Set to call another Super Bowl for NBC Sports in the Bay Area, Cris Collinsworth is letting the memes about him slide.
NEW YORK — Now here’s a guy who doesn’t care what the online gridiron jesters have to say.
Cris Collinsworth has been the narrator of many a major NFL moment over the past three decades-plus, his voice familiar to football fans of the past and present. Collinsworth’s audio antics have led to a form of modern immortality, as a digital purge of internet memes featuring the lead color commentator for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” would be a futile exercise for even the most talented of hackers.
“Some of the things that I’ve apparently done with Patrick Mahomes are always sticking out,” Collinsworth told TeamFB7 with a smile at NBC Sports’ “Legendary February” showcase in New York, acknowledging the existence of his online following during the peacock-branded network’s preview of its NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl, and Winter Olympics coverage.
Collinsworth has been stationed in NBC’s booth since 2009, succeeding the late John Madden in the coveted time slot’s analyst chair. The former Cincinnati Bengals receiver originally went viral for the “Collinsworth Slide” that saw him slide in next to his broadcast partner. More recently, amateur football comedians have created imaginative analysis using Collinsworth’s preface of “now here’s a guy” before offering his two cents between plays.
As Collinsworth mentioned, his lauding of Mahomes has drawn particular attention, even when the Kansas City Chiefs are stationed beyond 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday night. Some viewers believe that it’s excessive celebration, but Collinsworth said that his fulfilling career puts such detractors on a permanent bye week.
“I always say that I’m perfectly happy being the dartboard and let everybody have the darts because I’ve got my job,” Collinsworth reflected to TeamFB7. “I’ve lived my lifetime dream. I get to do exactly what I want to do when I get out of bed every single day, and if it means I get to show up for the couple memes, so be it.”
Dealing with fans displeased with his supposed surfeit during pro football’s holiday season is nothing new for Collinsworth.
The 66-year-old catcher-turned commentator (whose mic has also repped Fox, HBO, NFL Network, and Showtime) humorously recalled an incident at the other end of the spectrum during a panel discussion with play-by-play man Mike Tirico, NBC’s NFL executive producer Fred Gaudelli, and coordinating producer Rob Hyland. On that occasion, Collinsworth turned the tables on New York Giants fans that were displeased with the way he analyzed Big Blue’s prospects against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.
“Any other time I would have given a simple explanation, I don’t hate your team. I just try to critique, blah, blah, blah,” Collinsworth said, responding to a question from Tirico that hinted at how different the Super Bowl is from covering another high-profile game. “Just this one time, it’s the only time I’ve ever done this in my life, I walked by and I said, I don’t know, I just hate them. It was my favorite moment. As soon as I got outside, I said, I know what’s going to be on the front of the New York Times tomorrow. This guy got it, right? That’s what the Super Bowl is like.”
Collinsworth is getting ready to call his fifth Super Bowl for NBC on Feb. 8 and his first alongside Tirico, who will have a busy Sunday between narration in Santa Clara before he jets off to Italy to set up residency in the NBC studio for the Milan Cortina Olympics. The peacock’s postseason journey will begin in familiar Sunday night territory, as Collinsworth and Tirico will be on the call for the New England Patriots’ Wild Card clash with the Los Angeles Chargers (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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