NBC Sports NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth offered insight into his guidance for former players transitioning to sports media, revealing that both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning sought his advice on navigating broadcast careers.
Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, Collinsworth explained why he consistently urges retired athletes to start in the studio before attempting the more demanding role of a game analyst in the booth.
“Go to the studio. Honestly, It’s the same thing I told Peyton Manning, same thing. I told all of them,” Collinsworth said about his advice to Tom Brady before he joined FOX Sports. “The studio is something that… You’ve got like five or six different hits during the course of the show. You know what you’re going to talk about going into it. You can research it easily. It’s not that big a deal. Now, you do have to know a little something about all the teams, but that’s not too bad. When you go to the game, you are starting from scratch every single week.”
Collinsworth emphasized that the jump from player to analyst is far more complex than many assume, particularly when it comes to booth work.
“You’re used to getting ready for one side of the ball, your offense against their defense. Now you have six sides of the ball that you got to get ready fork,” he said. “Tom, God bless him, that’s what he said. I love the work and the grind. I missed the grind and want to do that.”
While both Brady and Manning were eager to transition to broadcasting, Collinsworth noted their approaches differed.
“Peyton, he’s the genius of all geniuses. Somehow, he went from he was going to call games to sitting in his basement with his brother, screwing around and getting Emmy awards. I have no idea. He’s the smartest human being I ever met. Brady wanted it. He wanted it,” Collinsworth said.
Collinsworth described his routine of advising former players against rushing into booth assignments. When asked directly by Patrick if he attempted to talk Brady out of being on the road versus work in studio, Collinsworth was quick in recalling his advice.
“Yes, every one of them that have called me… I go, ‘Look, just bear with me. I’m going to try and talk you out of what you’re talking about here.’ I give them all the same spiel every single one of them, because I don’t want them coming back to me going, ‘Oh man, my life was ruined. I was living on the road and might as well be a baseball player. I’m never home.’ I didn’t want to hear that,” he said.
Collinsworth just wrapped up calling his 500 career broadcast this past weekend as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Los Angeles Rams on NBC Sports. While he is taking the network’s Thursday call of the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals off on Thanksgiving, his advice underscores the challenge that many retired athletes face when shifting to broadcasting.
Studio work allows former players to leverage their expertise in a controlled environment, while booth work demands a level of preparation and adaptability that can be overwhelming without experience.
For Collinsworth, guiding high-profile players like Brady and Manning is part of helping ensure they enjoy long, successful media careers without the pitfalls of being unprepared.
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