He comes off the ball low and powerfully in the run game and has plenty of athleticism in space. A guy that would leave eight years later as the franchise's all-time leading receiver with a game of guts and guile that Brown would call great? He is currently a television sportscaster for NBC, Showtime, and the NFL Network, and winner of 17 Sports Emmy Awards. Cris Collinsworth is an American Journalist and Sportscaster. Collinsworth was taken in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft with the 37th overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals and was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons. Playing quarterback for the War Eagles outstanding coach Jay Donnelly, he was also named to the all-state team in basketball during his senior year, and won the 100-yard dash in the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships as a junior. "Lindy was from Florida. Cris Collinsworth's 2021 NFL Mock Draft: Penei Sewell goes to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. Cris Collinsworth when he was honored as one of the First 50 Bengals. Short legs get running faster than long legs, so the taller receiver always has to make up ground in the last 30 yards. 556. Prep Football All-American The Eagles get lucky here. How about Steve Largent? Tough pick here. "(Infante) was a Florida guy Some people you just connect with. Im expecting new defensive coordinator Joe Cullen to attack much like Wink Martindale does in Baltimore. It has taken me 52 years to say what I really have wanted to say about this, so I will let the venom slowly seep out. "It is the fact that when you got the ball to David Verser, he was hell on wheels. The pivotal moment comes when you are already running, make that move on the DB, and THEN burst into the extra gear. "He reminds me of a shorter but faster Pat McInally," Pete Brown wrote. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. 2,579. This isn't a sexy pick, but it gives the Titans a powerful guard, if they choose to play Leatherwood inside, or a solid run-blocking tackle who will need some support in pass protection. It was a close-run thing.". His double-moves are frightening, given his speed, and few receivers run them more often. Born in Ohio in 1959, Cris Collinsworth moved with his family to Florida at the age of four and later attended Astronaut High School in Titusville, where his father was the basketball coach and later the principal. This is where the action really begins. Wood, appointed by Paul Brown as the NFL's first full-time strength coach, still has an endless network of conditioning contacts and in 1981 he knew the photo didn't translate. He surpassed the 1,000-yard mark four times and ended his eight-year pro career with 417 catches for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns, adding an additional 21 catches for 354 yards and a touchdown in three postseason games. He currently takes a lot of short, choppy steps that put little pressure on the tackle. He then became a reporter for HBO's (now Showtime's) Inside the NFL in 1989. The Florida tight end is a brilliant catcher of the ball and possesses a comical catch radius. 37, the Bengals took the kid with the watch. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NCAA player performance data. Still, Lawrences running skills will make the RPO game very difficult to stop. Collinsworth retired from professional football in 1989. Collinsworth on being a modern athletic rarity, a four-sport (football, basketball, baseball, track) star at Astronaut High in Titusville, the metropolis of 31,494 people adjacent to Mims: "It's. What we do know now on the 40th anniversary of that draft is that just not Tom Brady is a result of fate and fortune. But when you have Derrick Henry, that positional flexibility and power come into play. Oweh didn't even play football until his junior year of high school, which may explain his lack of pass-rushing skills. Three others finished with the exact same time but the 65 Collinsworth outleaned his competitors at the tape to take the title. American football player and sports broadcaster (born 1959). He was a Pro Day superstar. 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. [24] He worked on Fox's Super Bowl XXXIX telecast three years later. If there is one big loser here, it is the 49ers, who would have loved the Patriots to have missed out on one of the top quarterbacks to keep a possible trade for Jimmy Garoppolo alive, but those dreams just ended. (Complete Story). He just doesn't remember it that way. player's strike of 1982 and broadcast on Monday night in the usual Monday Night Football time slot featured twelve N.F.L. He was an All-Pro selection from 1981-1983, and played for the 1982 and 1989 Super Bowl teams. WHY did they run 4.4? 10, his agent went to great lengths to assure him that Cincinnati wasn't the place for him. We got lucky He was brave. 39 the Vikings picked McDole, one of the receivers whom had been unfavorably compared to Collinsworth and whose career consisted of three catches. He fights hard to get to the edge against guards, using his hands well, and then is just too much to keep from turning the corner. 