One of his runs helped us get into the Super Bowl.". Some NFL scouts thought Collinsworth was too slight at 6-foot-5 and 192 pounds to withstand the rigors of the NFL, which allowed the Cincinnati Bengals to take him in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft with the 37th overall pick. [24] Collinsworth was also the host of the television show Guinness World Records Primetime during his stay at Fox. Over the course of his three years playing wide receiver, Collinsworth hauled in 120 passes for a total of 1,937 yards. Lawrences running skills may allow him to put up Josh Allen-type red-zone numbers in 2021, and he also possesses excellent seam-throwing skills that I thought were underutilized at Clemson this year. 5, New England Patriots trade up for Justin Fields By Cris Collinsworth Apr 29, 2021 Welcome to PFF draft week! von Mann sensed the room even before Infante went on his trips: "This could be the guy Lindy Infante wants! Born in Dayton and the son of a Cincinnati educator before the family moved south, Collinsworth was already popular in town before he became one of the most iconic Bengals. Matt Ryan may be my closest comparison, but that works for me. He is not afraid of man coverage and brings a very aggressive mindset. Welcome to PFF draft week! Tough pick here. Collinsworth is currently second on the Bengals' all-time list for receivers with 417 catches for 6,698 yards. During the NBC broadcasts of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Collinsworth appeared alongside Bob Costas as a commentator on numerous occasions. He had a short stride and could make a 90 degree cut, at full speed, without slowing down, or chopping his feet. He never shied away from traffic He was a great player.". The Butkus Award winner made some of the flashiest plays in college football last year. Collinsworth earned prep football All-America honors from Parade, Scholastic Coach, Joe Namath Prep and Kickoff magazines. After several years as a color commentator on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show, Collinsworth was assigned to the network's lead game broadcasting crew (teaming with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman) in 2002. Cris Collinsworth: Picture of productivity. 4. Cris Collinsworth's 2021 NFL Mock Draft: Penei Sewell goes to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. Checkdowns will become his best friend in the new 17-game season. The Lions, meanwhile, are quietly building their own war chest as protection behind a one-year trial with quarterback Jared Goff. Here's the Collinsworth's audio. It is usually more difficult for long striders to choke it down and make those cuts and be great route runners. Jan 1, 2023 . The talented edge rusher expressed some regret for how he handled things up in Indianapolis at his Pro Day -- be sure to check out this piece as Polite was quite frank about his missteps -- but he still failed to turn in better numbers running and looked a bit stiff in positional drills. This was a coinflip for me between Farley and the safer pick of Northwesterns Greg Newsome II. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NCAA player performance data. Mar 21, 2022. Good running ability after catch. [8] He also returned 30 kickoffs for 726 yards for an average of 24.2 yards per return. Collinsworth made an immediate impact with 67 receptions for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie and was also named to the Pro Bowl and played in the Super Bowl in which he had five receptions for 107 yards against the San Francisco 49ers. That is my only doubt. Academic All-America Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2001). 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. PFF is a football performance data and technology company. Like his father, Joe Horn, he will battle all day. He is Brady-like with his in-pocket movements but still has enough speed to be a factor in the running game. Alabama running back Najee Harris could be the choice here if the Steelers opt to go for one of the more powerful offensive linemen in Round 2. Running Infante's choice routes where the receivers reacted to the defender and could do it because of the deep trust in Anderson's precision, Collinsworth became the Bengals' first 1,000-yard receiver in the first of four such seasons. You had to think your way through it.It ended up being a nice fit. