spectacular quarterback whose only real weakness when he's healthy is that he's a little limited physically. He doesn't have the strongest arm, he's not the most agile, he's not the strongest. So he can play at a super-high level, even though he's probably about league average as far as measurable. That's why he looks terrible when he's not anywhere near 100 percent. His calf is a little banged up, he can't play well. If (Kevin) Wildes is right that his wrist is really still hurt, you can tell.

“But this notion that's put out on the Internet and by other talk show hosts, 'Oh, he was bad for two years,' is a lie. That's nonsense. We had a conversation on this show last year. Before the game, he hurt his wrist. Could he be the MVP of the league? Because after the first four weeks last year — when his calf was healthy — here's what he did. What he did in Weeks 5 through 9, oh, he looked like the best quarterback in the league. And that's after a two-year stretch where … he was the second-best quarterback in the league.

“When people ask, 'Why are we doing this? Why don't we give Joe Burrow more leeway than Lamar or sometimes Josh Allen?' Because we've seen Joe Burrow win in important situations and play great in important situations that those guys haven't done. We've seen Joe Burrow kick Josh Allen in the house in the playoffs and outplay him when Josh laid an egg. We've seen Joe Burrow have two playoff runs that were better than any single playoff run Lamar had. That's why. That's what you deserve… Listen, am I worried about him? If his wrist is really still hurt, he's not going to be good.

“Do I think we overrated Joe Burrow? Do I think, 'Oh, time for the receipts for Joe Burrow?' I think people are idiots. I think he's clearly one of the best quarterbacks in the league and has been for four years.”

.@getnickwright about Joe Burrow:

“The idea spread on the Internet and by other talk show hosts that he has been bad for two years is a lie. That is nonsense.” pic.twitter.com/LShSk9iZDn

— First things first (@FTFonFS1) 12 September 2024

This wasn't the only problem Wright had with Burrow and the sports media.

“This is a note to my colleagues in sports media, sports Twitter, it's become even more of a cesspool of inaccurate or unfairly edited short-form videos, and then some of these faceless, nameless catch-all accounts post the video and say, 'People are saying…' There were three things that happened this weekend that went viral,” Wright said. “One was, 'Aaron Rodgers is already ignoring Nat Hackett.' Another was, 'Joel Bitonio won't take a hand from Deshaun Watson.' Oh, and the third was, 'Joe Burrow can't hold a water bottle; people are talking about it.'

“They're all stupid… people, stop asking the athletes stupid things. Fake people on the internet became a story. Yesterday someone asked Joe Burrow, 'Can you take a water bottle?' We're getting dumber every day…”

“Someone asked Joe Burrow yesterday if he could bring a water bottle.”@getnickwright has a comment on sports Twitter to his media colleagues: pic.twitter.com/FI0YjXdn9c

— What is Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) 12 September 2024

[First Things First, Nick Wright]