Commentator evaluation: Cris Collinsworth

[Conigliaro's Potential]

This is the first in what I intend to be a regular series of threads about different sports announcers - play-by-play and color commentators alike - designed to let you evaluate, rate and discuss their work. I suppose I would qualify as SoSH's commentator-in-residence, and sometimes I despair of hearing *so* many complaints about *so* many announcers, even those I think of as the best in the business. To be fair, a lot of that criticism comes during game threads in which our normal analytical standards are self-consciously lowered, so I thought I'd open things up on a regular - maybe weekly? - basis, one commentator at a time, and try to raise those standards back up. (I will concede that for some sports fans, railing about commentators is fundamental to the very nature of their fandom.) I won't always pick commentators I myself like or think are particularly good, and for the most part I'll probably stay out of the discussion, but hopefully we can hammer a few things out and maybe even come up with a definitive set of SoSH commentator rankings.

So, to our first victim subject: Cris Collinsworth's reputation in Patriot Nation suffered possibly irreparable damage when he looked Tom Brady in the eye (and/or the other way round) before Super Bowl XLIX. You don't have to set that soundbite aside in evaluating his work, of course...but hopefully that's not the *only* factor you'll judge him on? Collinsworth has the highest-profile analyst job on the most-watched sports broadcast in America; in your eyes, does he deserve that marquee assignment, or is he punching above his weight?

 

[Bowhemian]

I've always liked CC. He is very knowledgeable, and he can explain things to the viewers. But...sometimes he just comes up with nonsense, like the "look me in the eyes" thing mentioned above.

 

[Koufax]

I gave him 5 stars based in part on just how long he's been doing it, and doing it well. How he keeps up his enthusiasm after decades of doing the same damn thing is a mystery to me. He puts in the work to know something about the players' strengths and weaknesses (in a sport with huge turnover). He understands the game and explains it pretty well. He's not a Romo-esque savant, but he's a good analyst.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Did CC deserve that plum assignment on SNF? Absolutely. Has he been coasting the last 5-6 years? Absolutely. Rating = 2.5 stars and trending lower.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

He was absolutely one of the best in the business. Would regularly spot interesting things in real-time where many others might need the replay to see what happened. Always knew what he was talking about and did a good job of explaining things to the viewer. Good rapport with his partner. But now that all of that stuff has faded a bit, I find him to be pretty grating and the Seattle win was probably the beginning of it. Hard not to view things through that lens since then, but I do think there has been a decline in both SNF voices. Tough one to start with because there are many that are truly horrendous, so I do not want to rate CC too low just because I do not like him now—basically, I want to make sure my 0 for Fouts means something.

 

[Van Everyman]

FWIW, he was very good with Belichick on the first NFL Top 100 Team episode.

 

[tims4wins]

He was absolutely one of the best in the business. Would regularly spot interesting things in real-time where many others might need the replay to see what happened. Always knew what he was talking about and did a good job of explaining things to the viewer. Good rapport with his partner. But now that all of that stuff has faded a bit, I find him to be pretty grating and the Seattle win was probably the beginning of it. Hard not to view things through that lens since then, but I do think there has been a decline in both SNF voices. Tough one to start with because there are many that are truly horrendous, so I do not want to rate CC too low just because I do not like him now—basically, I want to make sure my 0 for Fouts means something.

Agree with this take. Back in the day CC was on Fox in a three man booth with Buck and Aikman. They called Pats-Eagles XXXIX. It was excellent. While CC still has passion he has gotten stale and overly gushy for lack of a better term. Falls back on same cliches. Same story as with basically every color man ever.

 

[Average Reds]

Agree with this take. Back in the day CC was on Fox in a three man booth with Buck and Aikman. They called Pats-Eagles XXXIX. It was excellent. While CC still has passion he has gotten stale and overly gushy for lack of a better term. Falls back on same cliches. Same story as with basically every color man ever.

The analyst who is closest to Collisworth IMO is, strangely, Tim McCarver.

People who hated McCarver as a baseball announcer don’t realize that in his early years he was the best color man/analyst in the game. And it wasn’t close.

The problem is that the game changed, along with our understanding of how to analyze statistics and how that analysis should impact tactics and strategy. And McCarver didn’t (or couldn’t) adjust and suddenly wasn’t as smart as he assumed he was. And late in his career he just coasted.

There are some obvious differences, but I see Collinsworth on the back half of this same sort of trajectory. When he is passionate, he’s great. But he’s coasting on his reputation and not digging into the game to provide meaningful insights.

