Soon, we will learn whether Cris Collinsworth makes his trademark slide into the booth for Super Bowl 60. The veteran NBC analyst has been calling games for more than 30 years and remains a fixture in sports broadcasting.
He will be paired with Mike Tirico in the booth, while Melissa Stark and Kaylee Hartung handle sideline reporting as the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks meet with the championship on the line.
How Old Is Cris Collinsworth? Revisiting His NFL Career Before TV
Born in 1959, Collinsworth turned 67 in January. Super Bowl 60 will be his sixth championship broadcast. It will mark his 500th NFL telecast overall. Few analysts reach that level of volume, and even fewer remain in the same lead role for as long as he has.
He joined NBC’s NFL coverage in 1990 and became the network’s top game analyst in 2009 after John Madden stepped away. Since then, Collinsworth has worked with Al Michaels and, later, Mike Tirico on “Sunday Night Football.|
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Super Bowls operate on a different scale than a regular Sunday. The audience can climb toward 130 million viewers. Collinsworth has handled five previous championship games and has remained in the same role throughout.
Outside the booth, Collinsworth founded Pro Football Focus, an analytics company that reshaped how the game is discussed and consumed on television. PFF’s data is a central part of NBC’s weekly presentation and a reference point across the league.
Collinsworth’s NFL Playing Career Before Television
Before becoming a broadcaster, Collinsworth was a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1981 to 1988. Drafted in the second round out of Florida, he reached the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons. He holds career totals of 417 receptions for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. At 6’5″, he was a long-striding target for quarterback Ken Anderson.
He played in Super Bowls 16 and 23, helping Cincinnati reach two title games against San Francisco. A foot injury ended his career at 29. After his playing days, Collinsworth began in Cincinnati radio, moved to HBO’s “Inside the NFL” in 1989, and joined NBC a year later.
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When NBC lost NFL rights in 1998, he went to Fox before returning in 2006 when Sunday Night Football launched. Three years later, he replaced Madden as the network’s lead analyst.
Collinsworth communicates the game through a player’s perspective. He will be joined in the booth by Tirico, a veteran NBC broadcaster. Reporter Melissa Stark will work the sideline during the game.
Led by Collinsworth’s distinctive voice, style, and delivery, NBC is set to broadcast another Super Bowl to a worldwide audience this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
