Tag: cris collinsworth sexist comment

Cris Collinsworth deeply apologizes for ‘sexist’ comments about female fans

Cris Collinsworth apologized quickly when he realized his comments about female fans ignited a firestorm

Cris Collinsworth is the analyst on “Sunday Night Football” for NBC. He starts talking when the network comes on the air for games and doesn’t stop until the network signs off.

When you keep rambling, eventually you are going to say something that is foolish, sexist, or puts one’s foot in the mouth.

That happened Wednesday during the Ravens-Steelers game.

During the second quarter of the broadcast of Wednesday’s Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers game, Collinsworth said in reference to Pittsburgh, “Everybody’s a fan. In particular, the ladies that I met. They have really specific questions about the game, and I’m like, ‘Wow,’ you’re just blown away by how strong the fans are here in this town.”

The obligatory apology after creating a firestorm followed.

“Today on our broadcast I made reference to a couple of women I met in Pittsburgh who so impressed me with their football knowledge that I wanted to tell their story on the air,” Collinsworth wrote. “I know the way I phrased it insulted many. I’m so sorry. What I intended as a compliment to the fans of Pittsburgh, became an insult.

“I’m sick about insulting any fan, but especially female fans and journalists. I know first hand how much harder they have to work than any of us in this industry. I was wrong and deeply apologize.”

Hard to tell whether any of these apologies are sincere or borne out of necessity and panic from the higher-ups and PR folks at the Peacock Network. Maybe the bosses at NBC should throw a flag on Collinsworth and give him a week to rest his voice or see him take some action rather than feeling more words can erase the damage.

NBC’s Cris Collinsworth needs to learn that women know about football, too

NBC’s Cris Collinsworth may not have meant to make a sexist statement during a Wednesday NFL telecast, but that’s how it came out.

In the second quarter of NBC’s Wednesday telecast of the Steelers’ 19-14 win over the Ravens, analyst Cris Collinsworth decided to put his foot in his mouth and take a big, honking bite.

“Everybody is a fan,” Collinsworth said of the Steel City. “Particularly, the ladies that I met. They have really specific questions about the game. I was like ‘wow,’ just blown away by it.”

We assume this was an attempt for Collinsworth to compliment the football intelligence of Pittsburgh’s female popoulation, but it did not go over well, nor should it have. Such cavalierly sexist comments have no place on any sports broadcast. If Collinsworth wants to talk to women who have intelligent football questions, he can go inside his own house, so to speak.

Football Night in America sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is quite astute when it comes to the game, and longtime NBC contributor Andrea Kremer worked for NFL Films at one point in her career. During her application process, Kremer (as all NFL Films employees were asked to do) was directed to describe a trap play on paper. Kremer, who grew up loving and learning about football in the Philadelphia area, had to ask for extra paper because her answer was so detailed.

There are all kinds of women who love and know about football, both in and out of the business, and whether Collinsworth’s intentions were innocuous or not, we are (or we should be) far past the point where it’s a cute thing. Perhaps that’s something Collinsworth himself can ask a few questions about.