I gave him a 3.

 

[tims4wins]

I almost mentioned McCarver in my post.

 

[Harry Hooper]

I almost mentioned McCarver in my post.

Same here.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

4 stars from me. I enjoy the enthusiasm he brings to the game, which comes across without being blindly positive about everything. For the most part, he's willing to call out a referee or coaching decision he doesn't agree with, although I wouldn't mind if he were a little sharper in that regard. You do learn real technique and strategy points from him occasionally particularly wrt receivers. And while he was a very good player, he's not overly bogged down in describing his own career. It is also true that you rarely hear any statistical analysis or insight from him.

On balance, I think he does a good job by the fans and by the NFL.

The game thread was torching CC during the recent Pats/Ravens game, but I didn't really feel that.

 

[Cotillion]

He's not horrible, but in his current incarnation, he is definitely not the best of the best. So a 4 for me.

Which was probably him several years ago.

Still way better than a lot of other stiffs that get thrown out there.

 

[joe dokes]

There are some obvious differences, but I see Collinsworth on the back half of this same sort of trajectory. When he is passionate, he’s great. But he’s coasting on his reputation and not digging into the game to provide meaningful insights.

Ironic, since he's an investor (owner?) of PFF.

4.5. Among the best in a relatively weak group of performers.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

I gave him three stars. I generally like him most of the time and he doesn't actively make me want to stab myself in the eyeballs during the games he calls, which makes him better than most. But his tendency to get overly smarmy at times knocks him down a bit. The McCarver comp is a good call.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

The analyst who is closest to Collisworth IMO is, strangely, Tim McCarver.

People who hated McCarver as a baseball announcer don’t realize that in his early years he was the best color man/analyst in the game. And it wasn’t close.

The problem is that the game changed, along with our understanding of how to analyze statistics and how that analysis should impact tactics and strategy. And McCarver didn’t (or couldn’t) adjust and suddenly wasn’t as smart as he assumed he was. And late in his career he just coasted.

There are some obvious differences, but I see Collinsworth on the back half of this same sort of trajectory. When he is passionate, he’s great. But he’s coasting on his reputation and not digging into the game to provide meaningful insights.

I gave him a 3.

I think this is dead on accurate. Color analysts, particularly ex-players, have a shelf-life. They take a while to learn the job and the proper timing then peak with the right blend of practice and expertise, but the further they get from being active players/coaches, the more the game changes and leaves them behind. And I can't think of any that didn't start coasting and/or getting worse rather than try to change and adapt to stay fresh and on top of things. McCarver is a perfect example. Madden got out before he totally cratered but he was definitely into the "game has passed him by" stage at the end. Collinsworth is there now.

IMO, no analyst should have a longer career in the booth than they did in the game. Or perhaps more reasonably, no analyst should be in a prime-time, A-team type position longer than he was in the game. The Dan Fouts of the world need work too.

 

[Kliq]

He's bad. He is probably more observant than most color commentators, but his voice has become grating and his faux enthusiasm for any above-average player has completely exhausted me. He says "We've never seen anything like this!" at least once during every single game. I always appreciate a game less when Collinsworth is doing it.

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

The McCarver thing is spot on. There's something about being on a national broadcast that seems to force these guys to just talk too much, and to explain everything like they're talking to someone who has never seen a game before. I suppose this is helpful for, say, my wife, but in the end, she doesn't really care and doesn't watch that much anyway. For somebody who actually knows a little, it becomes very grating after a while.

McCarver was the worst at this, but as others have said, he was actually very good doing local broadcasts, because you just can't say that much every single night, so there's more chance for the game to breath. I suspect the same would be true for Collinsworth if he weren't doing prime time games all the time.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Collinsworth is coasting a bit but he's still usually very well prepared and generally has something insightful to say during the games. He borders a bit on negative at times and I think the comparison to McCarver is fair in that he'll get a bone and not let go of it. But I think he has a good rapport with Michaels and generally I don't think they do too much cringeworthy during the games.

One place where Collinsworth is excellent is his ability to watch the quick rewind replay that seems to be available to the booth before the replay is available to the audience and diagnose and describe what the audience is about to see. He's far better than the "let's wait for the replay" analysts who don't seem able to do that job -- which I imagine must be very difficult -- on the fly. Or maybe he's not even doing this and this is more a function of the production truck getting in his ear quickly and he's relying on what he saw live, so more a synergy of the production/analyst, but this is better than anyone in the business.