3 that no trade seemed fair. Cris spent his entire NFL career with the Bengals. Questions and Comments: And while he is one of the least impressive catchers of the ball in this class, it appeared his confidence grew as the season went along. Retweets. In 107 regular-season games in the NFL, 90 of them starts, Collinsworth had 417 receptions for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. Collinsworth played his final NFL game in the 1989 Super Bowl, catching three passes for 40 yards as the Bengals fell 20-16 to the San Francisco Giants. He tends to struggle one-on-one against offensive linemen, as his speed can run him past or out of gaps if blocks are made. After a while I figured out what they wanted.". He has a great feel for loops and stunts and is the best player available at a position of desperate need for Pittsburgh. PO Box 568234 University of Notre Dame, Football, Roster, University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame, Thursday night games (and one Saturday-night game), List of Florida Gators football All-Americans, List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members, "Cris Collinsworth wins 15th Emmy, gets animated", "Cris Collinsworth liked using Pro Football Focus, so he bought it", "Abraham Lincoln Collinsworth's Obituary on FloridaToday", "Astronaut High's Cris Collinsworth; Winner Of Multiple Emmy Awards, NFL Pro Bowler", Seven to be inducted into UF Hall of Fame, "Super Bowl XVI - San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals - January 24th, 1982 - Pro-Football-Reference.com", "Collinsworth Finds New Life on Showtime's 'Inside the NFL', "Cris Collinsworth Tapped To Replace Madden", "Why Does Cris Collinsworth Slide in the NFL Booth? If they want a good test for WRs, they should run 60 yards and ignore the first 20. Fletcher Cox is a good comparison. [5], His family, including Cris and his younger brother Greg, moved from Ohio to Melbourne, Florida, in 1963, when Cris was four years old. Jones also dealt with plenty of pressure from SEC defenses, as Alabamas protection wasnt always perfect. Just like you, we are excited to get back to football. He is much more physical after the catch than his size would indicate and would be a legitimate tough guy blocking for a run-dominant Ravens offense. His son worked as a reporter for NBC. He will fight and hold and jam the entire game. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. MidFlorida Credit Union Event Center Lance will eventually give the 49ers that final element: a QB who can run on bootlegs opposite those stretch runs. But make no mistake, he is a bad man. He allowed only 12 catches on 34 targets for 93 yards in 2020. Cris Collinsworth's 40 time was 4.38 seconds. Brown is my choice to surprise this year in the same way Justin Jefferson did in 2020. He was a quick runner, at a 4.4 second 40 yard dash speed, he was a true threat to opponents. Award is part of $3 million in new grants to athletic fields nationwide, 2023 The Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens can rush anybody on the field from any position. He began his broadcasting career as a sports radio talk show host for WLW in Cincinnati and later became a reporter for HBOs Inside the NFL in 1989. Its time to move on". And Newsome is rock solid. With Justin Jefferson headed to the NFL in 2020, Marshall took over the slot this year in LSU's offense. His daughter received her degree in Psychology from Harvard. Following the 2018 season, NBC SNF became the first-ever 10-time honoree for Outstanding Live Sports Series and won its 11 th honor in the category . ", Next to "What Do We Need To Know Further For Rating On This Prospect?" The Butkus Award winner made some of the flashiest plays in college football last year. Cris not only had the speed and touch on the football field, he also had the brains. When drafting at the end of the first round, you can pick physical freaks and hope to coach them in ways they may have missed during the coronavirus-impacted season. PFF is a football performance data and technology company. Cris Collinsworth is among Brevard Countys greatest four-sport athletes as he starred in football, basketball, track and field and baseball for Astronaut High School. The Browns for their roster building. The play after the Chargers cut the lead to 10-7 in the second quarter, Verser returned the kickoff 40 yards and seven plays later the Bengals were up 17-7 and on the way to their first Super Bowl. So will this one coming up when it starts with Thursday's first round, 40 years to the day the morning newspapers hit the street bannering the news that the Bengals' antiquated offense had taken two receivers in the first two rounds. The Chargers' history of offensive line issues has been erased in just one offseason. "He has the intelligence to learn any or all three positions in which we use wide receivers, the kind of guy who I think will be extremely dependable. When he came back, Infante worked him out in Gainesville and while he didn't figure it out until later when he hooked with an NFL passing champion in Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, he realized what Infante was doing matched his cerebral game of leverage and speed. He will fight to get in the action as a tackler, but his big shots can also lead to missed tackles. And if not, the Raiders look foolish. 42.2K. Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary went with the next pick. INDIANAPOLIS _ What we hear about the Bengals as we prowl the halls of the NFL scouting combine this week: INDIANAPOLIS _ Returning Wednesday to the spot where at last year's NFL scouting combine he declared he was on the look out for "Glass-Eaters," Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack said Jackson Carman chewed enough chards in his two playoff starts to be in the mix at right tackle if La'el Collins isn't ready Opening Day. Collinsworth was the host of Inside the Vault on WGN America. [27], Collinsworth earned a juris doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1991. He joined NBC for the first time in 1990, calling both NFL and college football games, before moving to Fox in the late 1990s after NBC lost their NFL broadcast rights to CBS. He is currently serving as a sportscaster at NBC, Showtime, and the NFL Network since 2009. Collinsworth's strength coach at Florida told Wood that the kid was muscular enough to have been named to an All-American strength team. His son, Austin, played football at the University of Notre Dame. Waddle likely would have been a top-10 pick but for his injury. Cris Collinsworth preps to announce a Super Bowl with his Bengals. He has a habit of jump cradle catching, but he can extend if it is required. Then Brown, 72 years young, the man who sketched the beginnings of the modern passing game as the head coach in Cleveland three decades before, bounced out of the room cocking his arm to throw an imaginary football. There are still good edge players on the board, but defensive improvement is key this year in Cleveland. Penn State uses so many zone-coverage drops that it is hard to evaluate his coverage skills, but a prospect with his level of athleticism should be able to do anything. The Lions, meanwhile, are quietly building their own war chest as protection behind a one-year trial with quarterback Jared Goff. His children were also successful scholars. Your IP: In Super Bowl XVI, Collinsworth caught 4 passes for 107 yards, but committed a costly fumble when he was hit by San Francisco defensive back Eric Wright. His ball skills and creative contested catches are really special; he knows how to position/stack his body against the defender in very creative ways, and he doesnt foul while doing it. He likes to grab a little jersey at the catch point, which may catch up to him. Graduate of the University of Florida, chosen in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he had a eight-year NFL career that included three Pro Bowl appearances (1981-'83) and a pair of Super Bowls. 407-575-7801 Matt Ryan may be my closest comparison, but that works for me. He's able to wiggle around into gaps. Milt von Mann, the ex-Marine, filed his military-crisp report on Collinsworth on "1 Nov. 80," and circled '2,' for the round he'd take him. Pete Brown, the Bengals director of player personnel circled both the first and second round for Collinsworth. So was Collinsworth's future Bengals Super Bowl teammate James Brooks. Michigan Wolverine defensive end Aidan Hutchinson runs 40-yard dash at 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. In 1998, Collinsworth joined the NFL on Fox team after NBC lost their broadcast rights to CBS. It reflected how close the discussion was over the first-round pick and we had a divided room. That would be a mistake, according to Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth. Does that mean he knows that anybody with a build that would conjure up ungainly comparisons from Don Knotts to Ichabod Crane shouldn't even think about being selected in the first round of any NFL Draft? [24] He lives in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, with his wife, Holly (Bankemper) Collinsworth, an attorney, and their four children. With a wide receiver class filled with slot guys, Terrace Marshall Jr. sticks out. There is the 6-4 Collinsworth, stripped to gray shorts and gangling at maybe 180 pounds, Mike Brown recalls. Home Astronaut Highs Cris Collinsworth; Winner Of Multiple Emmy Awards, NFL Pro Bowler, By SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME // January 16, 2017. Darrisaw is a physical mauler, a legitimate tough guy, and should create real opportunities in the running game, as well. He picks apart zone defenses and has a quick release when he pulls the trigger. He also was part of NBCs broadcast team for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Mike Brown says. He was great as a sophomore and led the country in yards per route run. This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 07:02. The backs that are trying to chip him can't really get a clean hit on him.". His RPO footwork is special, he is a dangerous runner in space and he has a great feel for back-shoulder and high-and-away throws to protect the ball and receivers. Sewell is a potential Hall of Fame talent, and the Bengals know who their best player in franchise history is Anthony Muoz. He will not beat himself with penalties, either. By the time he was 8, Chris became a regular at the Gators' annual summer football camps. In addition to these receiving yards, Collinsworth also stacked on an extra 726 yards on kickoff returns, averaging 24.2 yards per return on 30 total returns. Mac Jones and Justin Fields are both likely gone the next two picks, so the Patriots pull the trigger, beating out Chicago and Washington for Pick No. Now it wasn't my rookie year. His hand swats are a thing of beauty, as he often runs right through punches. [3], Collinsworth was born in Dayton, Ohio,[4] the son of Abraham Lincoln "Abe" Collinsworth (who was born on Abraham Lincoln's birthday) and Donetta Browning Collinsworth. As much as I would love to see the Bengals trade back, it just never seems to happen in Cincinnati. At 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds, Barmore is surprisingly nimble. Apply & Register TODAY for Spring 2023 Classes at Eastern Florida State College, HOT OFF THE PRESS! His play in the College Football Playoff elevated him to the next level. Collinsworth was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round (37th pick overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft,[19] and spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the Bengals. