Cris Collinsworth Has One Important Rule After He Calls NFL Games

Longtime NFL announcer Cris Collinsworth has one important rule he sticks by after calling games.

Collinsworth, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, was on the call of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game this past weekend. Sunday night, he'll be on the call of the Atlanta Falcons vs. Washington Commanders game. He calls some of the biggest games of the season, each and every Sunday night.

Few NFL announcers, if any, get as much vitriol and pushback from fans on social media, as Collinsworth. But thankfully, he sticks by one important rule after games.

He doesn't check social media.

The 65-year-old NFL announcer explained his social media rule during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show."

"Negative. No, no, no — I do not,” Collinsworth said after Patrick asked if he checks social media after games. “Well, of course [I used to]. When I first got on social media, I had four followers. And my kids told me that I had to sign up, so I signed up. After the game, I was sitting there, and I had four people. So, I said hello to all of them. I went back on, ‘Hey, how you guys doing?’ I thought that’s what social media was. I had no idea. And they’re like, ‘Dad, no.’ ‘You just get on.’ And then they started showing me how to do it.”

Collinsworth said that the negative interactions just hit you like a wall of bricks.

“The thing that I’ve found in our business is that generally, people are very, very nice,” he continued. “We travel all over the country, we go in, they want to talk to you… But it’s still that one in 50 that goes, ‘Hey, aren’t you Cris Collinsworth?’ And I go, ‘Yeah.’ And, generally, the first question is: ‘Why do you hate the…’ whatever their favorite team is. Then, it’s something along the lines of, ‘Honestly, I think you suck.’

“And it hits you like a ton of bricks because you’re so used to people being so nice and coming up and being friendly and saying nice things. And the rest of the day, you’re walking around, kicking the can down the road; you’re like all bummed out.”

It's certainly a healthy approach from Collinsworth.

Everyone in America would be better off for it, too.