I thought Collinsworth was absolutely awful in Superbowl XLIX. Like a D - if that. I'm sure like all fans sometimes I like to replay bits of games where my favorite teams won championships and I find this one to be a very difficult listen. I'm sure part of this relates to my views on deflategate, but trying to look at it as objectively as I can, I thought the team did not have a very good day. There were bright spots -- like the Michaels calls on the final drive -- but by and large there is so much crap in that broadcast that it really is a tough listen at times. From "look me in the eyes," to Michelle Tafoya reporting the significance of a concussion was that the player would not be able to be available to the media after the game, to the really awful discussion of Richard Sherman's partner being close to her baby's due date. Collinsworth's inability to pivot from not running Lynch to discussing one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history took way too long. It reminded me of Buck's call when Papi hit a grand slam in the ALCS and all he could talk about was whether Torii Hunter was ok. The offside and fight sequence to end the game was also crap. The only thing that saved him from an F in that performance was the "he went right back to it, Al."

Anyway, that one game makes me angry and it tends to make me judge Collinsworth more harshly than I should. I really like Aikman as an analyst too (probably in the minority here) and I think he's surpassed Collinsworth. He's way less analytical, but I feel like he has a much better fan's view of the game than Collinsworth.

 

[Nick Kaufman]

I remember a few years ago I read a story on Collinsworth which described his preparation for the upcoming season essentially included him being closed down in a basement during the summer and watching tons of film. That tidbit gave me a great deal of respect for the job he does; it seems as if it's easy work, but it's hard work.

Beyond this, I have to confess that since more often than not, I watch games as a casual fan, I don't often pay attention to what the announcers say. To me they announcers are more of a background music or a soundtrack to the game; if that soundtrack reflects the tempo of the game and adds to the excitement, I am pretty happy. That's why I like Keven Harlan for example while I am lukewarm towards Marv Albert. The former makes the game an occasion for me, the latter not so much. It's very personal and very idiosyncratic I ll grant you, but that's how I feel.

 

[brettzky99]

not good, same guy who said he said he'd call designed runs for Brady once per game. relies too heavily on Pro Football focus data because he's a majority owner

 

[DourDoerr]

Is there an Al Michaels effect? Michaels is still good and was really good some years ago, but I always get the sense that he knows he's in The Club. He never disappoints to grease his smarts into a broadcast and he's always eager to play the insider of the business (which he is, of course) during a game. Inevitably, he pulls his partners into his comfy smuggish perch too. It's partly a function of Michaels' standing that he seems to always get color men at their zenith, so they have almost nowhere else to go but down. At the least though, I can't recall any color men coming in and getting better with Michaels.

At his beginning, Collinsworth was a 4.5 - he had a distinctive delivery, good voice, was knowledgeable, with a decent sense of timing - and I think might have been the 5 for a bit. Now he's a 4 but, as others have said, he's coasting. Still has the delivery and voice - which covers all sorts of sins as he's basically vocal nostalgia harkening back to the better days of the sharp Collinsworth - but he's aged away from the players and it's given him a remove. Before, he knew what they were saying in the huddle, etc. and now he can only go there cautiously. His commentary's blunted by an avoidance of criticism and he's increasingly shifting into Gruden territory where there's a "flavor of the moment" seemingly from play to play. I'm curious to hear him post-Michaels. There might be a mini-renaissance.

Edit: changed # values to better reflect poll values

 

[snowmanny]

Collinsworth is coasting a bit but he's still usually very well prepared and generally has something insightful to say during the games. He borders a bit on negative at times and I think the comparison to McCarver is fair in that he'll get a bone and not let go of it. But I think he has a good rapport with Michaels and generally I don't think they do too much cringeworthy during the games.

One place where Collinsworth is excellent is his ability to watch the quick rewind replay that seems to be available to the booth before the replay is available to the audience and diagnose and describe what the audience is about to see. He's far better than the "let's wait for the replay" analysts who don't seem able to do that job -- which I imagine must be very difficult -- on the fly. Or maybe he's not even doing this and this is more a function of the production truck getting in his ear quickly and he's relying on what he saw live, so more a synergy of the production/analyst, but this is better than anyone in the business.

