Cris Collinsworth slides into the 500th broadcast of his NFL career. Photo Credit: NBC Photo Credit: NBC
By Matt Clapp on

The Sunday Night Football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams features an incredible milestone for NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth.

It’s the 500th career broadcast for Collinsworth as an NFL color commentator, with the former Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver’s first broadcast taking place in 1990, appropriately with NBC.

NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico acknowledged the milestone to begin the Buccaneers-Rams broadcast before Collinsworth appeared in grand fashion with “The Slide” that he became known for while calling games alongside Al Michaels.

“And it’s a big night for us, too,” Tirico explained to NBC viewers. “Because Mr. Sunday Night Football, Cris Collinsworth, celebrates his 500th game in the booth. So, why not slide in for old times’ sake?”

“There you go,” Collinsworth said after sliding into the broadcast. “It’s a little harder than I remember it being.”

“Congratulations,” Tirico said as they each laughed.

“Thank you, pal,” Collinsworth said. “Appreciate it.”

“Special milestone for you,” Tirico said before turning the conversation to previewing the game.

The slide had been retired for a few years, and Collinsworth explained the origins of it during a ManningCast appearance last December.

Collinsworth has called 402 games for NBC, 64 games for Fox (1998-2005), and 22 games for NFL Network to lead the way among those 500 appearances. And he’ll likely still give that NBC number a huge boost, with his contract taking him all the way into the 2029-30 NFL season.

Update: With two minutes to go on the Bucs-Rams SNF broadcast, NBC shared a video of Collinsworth’s former broadcast partners — Troy Aikman, Tom Hammond, Joe Buck, and Al Michaels — offering congratulations. He also received a cake in the booth. And he even received a No. 500 jersey from Los Angeles Rams head coach on Friday.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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