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah could play slot corner or inside linebacker. 9221 SE Event Center Place The upside with Parsons is that he may end up an even better edge player than a linebacker and he is a good linebacker. He also led the country in forced fumbles, with six. Collinsworth book-ended his career in the Super Bowl with his 107 yards leading all receivers in Super Bowl XVI and his last career catch converting a third-and-eight on the drive the Bengals. Known more for pregame slides and an intense affinity for line play, Collinsworth was one of the better receivers of the 1980s. This falls under the too good to pass up category for the end of the first round. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. During his career at Florida, Cris caught 120 passes for 1,977 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also scoring two rushing touchdowns and one on a kickoff return. 170.39.79.101 This was a tough choice. I found myself laughing while watching people trying to tackle or cover him. [24] His son, Austin Collinsworth, is a former football player and team captain at the University of Notre Dame. His running skill was inherited by his daughter Ashley who won the Kentucky High School title in the 100 meters race, and ran for Harvard later where she became a team captain. He and his wife Holly have four children. Plus, his hustle sticks out, as he often chased down scrambling quarterbacks running downfield. When Chase ran under 4.4 at his pro day, I knew he would be the first receiver off the board. Horn could easily be the best corner in this class when we look back in five years. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Anthony Cris Collinsworth [1] (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional American football player. Mon-Fri : 9am to 5pm - 603-459-8358 After Hours : 603-921-6158 He could catch. It might have come up (during the draft), but if it did, I don't remember. Lawrence hit Kirk perfectly in the hands. This was a coinflip for me between Farley and the safer pick of Northwesterns Greg Newsome II. "Uncle Willie was 40 years older than us," he says . cris collinsworth 14 18 year olds. He had a famous 99 yard touchdown pass when he was playing for his college squad, the Florida Gators. And he looked as though he was toying with defenses at times this past year. He received a Sports Emmy Award in April 1998 as Outstanding Studio Analyst and his second in 1999. Collinsworth played in 107 games, catching 417 passes for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. His father, Abe Collinsworth, who played for a national championship basketball team under Adolph Rupp at the University of Kentucky, was his high school principal. Your email address will not be published. The start is not relevant. I have never seen a player quite like Rousseau, who is 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds with an 83-inch wingspan. He proved last year that he can play left tackle after previously featuring at guard. Darrisaw has an athletic kick step and a death grip when he gets his hands on rushers. Again, I would have taken Dyami Brown here, but Brown ran only a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at just 185 pounds, so he will give way to Bateman despite looking much faster on the field. He makes the kind of plays that can break open a football game. If all it took was straight line speed, every Olympic sprinter would be a great wideout. "Cris Collinsworth gushed over Mahomes throwing a ball into the dirt, and yet criticized Lawrence for overthrowing a. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. ABOVE VIDEO:Cris Collinsworth is among Brevard Countys greatest four-sport athletes as he starred in football, basketball, track and field and baseball for Astronaut High School. Likes. He even lent his broadcasting talent to video games. Surtain has many of those traits: he sees route combinations coming, he studies the QB and not the receiver, he easily gets his head around and finds the ball on deep passes, he is very physical tackling in the flat and he plays with the savvy of a much older player. Dan Quinn takes over as the defensive coordinator and needs a Richard Sherman to run this defense. Emmy Award Winner. . [7], 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. [5] They moved to nearby Titusville in 1972, where his brother and he attended Astronaut High School, while their father was the principal. It hadn't been announced on TV.". What he said always seemed to make sense and he had a gift in explaining the game to casual fans. [2] He is also the majority owner of Pro Football Focus. Bolton led the SEC in defensive stops the past two years while setting the tone for Missouri. He's not nearly as physical as Virginia Tech's Christian Darrisaw, but Slater is an incredible pass protector. