Getting Wright: A Pizza Date That Changed Everything

Media Personality, Nick Wright

     For Nick Wright, all the credit goes to his wife. Early on, knew he wanted to be involved with sports. A chance encounter with Bob Costas as a pre-teen led to an interview with the Newhouse dean, an early start at WAER his freshman year, and some early friendships made him confident that he would succeed. He says he felt slightly privileged, but that's him being modest. Wright attended Syracuse University for his undergraduate studies and graduated in '07. After graduating, he moved to Kansas City, with a promise that he could host his own show once a week. He made it onto Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (I am not kidding) and started on his journey to the top. But it was in Kansas City where he developed a gambling addiction and smoking habit. 

     The game show appearance netted him 50 thousand dollars but with 5 casinos in the area, it was gone pretty quickly. With a meager salary, and a gambling problem, one can imagine that life wasn't all gravy for Nick at the time. But then he met the one. After some failed attempts at securing a date, Nick finally scored when he told her he was moving to Seattle for a job in a week (that he actually didn't get), and she agreed to meet him at Da Bronx Pizzeria a couple days later. When he showed up, she was with her two children, a two year old girl, and a 9 year old boy. After hanging out and eating some pizza, Nick must've said all the "wright" (I'm sorry) things to her because she told him that her sister could watch her kids and they could go on a real date later that same night. 

     They dated for some time before getting serious, and after learning the rigors of being a single mother without much support, Nick realized it was time to wake up. His wife was working three jobs at once just to support her kids. Nick says, "I was watching this woman who had none of the privilege or opportunity I had just make it happen." It was at that point that he started to get himself together for the sake of his relationship, his career, and her children. Nick went on to become who the personality that he is because he learned to grow up quickly. 

     Nick is currently a co-host for "First Things First" on FOX Sports that airs weekdays at 6:30 in the morning. Nick is arguably the biggest LeBron James fan you could ever meet, and he makes sure that you know why. He is a husband, father, and friend. He got to where he is because he is driven, passionate, prepared, and tenacious. But to him, he is absolutely nothing without his wife. At 23, a date at Da Bronx essentially gave those who support him, the Nick Wright that exists today. "People see single black mom, two kids, and then see me, people would say things to me like oh what a blessing you are for that family, and I get the sentiment, but that's not really how it happened." Nick Wright shows up on the screen, he makes the tweets, and he talks to the players, but if you let him tell the story, she's the reason the chips have fallen where they have.