ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF
Former Florida football wide receiver and University of Florida Athletics Hall of Famer Cris Collinsworth was named to the 2023 class of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Thursday. He joins broadcasters Val Ackerman, Lance Borrow, Tom Fletcher, Steve Hellmuth, Ernie Johnson, Andrea Joyce, Tony Petitt and Jeff Zachary.
The next man to slide into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame is one of the great analysts.
A nine-time Emmy winner, he first joined an NFL booth in 2005 at FOX before taking the job we know him for best: NBC Sunday Night Football.
Welcome to the HOF, Cris Collinsworth! pic.twitter.com/CWNzwpZIzE
— Sports Video Group (@sportsvideo) July 27, 2023
Career on the Field
Collinsworth, after his freshman season at Florida in 1977, switched from quarterback to wide receiver. He immediately shined in his new role. Collinsworth recorded 745 receiving yards, rushed 100 yards and grabbed nine touchdowns through his sophomore season.
He would go on to make the College Football All-American team in his senior year at UF. Then, Collinsworth would be drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-4-inch lanky receiver finished his career with the Bengals a three-time Pro Bowler and tallied four 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He also appeared in Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXIII.
Life in the Broadcasting Booth
Collinsworth started his sports broadcasting career as a sports radio host on the Cincinnati Station WLW after his retirement in 1989. Since then, the Ohio native has worked for HBO, NBC Sports and NFL on FOX. Additionally, he took over the color commentator role from NFL Hall of Fame coach John Madden for NBC’s Sunday Night Football in 2009.
Furthermore, Collinsworth worked alongside fellow Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Al Michaels. The two worked together until 2022, when Michaels departed NBC for NFL on Prime Video.
Collinsworth still works at NBC, now with play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico, broadcasting NFL games throughout the Fall season.
The 24-year sports broadcasting veteran is the only NFL analyst other than Madden to receive a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst — an award he’s claimed nine times.
