Cris Collinsworth

Anthony Cris Collinsworth (born January 27, 1959) is an American former professional football player and sports broadcaster who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981–1988) with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for the Florida Gators, earning first-team All-American honors. He is a television sportscaster for NBC, Showtime, and the NFL Network, and winner of 17 Sports Emmy Awards. He is also the majority owner of Pro Football Focus.

Early life

Collinsworth was born in Dayton, Ohio,

His family, including Cris and his younger brother Greg, moved from Ohio to Melbourne, Florida, in 1963, when Cris was four years old. He was successful in multiple sports for the Astronaut War Eagles, and during his junior year in 1976, he won the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 3A 100-yard-dash state championship and was named a high-school All-American quarterback.

College career Collinsworth's combination of height and speed attracted the attention of college football programs throughout the South, and he accepted an athletic scholarship from coach Doug Dickey to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Though he was recruited as a run-first quarterback for the Gators' option offense, Collinsworth threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Gaffney against the Rice Owls in his first collegiate attempt, a toss which remains tied for the longest touchdown pass in NCAA history.

Florida's option attack struggled against top defenses in Collinsworth's freshman season of 1977, so Coach Dickey decided to transition his team from a run-oriented offense to a more balanced pro set attack for 1978. Collinsworth was moved to wide receiver, where his new position coach was former Gator quarterback Steve Spurrier in his first year as a coach.

During his career at Florida, Collinsworth caught 120 passes for 1,937 yards, and rushed for another 210. He scored 14 touchdowns receiving, two rushing, one on a kickoff return, and threw two touchdown passes. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1981 and was inducted into the University of Florida Student Hall of Fame the same year. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1991, and as part of a recognition of 100 years of Florida football in 2006, The Gainesville Sun recognized him as the No. 12 all-time Gator player.

Professional career

Collinsworth was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round (37th pick overall) of the 1981 NFL draft, and spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the Bengals. In his first season, Collinsworth was the team's leading receiver and set the Bengals franchise record for receptions by a rookie with 67, the most by an NFL rookie wide receiver in 21 years. He surpassed 1,000 yards receiving four times (in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986) and was named to the Pro Bowl in 1981, 1982 and 1983. At in height, Collinsworth often created mismatches against much smaller cornerbacks. In addition to his height advantage, he was a legitimate deep threat due to his speed.

In Super Bowl XVI, Collinsworth was the game's leading receiver with five receptions for 107 yards, but committed a costly second quarter fumble when he was hit by San Francisco defensive back Eric Wright. The fumble was immediately followed by a 92-yard 49ers touchdown drive, and San Francisco won 26–21.

In 1985, Collinsworth signed with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League (USFL), but the contract was voided when he failed the physical due to a bad ankle. He returned to the Bengals and played for them through the end of the 1988 season, catching three passes for 40 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, the final game of his career. He finished his eight-season NFL career with 417 receptions for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns in 107 games.

Broadcasting career

After his retirement as an NFL player, Collinsworth began a broadcasting career as a sports radio talk show host on Cincinnati station WLW. Initially, he was a guest host for Bob Trumpy (also a Bengals alumnus), but took over the show full-time as Trumpy accepted more television assignments. He then became a reporter for HBO's (now Showtime's) Inside the NFL in 1989.

In 1990, he became a part of NBC's NFL broadcasts, as well as some of the college programming. He joined the NBC pregame show in 1996. As of 2025, he is in his seventeenth season of the high-profile telecast, paired with Mike Tirico, after Michaels was named the new play-by-play announcer for Prime Video's coverage of Thursday Night Football in 2022.

Collinsworth was the host of Inside the Vault on WGN America.

One of the most well-known trademarks of Collinsworth's work in the broadcasting booth was his performance of the "Collinsworth Slide" before each game. After Al Michaels gave a brief introduction for the upcoming game, the camera would pan out slightly and allow Collinsworth to slide himself into the picture via his broadcasting chair, after which he provided insights of his own. He has also been noted for his affinity for Patrick Mahomes.

NFL career statistics Regular season

Postseason

Awards and honors Football 1980 First-team All-American Three-time Second-team All-Pro Three-time Pro Bowl selection Academic All-America Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2001) University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame inductee

Broadcasting 17-time Sports Emmy Award winner (eight for Studio Analyst and nine for Field Analyst) Another son, Jac, also attended Notre Dame and was a featured reporter for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown before joining his father at NBC, where he is the on-site host for Football Night in America and also hosts NBC's Notre Dame football, NASCAR, and coverage for other big events such as the Indianapolis 500 and Kentucky Derby.

On March 12, 2011, Collinsworth reportedly was among 83 people rescued from Jeff Ruby's Waterfront restaurant in Covington, Kentucky, when the floating restaurant tore loose from its moorings and began to drift on the Ohio River, only to be stopped by the Brent Spence Bridge that links Ohio to Kentucky. Collinsworth also has a steak named after him by the same restaurant.

Collinsworth came under criticism after an interview from the 1980s emerged when he alluded to inappropriate sexual relationships with underage individuals saying "I like girls that aren't too bright because you can trick them a little bit... High school girls love me, 14 to 18 I'm a big star with them because you know, as soon as they mature they start figuring out wait a minute, I know I can get a better guy than that."