I thought Collinsworth was absolutely awful in Superbowl XLIX. Like a D - if that. I'm sure like all fans sometimes I like to replay bits of games where my favorite teams won championships and I find this one to be a very difficult listen. I'm sure part of this relates to my views on deflategate, but trying to look at it as objectively as I can, I thought the team did not have a very good day. There were bright spots -- like the Michaels calls on the final drive -- but by and large there is so much crap in that broadcast that it really is a tough listen at times. From "look me in the eyes," to Michelle Tafoya reporting the significance of a concussion was that the player would not be able to be available to the media after the game, to the really awful discussion of Richard Sherman's partner being close to her baby's due date. Collinsworth's inability to pivot from not running Lynch to discussing one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history took way too long. It reminded me of Buck's call when Papi hit a grand slam in the ALCS and all he could talk about was whether Torii Hunter was ok. The offside and fight sequence to end the game was also crap. The only thing that saved him from an F in that performance was the "he went right back to it, Al."

Anyway, that one game makes me angry and it tends to make me judge Collinsworth more harshly than I should. I really like Aikman as an analyst too (probably in the minority here) and I think he's surpassed Collinsworth. He's way less analytical, but I feel like he has a much better fan's view of the game than Collinsworth.

He’s relatively good but they never never never shut up.

And btw the worst thing he said during that Super Bowl was that “The Patriots are Chanpions...for now”. Fuck him forever. 3.5 Stars.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

If you rewatch SB49 (the NBC telecast is on YouTube), his performance from about the mid third quarter through the end of the game is undermined by his non sequiturs about Deflategate. He not only expresses skepticism of Brady’s denial for no apparent reason, but with like two minutes left in the game he’s waxing lyrical about how great it is we can watch a great football game between two powerhouse teams instead of talking about Deflategate. We don’t need to talk about how great not being distracted from the game is WHEN NO ONE IS DISTRACTED EXCEPT FOR WHEN YOU ARE DISTRACTING US.

I think his non sequitur about Tom’s denial was more calculated (I guarantee that was on his ‘anecdotes’ cheat sheet), but he’s gotta have more awareness in that spot.

His diatribe about the Pats’ conduct during the scrum in garbage time was embarrassing as well. Bruce Irvin was ejected for starting the fight, yet Cris seems to suggest the Patriots - who had a second down kneeldown coming - were jeopardizing their chances of winning by not letting themselves get punched in the face...?

He is VERY knowledgeable and prepared, and I actually think he delivers information very quickly and concisely most of the time. But holy shit was he rough in some key spots during one of the more memorable games we’ve seen. It would’ve been better had he made a few factual errors or stumbled over himself a handful of times.

 

[ZMart100]

4.5 from me. He's still one of the best out there. He sees the game better than most color guys and can point out interesting parts of plays that I may or may not have caught live.

 

[Pablo's TB Lover]

I voted 4.5 because he would be my 5 except for the stupid "look into his eyes" stuff. IMO he is definitely the most knowledgeable analyst, but for whatever reason still wants to be folksy. Probably in his and the network's best interest to avoid full-on nerd-dom to stay relevant to the mouth-breather football audience as well.

Not to grade Troy Aikman before we get to his thread, but relaying the minutiae of the game is Collinsworth's edge over Aikman for me. Troy's strength is relaying the relationships and emotion of the game.

 

[PayrodsFirstClutchHit]

As much as the "Champions for now" line infuriated me, I was far more annoyed with his performance during the Steelers/Patriots game when there were headset issues impacting both teams.

CC spent most of the first half spouting "These things always happen in NE!" BS nonstop and bringing up deflategate and spygate every chance he got. He only shut his yap once the NFL announced at the half that the issue impacted both teams and that it was the NFL that was in charge of the headsets and not the Pats.

His best days are far behind him and he has been living off of his past performance for years.

 

[mauf]

I gave him 3.5 stars. Collinsworth is above average, but that has a lot to do with the failure of the broadcast networks to uphold high standards — Collinsworth’s outstanding preparation, for instance, should be the norm and not the exception. He offers some insight, but not nearly as much as Romo or Aikman. He made a mark early in his broadcast career by being outspoken, but after all these years that same outspokenness comes off as grating. This is often is perceived as bias; if you think he’s biased against the Patriots, you should watch a game through the lens of a Steelers’ fan.

As a guy who is more a fan of the sport than any individual team at this point, Collinsworth is fine. I certainly understand why some partisans don’t like him.

 

[pantsparty]

My issue with Collinsworth is that when he's interested in a game he's solidly above-average (we live in a world where Dan Fouts and Booger McFarland have jobs as color commentators), but when he's bored of a game he completely mails it in.