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. But, the first 10 yards for a receiver are not relevant. Born in 1959, Anthony Cris Collinsworth played quarterback and ran sprints at Astronaut High School in Titusville, becoming a Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A 100-yard-dash state champion in 1976. His flaws will be as an inline blocker and any route that requires him to stop quickly and come back to the ball, but when he is moving forward, Pitts is almost unstoppable. But the Ohio State product will have to break the habit of running as a second option in his passing reads, or he will get blitzed to death in the NFL. At one point, there was speculation of NBC letting him go for poor preseason performance which, they said, was a little for a lot of money he earned, "We can replace him with someone cheaper and younger and get just as much production, if not more. Meanwhile, earlier in the game when Mahomes threw a pass straight to the ground for an incompletion, Collinsworth said . Functional football speed is what it is all about. He knew all about Collinsworth," Wood says. He is powerful and quick inside, as well. He has no fear across the middle, while his ability to take big hits and hold onto the ball may be his best trait. He catches the ball so easily that converting to his great running skills happens very quickly. My mock draft features one trade, as I have the New England Patriots moving up for Ohio State's Justin Fields, while thefirst two picks rank first and second on PFF's draft board. He made a lot of money betting on him. How much he can get away with is always a factor in his success. Collinsworth is also the color commentator on the popular video game, Madden NFL. The only other items he's wearing are a wrist watch and a slight, crooked grin he can't quite hide. [11][12][13], During his career at Florida, Collinsworth caught 120 passes for 1,937 yards, and rushed for another 210. Cris Collinsworths speed provided him with plenty of scholarship opportunities and he chose to stay in the Sunshine State to attend the University of Florida. He may have benefited from a lot of open receivers in college, but his tight-window throws stood out. [28] Another son, Jac, also attended Notre Dame and was a features 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. [29][30], 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. 2. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. The team will take him out of that four-point stance and work on his explosion off the ball. Mar 21, 2022. Cris spent his entire NFL career with the Bengals. Net Worth: $25 Million. [8][9], 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. Can he play the same when he isnt perfectly protected like at BYU? [15] 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. He played college football at the University of Florida, where he was recognized as an All-American. Infante told the press the Verser pick was a consensus choice and that's what the notes from that 1981 draft reveal among the scouts. Even the scouting combine photo of Cris Collinsworth, which turned 40 this spring, seems to reflect the audacity of that second-round pick in 1981. He is nearly impossible to cover inside on option routes. I played with Charlie when he was a Cincinnati Bengal Phil. They raved about both. Cris Collinsworth: Picture of productivity. However, he can squat on routes too much and will be challenged deep at the next level. The Bears would love to sizzle in this draft, but only solid picks remain. Marshall is an uninterested blocker, but he has the size to do it at the next level, where there will be added motivation. "It's always a wild ride," Collinsworth says of a draft he now covers as one of the NFL's best and visible network analysts, another confirmation of those smart kid scouting reports. He has great eyes and awareness in zone coverage and makes plays on the ball. He gave no indications that he was going into, or coming out of a cut. Collinsworth, who disclosed neatly on his Bengals information form that he was studying accounting, wore contacts and glasses while supplying the address and phone number of parents Donetta and Abe Collinsworth in Titusville, Fla., had been recruited by Infante when Infante was the offensive coordinator at Tulane. The 40 yard dash is all about the start and the first 10 yards. ProFootballHistory.com. In track, Collinsworth, who graduated from Astronaut in 1977, posted a state championship winning time of 10.0 seconds in the 100 as the 6-foot-5 Collinsworth out-leaned the competition at the tape. January 30, 2023 Space Coast Daily News Brevard Countys Best Newspaper, College Cant Wait! Any time you have a 240-pound edge player, there will be physical concerns. ", They must have had it like the rest of the league. The following season Collinsworth led the way in one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA college football history as Florida finished 8-4. What a tough SOB Collinsworth was, He'd get killed over the middle and get right back up. Collinsworth was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981-1988), all with the Cincinnati Bengals. "It's not like it is today," Collinsworth says. ("But I was only trying to make him feel better," the agent pleaded is how Collinsworth remembers it) and he can't recall who called from the team. "The guy had me on the hook for five minutes," Collinsworth says. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. Tennessee had some success getting linemen on him and attacking downhill, but generally, he is very difficult to block. Collinsworth played quarterback in his prep years and was named an All-American as both a junior and senior. Collinsworth is also the color commentator on Madden NFL 09 and Madden NFL 10 with Tom Hammond, as well as in Madden NFL 11 and Madden NFL 12 with Gus Johnson. Plus he caught everything. Live picks, grades and reaction to the 2023 NFL Draft. During my entire career I watched the Bengals bring to camp these small wide receivers, all of whom ran 4.4 or less, but they were not football fast. So, the Cardinals will try to replace Patrick Peterson with a similar presence in their secondary.