Cris Collinsworth

Class of: 1990

Sport: NFL

Team: Cincinnati Bengals

School: Astronaut High School
UF

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. However, as a student at the University of Florida he switched to wide receiver and made the College Football All-America Team as a senior. 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. 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). Collinsworth was highly successful in the classroom as well as he was named an Academic All-American. In 2001, he was inducted into the Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame. After college, Collinsworth was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2nd round of the 1981 NFL Draft. Cris spent his entire NFL career with the Bengals. He surpassed 1,000 yards receiving four times (in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986) and was named to the Pro Bowl 3 times. 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. He remained with the Bengals until the 1988 season, catching three passes for 40 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, the final game of his career. He finished his eight-season career with 417 receptions for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns in 107 games. In 1990, he began what has become a successful broadcasting career as a part of the NBC network’s NFL broadcasts. Cris spent the next several years gaining broadcasting experience on several networks including HBO and the NFL Network. During the NBC broadcasts of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Collinsworth appeared alongside Bob Costas as a commentator on numerous occasions. Collinsworth and Costas paired again during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Collinsworth is also the color commentator on the popular video game, Madden NFL. It was announced on April 16, 2009 that Collinsworth would replace John Madden in NBC’s Sunday Night Football, leaving the NFL Network. He received a Sports Emmy Award in April 1998 as “Outstanding Studio Analyst” and his second in 1999. He was also recognized with his 3rd and 4th Sports Emmy Awards in 2003 and 2004 as “Outstanding Sports Personality/Studio Analyst.” In May 2006 he added a 5th Emmy Award in the same category for his work with HBO.