After Cancellation by HBO, Long-Running NFL Talk Show Finds Second Life
By Leonard Shapiro
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
1:27 AM
When HBO decided earlier this year to pull the plug on "Inside the NFL," the long-running weekly talk and highlight show that actually began on free, over-the-air television 31 years ago, Cris Collinsworth was, by his own description, "stunned."
"I'm still stunned, and the guys at HBO who worked on it are still stunned," he said in a recent telephone interview. "I'm sure it was done for financial reasons. There's an abundance of highlight shows everywhere you look. Maybe the ratings didn't justify the costs. But even so, this was something that was on from the beginning of the (HBO) network, something people also identified with HBO.
"And everywhere I went, the fan reaction I kept getting wasn't just 'aaaaw, too bad." They were mad."
Collinsworth was particularly upset, if only because the show also provided his first job in television after he retired from a distinguished playing career as an elusive and cerebral wide receiver. He began in 1989 as an on-air reporter, and in recent years had become one of its most valuable assets.
Collinsworth is a clear-thinking, straight-shooting, and occasionally, contrarian and controversial co-host/analyst who always seemed to relish mixing it up with his fellow broadcasters. He also has never been shy or reluctant to take on some of the most powerful figures in the game, commissioners and haughty team owners included.
Once the HBO show was cancelled, Collinsworth at least could take some comfort in knowing that he was still gainfully employed in his other day/night jobs, as the same fearless studio host and analyst for NBC's Sunday night NFL games and as a game analyst for the NFL Network's late season Thursday night telecasts.
He also was thrilled to learn in June that "Inside The NFL" had risen from the dead zone of cancelled television classics after being rescued by one of HBO's main cable rivals, Showtime, in conjunction with CBS Sports, both under the CBS corporate umbrella.
Collinsworth initially approached NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol about the possibility of continuing his association with the show on Showtime. At first, Ebersol, a man he described as "my boss and my good friend," was opposed to his man working for yet another non-NBC affiliated network. He already had agreed to allow him to do the NFL Network games and Collinsworth said he was fully prepared to cut the cord with "Inside the NFL" and move on.
But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the show also was still very much inside his head, as well as his broadcasting DNA. He had a family meeting with his wife and four children to talk about it, and they all agreed it was worth it to go back and ask Ebersol one more time if he might reconsider.
"It just kind of made me out of sorts not being part of it," Collinsworth said. "I mean, after 18 years, I felt like I even had some ownership in it. It had become a part of me, and it was very much a part of my preparation for the entire week. I just called Dick and said I really wanted to do this, and he understood. He's letting me do it, and I'm thrilled to be back with it. For me, it was just personal."
Collinsworth is the only holdover from last year's HBO show. Bob Costas has been replaced in the main host role by Washington native James Brown, like Costas, one of the smoothest operators in the television business. Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who more than held his own on the old HBO show, nevertheless was benched in favor of former Giants quarterback Phil Simms, the lead game analyst for CBS Sports and, like Collinsworth, one of the most knowledgeable and classiest pro football experts on the air.
Cris Carter, now with ESPN, was replaced with rookie broadcaster Warren Sapp, who recently retired as an active player and soon will be high-stepping on ABC's hit show, "Dancing With The Stars." Sapp, often outspoken and occasionally confrontational with the media as a dominating defensive lineman, made no friends at HBO when he was hired by Showtime and said publicly that last year's show had become "bland" and "boring."
That did not especially sit well with Peter King, the prolific Sports Illustrated writer and NBC football studio reporter who played a key role in the HBO show last year, providing more than a touch of journalism to the operation, offering up-to-the-minute news and commenting on all the issues of the day. Sadly, King is not on the new Showtime roster, and he also very publicly voiced his own displeasure with Sapp's moronic criticism of the HBO production.
"It'll be interesting to see the first production meeting at Showtime when someone reads that quote to the boring co-host of the HBO show, Cris Collinsworth, who is only the best sports analyst in recent sports TV history," King wrote on SI's web site. "When everyone was covering his rear end on Bill Belichick and Spygate, Collinsworth ripped (Belichick) a new one for dishonoring the game. That's a case of the totally bland Cris Collinsworth just showing up for the paycheck every week."
So how did that first production meeting go two weeks ago?
"I didn't bring it up with Warren," Collinsworth said. "One of the things that makes Warren interesting is that you never know what he'll say. I certainly don't want to stifle that. I've been criticized before and I'm a critic too. I don't feel like I'm going to get worried about it or offended. If that's how he feels, so be it. Of course, I would obviously disagree."
By the way, judging from Sapp's generally mediocre work in the debut show last week, he ought to forget about being a television critic and focus on his own bland performance. He did not offer a single memorable line worth repeating, and his only redeeming contribution came when his new "Dancing With The Stars" partner came on the set and started twirling him and everyone else around the studio floor. Sapp has some nifty moves, few of them involving his mouth.
Still, the meat and potatoes of this show always has revolved around the taped highlights from all the games of the previous weekend, exquisitely photographed by NFL Films and narrated by the great Philadelphia broadcaster Harry Kalas, this generation's John Facenda.
The highlights and the occasional NFL Films feature story have always set this show apart, if only because NFL Films, a league subsidiary, puts microphones on players and coaches and has pre-game and post-game access to team locker rooms no one else ever gets. It's usually riveting stuff. Meanwhile, Collinsworth and Simms engage in lively and seemingly unscripted discussions, moderated by Brown on the main issues of the day, continuing to make this show must-see television.
This week, Showtime also announced another new cast member, adding a female presence with seemingly sketchy football credentials. A press release described Jenn Brown as a "multi-talented television personality and event reporter" and added that she also was the "spokesmodel" for the fitness clothing brand Under Armour and "has been featured in top publications including Cosmopolitan, Maxim, Sports Illustrated, Shape and Oxygen."
We'll soon see if Ms. Brown is just another fetching face put on the air for all the wrong reasons or whether she'll have anything of substance to contribute. At the moment, sight unseen, save for her picture in the e-mail press release, I'd still be willing to trade her and Sapp even up to get Peter King back in the mix, no draft choices or future considerations included.
Leonard Shapiro can be reached at Len.Shapiro@washingtonpost.com.
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