Cris Collinsworth during the Chargers-Steelers broadcast on NBC in Week 10. Credit: Sunday Night Football on NBC
By Sam Neumann on

Cris Collinsworth couldn’t stop talking about Jalen Ramsey playing free safety during Sunday Night Football.

The NBC analyst brought up Ramsey’s position switch throughout the Chargers’ 25-10 win over the Steelers, praising his presence in the secondary and cutting to replays of him lined up deep, even when he wasn’t involved in the play. Collinsworth seemed fascinated that Ramsey was playing safety at all, repeatedly pointing it out as if it were some revolutionary development rather than a position change that’s been in effect for a few games now.

Before a play midway through the game, Collinsworth explained to Mike Tirico how the Steelers’ defensive strategy revolved around Ramsey’s presence at safety.

“The one thing, Mike, that is happening that’s really benefitting this Pittsburgh Steelers defense is you got Jalen Ramsey back here as a safety,” Collinsworth said. “And then you got everybody else up here playing the run. So why has it been tough tonight to get the run going, or why are they getting so much pressure on Herbert? Because they trust Ramsey in the backend.”

Justin Herbert ran for 16 yards on the next play.

Later in the game, after Ladd McConkey hauled in a 58-yard reception down the sideline, Collinsworth was quick to praise Ramsey for making the tackle.

“This is one of the powers of having Jalen Ramsey,” Collinsworth said. “Only a Jalen Ramsey could keep that one from being a touchdown.”

Ramsey did make the tackle. After McConkey had already more than half a football field of yards.

Throughout the broadcast, Collinsworth would announce “He’s at safety now” or “Here he is at safety” before cutting to replays that showed Ramsey standing in the secondary while the action happened elsewhere. He’d point out Ramsey’s positioning on plays where Ramsey was nowhere near the ball carrier. He’d bring up Ramsey’s name when discussing defensive schemes that had nothing to do with what Ramsey was doing on that particular snap. The fixation became impossible to ignore, especially as the game wore on and Ramsey continued to not make impact plays worth the attention he was receiving.

Viewers noticed. By the second half, social media was full of people questioning why Collinsworth was so focused on a player who wasn’t doing much of anything.

Why is Cris Collinsworth acting like Jalen Ramsey playing safety means he’s exclusively lining up at Gregg Williams depth?

— Dan Pizzuta (@danpizzuta.bsky.social) November 9, 2025 at 10:42 PM

The obsession was particularly odd given that Ramsey didn’t grade among Pro Football Focus’s highest-rated players in Sunday’s game. PFF, for the record, is owned by Collinsworth. He founded the analytics service in 2006 before selling a majority stake to private equity in 2014 while remaining involved with the company.

Ramsey’s move to safety is a legitimate storyline. He spent most of his career as an elite cornerback before transitioning to the position this season. But there’s a difference between mentioning a position change and building an entire broadcast narrative around a player who isn’t making plays.

Collinsworth has a history of latching onto specific storylines during broadcasts. Sometimes it works. Sunday night, it didn’t.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann