Longtime play-by-play broadcaster Eric Collins has become a beloved figure for many sports fans thanks to his ever-charismatic personality on the call of numerous sports. But on Saturday, it was his incredible timing, or horrible timing depending on who you root for, that got the attention of viewers.
Collins, who alongside Dell Curry on the Charlotte Hornets broadcasts was ranked the No. 5 local NBA broadcast team in the Awful Announcing rankings for the 2023-24 NBA season, also calls college football on Fox Sports 1. On Saturday, he joined Spencer Tillman to call a matchup between the Troy Trojans and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
In the third quarter of the game, Collins alluded to how Troy’s sophomore quarterback Matthew Caldwell had played a clean game up until that point in his first-ever start as a member of the team.
“He has not thrown a pick,” said Collins. That’s been big, no turnovers.”
Just seconds after making this comment, Caldwell decided to render his point entirely moot, throwing an interception on a pass intended for wide receiver Devonte Ross. Iowa defensive back Jermari Harris, who intercepted the ball, proceeded to take it all the way back for a touchdown to extend the Hawkeyes lead.
FS1 play-by-play man Eric Collins puts an announcer jinx on Troy quarterback Matthew Caldwell, leading to an Iowa pick-six.
“He has not thrown a pick. That’s been big, no turnovers.”😬😬pic.twitter.com/mthu4pWH89
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 14, 2024
You’ll have a hard time finding a worse jinx all season long than this from Collins. And while Troy fans likely weren’t all that pleased with his remarks before the play, the general college football audience thought Collins’ timing couldn’t have been better.
Quite possibly the greatest announcer jinx ever🤣
— JeffreyTheGreek (@JeffreyTheGreek) September 14, 2024
The announcer jinx spares no onepic.twitter.com/0zo40cm6IB
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 14, 2024
For a while in this game, it looked like Iowa could potentially be on upset alert. But things would only go downhill for Troy from here. Iowa would go on to allow just one more touchdown in the game, cruising to a 38-21 victory.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.