Colin Cowherd Muhammad Ali Edit via Liam McGuire, Comeback Media

The era of athlete podcasts is fully here. From active players to Hall of Famers, many of the best and biggest sports shows are hosted by athletes. But longtime sports radio and TV host Colin Cowherd, who employs many of those athletes today at The Volume, has one legendary sports star he wishes could have gotten behind a mic in this era.

Discussing the podcasting business in an interview with Julian Edelman on the Games with Names podcast, Cowherd revealed his pick for the best possible host from across sports history.

“Muhammad Ali would have been the greatest ever,” Cowherd said. “If you YouTube Muhammad Ali and you go to Muhammad Ali’s best press conferences, you can’t believe it. It’s like watching Michael Jackson for the first time moonwalk. You can’t believe what he’s doing. He’s going on these four-minute soliloquies and you’re like, ‘Where’s the teleprompter?’ I’m a broadcaster and I’m like, how is he doing this?

“Ali today would look like Ronaldo, Tom Brady successful, and Mahomes talented. He was everything … Ali was born too early.”

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984 at age 42 and passed away in 2016. But during his illustrious career as a boxer and public figure, Ali dazzled with iconic quips and social commentary.

Ali was also incredible in the ring. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. He was the best at a brutal sport at a time when it dominated American sports culture.

It’s hard to argue with Cowherd’s pick. Modern sports fans are getting something close to Ali the podcaster with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the newsletter writer, getting Kareem’s thoughts on Hollywood, politics and sports unfiltered on Substack.

After listing Ali, the FS1 host and founder of The Volume detailed what makes a good podcaster, regardless of topic.

“Two things always work with podcasting. Are you curious … and storytelling,” Cowherd explained. “When I speak to young broadcasters, I always say just be interesting.”

Among modern podcasters, Cowherd mentioned Edelman and Joe Rogan as curious, engaging personalities who can hold an audience and take the conversation in a direction worth listening to.

Recently, podcast gigs for active GOAT candidates like LeBron James, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers haven’t been all that groundbreaking. More often, journeymen and role players stand out more. But Ali could have been the exception in an alternate universe.

[Games With Names on YouTube]

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.