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. some comments that probably would have been best kept to himself, he tweeted after watching Polite's game film. He spent three years on the networks No. [24], Collinsworth is on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service. [21] 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. He had some explosive catch-and-run plays against Vanderbilt, Missouri and South Carolina last season. Lawrence hit Kirk perfectly in the hands. What he said always seemed to make sense and he had a gift in explaining the game to casual fans. Video game fans around the world can recognize his voice even if they dont know who he is. "You watch the tape of him and think of a boxer who is great with that movement, he's hard to get a hand on, he's hard to jam. After retirement, Cris started sportscasting, first on the radio as a guest host, then he took on the show by himself. But Kim Wood never joked about his strength of heart and body. "If I walk in here again," said Infante after they picked Collinsworth, "I'm dreaming. His daughter received her degree in Psychology from Harvard. His double-moves are frightening, given his speed, and few receivers run them more often. Infante, who passed away five years ago at age 75, coached and played at the University of Florida in the two decades before Collinsworth enrolled at Gainesville. "It was a fortuitous pick. I have never seen a player quite like Rousseau, who is 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds with an 83-inch wingspan. They raved about both. [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. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Dan Quinn takes over as the defensive coordinator and needs a Richard Sherman to run this defense. Collinsworth, who received his bachelors degree in accounting from Florida in 1981, earned his law degree from the University of Cincinnatis College of Law in 1991. Its time to move on". But, the first 10 yards for a receiver are not relevant. . Paul and Mike Brown, along with Infante and second-year head coach Forrest Gregg, were among the chief architects of that '81 Super Bowl team that is regarded as the best pro football team in Cincinnati history. Date of Birth: Jan 27, 1959 (64 years old) Place of Birth: Dayton. He will run down backs trying to bounce outside, and as quarterbacks get more mobile, defenders will have to match those skills. ", On 22 Jan 81, von Mann said Verser "is my choice of the receivers I've seen Rare and exceptional ability, he should be an outstanding performer in his first year. The draft has always been an Ouija board interspersed with 40-yard dashes to the unknown and vertical leaps into uncertainty. Sometimes the team is at fault. There is the 6-4 Collinsworth, stripped to gray shorts and gangling at maybe 180 pounds, Mike Brown recalls. He would likely be the first cornerback taken in this draft but for his recent back surgery. Plus, his hustle sticks out, as he often chased down scrambling quarterbacks running downfield. 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. No one projected that in their reports. . He's not nearly as physical as Virginia Tech's Christian Darrisaw, but Slater is an incredible pass protector. The way the story goes, which is now locked somewhere between myth and microfilm, Bengals founder Paul Brown watched offensive coordinator Lindy Infante climb off the table after his impassioned plea to take Collinsworth at No. 1 on the Bengals list, Collinsworth No. Wilson misses throws rolling right more than he should, but his skills are special and he could be great. He is currently ranked 4th in school pass receiving charts and is even tied for NCAA record for longest touchdown pass (99 yards against Rice as a freshman quarterback in 1977). At 6-foot-5 and 257 pounds, Oweh ran a remarkable 4.3-second 40-yard dash. I guess it just goes to show the draft is potluck to some degree.". Or does that mean he knows that in that first round everyone is going to miss out on one of the toughest and most productive wide receivers in the 1980s NFL? His routes and moves are what really set him apart, though. 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. I just remember they were both in the discussion and I remember how vehement Lindy was for Collinsworth. He spent 8 years in the NFL, all of them with the Cincinnati Bengals. I will always think that Kyle Shanahan traded up to get Mac Jones, but the fan base revolted. He is nearly impossible to cover inside on option routes. He is fast enough for any stunt or loop and wins quickly in one-on-one situations. Despite his reputation of having a limited route tree, I think he will prove that it had nothing to do with him. The start is not relevant. He knew all about Collinsworth," Wood says. All rights reserved. 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. Jaylen Hurts gets an intimidator outside. maybe not the end for Al and Cris just yet. In 107 regular-season games in the NFL, 90 of them starts, Collinsworth had 417 receptions for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. Jones also dealt with plenty of pressure from SEC defenses, as Alabamas protection wasnt always perfect. Quote Tweets. Abe, known as "Lincoln" in high school, was one of the top scorers in Kentucky high-school basketball history, and played for the Kentucky Wildcats "Fiddling Five" who won the 1958 national championship. 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. MidFlorida Credit Union Event Center He is currently serving as a sportscaster at NBC, Showtime, and the NFL Network since 2009. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. 