Sports on the Air / By Alan Pergament
Collinsworth a triple threat in covering NFL
Cris Collinsworth, more recently known as Debbie Phelps’ new best friend at the Beijing Olympics, has something in common with her superstar son, Michael.
He works a killer schedule. Collinsworth is an opinionated, versatile triple broadcasting threat who covers the National Football League for three different networks in three different capacities. And he is in the middle of two of the more significant changes in NFL coverage.
He gets a new play-by-play partner, Bob Papa, on The NFL Network games he analyzes in the second half of the season. Collinsworth also is the only member of the pay-cable series, “Inside the NFL” who has moved from HBO to Showtime. And he remains a studio analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
That is quite a hat trick, when you consider that Showtime is owned by the same company that owns CBS. In other words, Collinsworth is essentially drawing paychecks from rivals NBC and CBS.
In a telephone interview, Collinsworth confirmed that he needed permission from NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol to join the Showtime show.
“I have to get permission from Dick Ebersol to play golf on Saturday,” cracked Collinsworth.
It was surprising that Ebersol said yes to “Inside the NFL.”
“I think he was (surprised), too,” cracked Collinsworth.
After initially rejecting Showtime’s offer to spend some more time watching his children play sports, he said yes the second time around.
“There is something about that show that is kind of part of me,” said Collinsworth. “I’ve been doing it for 18 years and it meant something to me. Plus, I love what it is. On the Sunday night show we’re watching 10 games at a time at 1 o’clock. The amount of detail I can discuss when we’re analyzing the game is pretty limited because you are watching a play here and a play there.”
By the Wednesday taping of “Inside,” he’s seen the game films and can provide more insights on why things happen.
“I enjoy the in-depth looks at what is going on and not just Randy Moss scored three touchdowns this week,” he said.
Showtime, which has a fraction of HBO’s subscribers, is hoping to make more money by attracting new subscribers.
“I’m sure that’s part of the reason that Showtime wanted to do it,” said Collinsworth, who will be joined by host James Brown and analysts Phil Simms and Warren Sapp.
It will take some time for that group to establish the fun-loving chemistry that Collinsworth had with HBO host Bob Costas and analysts Dan Marino and Cris Carter. And “Inside” is as much about personality and chemistry now as it is about NFL Films highlights.
“You still can’t beat their highlights,” praised Collinsworth. “The sound, putting microphones on players. It is always going to be a unique show.”
Collinsworth is known as a critical analyst, with an accuracy rate higher than most quarterbacks’ passing ratings. How often does he hear from players upset at something he says?
“Every day of my life,” said Collinsworth. “People think it is such a great business. It’s a nasty business. You are essentially a Benedict Arnold. You go from their best friends and teammates to criticizing them. Some guys can’t handle that. Honestly, some broadcasters can’t handle that. It’s hard. It’s not an easy job. You get in really uncomfortable positions.”
He was aware of the criticism of his NFL Network partner for the past two seasons, Bryant Gumbel. He knows how difficult it is to do play-by-play, having done a couple of practice games with John Madden in a NBC tryout before the network hired Madden’s ABC partner, Al Michaels. He admits he was terrible.
“You think Bryant got criticized, I would have been killed,” said Collinsworth.
He is pleased with the addition of Papa, the radio voice of the New York Giants.
“I think Bob is going to be tremendous,” said Collinsworth. “He lives football and so do I. . . . He knows everything that is going on in the league.”
Collinsworth has an “in” when it comes to knowing about the Bills. He was a rookie in Dick Jauron’s last NFL season with the Cincinnati Bengals. And Collinsworth said he and the Bills new offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, were “absolute best of friends” when they were Bengal teammates and remain very close.
“I’m kind of excited about seeing him finally get a chance,” said Collinsworth. “I think it’s been long overdue with the pedigree that he has. . . . I cheer for the guy.”
In watching part of the Bills preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Collinsworth saw a Bills offense that had some similarities with the ones the Bengals played during his career. “It looks like (Schonert) is spreading it out,” said Collinsworth. “It looks a little like the old K-Gun stuff with Jim Kelly and the boys. I’m not one who subscribes to the theory you can’t throw the ball in Buffalo because of the weather. I watched Jim Kelly, Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas run it and throw it down our throat when I played.”
He won’t offer any predictions on how well the Bills will do, saying it depends on the status of offensive lineman Jason Peters and how quickly quarterbacks Trent Edwards and J. P. Losman pick up the new offense.
Unlike many members of the Buffalo media, Collinsworth believes the Bills were smart to keep Losman as the backup. He was impressed by Edwards out of college, was surprised he wasn’t a No. 1 draft pick and thinks he probably is the right choice to start. But he likes Losman, too, and was a little surprised that no one was interested in acquiring him because he has a strong arm, is young and there are so few good quarterbacks in the league.
“I don’t blame the Bills for not making a trade,” said Collinsworth. “As we’re seeing now with the Patriots and the Colts, get past that front line quarterback, they’re done. This is a team that could survive a quarterback injury and probably not change the team in a significant way.
“And, let’s face it, Trent Edwards is no sure thing at this point. I think Trent was a fair choice and probably the right choice, but it surely doesn’t mean in December we’re not going to be watching J. P. Losman for any number of different reasons.”
There really aren’t any sure things in the NFL — except perhaps that Collinsworth will be on TV talking football somewhere.