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. You've got to create space and most importantly with all of these guys we 've talked about, catch the football. [5][6] Cris was successful in multiple sports for the Astronaut War Eagles, and during his senior 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. February 27, 2023 endeavor air pilot contract No Comments . Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History. Collinsworth was the host of Inside the Vault on WGN America. The official time for his 40-yard dash at Pro Day was 5.04 seconds, the kind of number that has most draft analysts projecting Polite to fall well out of the first-round projection range they had . "The guy had me on the hook for five minutes," Collinsworth says. After college, Collinsworth was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2nd round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He retired from the NFL following the 1988 season. Emmy Award Winner. 43. Teams played way off him after that, creating some easy throws underneath for his quarterback. A series of head injuries forced him to retire from football early in his college career, but after his return, nobody was better rushing the quarterback in the second half of the 2020 season. His daughter Katie was a Manager of Marketing and Education Projects at GolfNow. His wiggly moves will remind you a little of Jason Pierre-Paul in his early years. He gave no indications that he was going into, or coming out of a cut. 9221 SE Event Center Place Not the scouts. How about Steve Largent? He finished his outstanding career at Florida with 120 receptions for 1,937 yards and 14 touchdowns. 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 scored 14 touchdowns receiving, two rushing, one on a kickoff return, and threw two touchdown passes. The ubiquitous Cowboys and Raiders had told him they could take him late in the first round. 2021 NFL Draft Big Board | 2021 NFL Draft Guide | 2021 NFL Draft Stats Export | NFL Mock Drafts | NFL Mock Draft Simulator. He has no fear across the middle, while his ability to take big hits and hold onto the ball may be his best trait. Cris spent his entire NFL career with the Bengals. So was Collinsworth's future Bengals Super Bowl teammate James Brooks. Checkout the latest stats for Cris Collinsworth. The Browns for their roster building. Collinsworth, a senior, had 40 receptions for 599 yards and three touchdowns. He made a lot of money betting on him. Interior pressure is hard to generate, but Barmore does so consistently. I remember the conversation afterward," Collinsworth says. Cris Collinsworth is the game analyst for NBC's Sunday . ", They must have had it like the rest of the league. Salary: $12.5 Million Per Year. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that from December on Verser was No. [24] His son, Austin Collinsworth, is a former football player and team captain at the University of Notre Dame. His speed flashes often, and he consistently pulled away from SEC defenders. The 40 yard dash is all about the start and the first 10 yards. And while he has the weakest arm of these top five quarterbacks, it is plenty strong enough to win a Super Bowl. [24] He lives in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, with his wife, Holly (Bankemper) Collinsworth, an attorney, and their four children. (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Ickey Woods (Complete Story), What Happened To Ki-Jana Carter? [24], In 2006, Collinsworth could be seen on three networks during football season. At Notre Dame, his son earned an MBA in Investments. Now it wasn't my rookie year. It hadn't been announced on TV.". When the hands hit 12, Verser caught 23 balls in his career and by the time Collinsworth played in his second Super Bowl, he was out of the league. This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 07:02. Some 30 years before Rutgers wide receiver Mohamed Sanu got pranked by a caller that said the Bengals were picking him in the first round before they really draftedhim in the third, Collinsworth got a phony call that said the New York media was poised to talk to him. Anthony Cris Collinsworth [1] (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional American football player. My concern is how he'll fare against speed off the edge; he has such great energy in the running game, but I would just like to see him use that same energy finishing in protection. We just couldn't figure out how to get it to him." 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. "It worked out," said the kid who was all arms, legs and brains, "just fine and dandy.". Despite weighing only 177 pounds, he shows power when running over potential tacklers. He picks apart zone defenses and has a quick release when he pulls the trigger. Home Astronaut Highs Cris Collinsworth; Winner Of Multiple Emmy Awards, NFL Pro Bowler, By SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME // January 16, 2017. Polite pulled up hurt after running a 4.84-second 40-yard dash, a slow time given his penchant for harassing opposing quarterbacks in college as an electric pass-rusher.