Cris Collinsworth: Players Wrong to Vote NBC Analyst as NFL's Worst Voice

The NFL players have proven that they're not the authority on all things football. When analyzing the people that analyze them, the players are a little off. 

In a recent Sports Illustrated poll, the players voted NBC's Cris Collinsworth as the NFL's worst commentator. In this case, those who don't play have a distinct advantage over the people that do. They don't have to sit through the commentary because they're playing. We do. 

Collinsworth simply isn't that bad. He did play the game and has a strong knowledge of it. He shows the appropriate amount of enthusiasm for the situation. 

I'll often watch a game and wonder if the commentators in fact know the rules of the game. I don't get that from Collinsworth. It helps that he works with Al Michaels, who is rightfully nowhere to be found on this list. But even without Michaels by his side, Collinsworth is fine on his own. 

So, who is the worst? Well, if you read that list, you'll notice something. All of the people on it are either national commentators, national broadcasters or are on the top team on CBS or Fox. The announcers calling the games between two small-market teams with losing records are nowhere to be found. 

Those announcers are horrible. But for the sake of the argument, I will stay with the high-profile guys and give you one name: Joe Buck.

Buck (No. 12 in the players' poll) is horrible. His voice is completely devoid of passion when he calls anything. Ideally, you would want an announcer to show the passion that the event calls for. That doesn't happen with Buck.

No, when Buck is announcing the Super Bowl, you would hardly know that it's not a preseason game until a calender reminds you that it's February, not August. If it makes football fans feel any better, he does the same thing for baseball.

And that's what makes this so frustrating.

In seasons when Fox has the rights to the Super Bowl, Buck is the play-by-play man for the World Series and Super Bowl.

We had better hope that Fox never gets the rights to any other sporting event. When the biggest events of the year are going, I like to be able to stay awake. With Buck doing the broadcasting, that's no easy chore.

Watch the following play with your eyes closed.

Would you have any idea that it's maybe the most important play in Super Bowl history? If that catch isn't made, the Patriots are likely a 19-0 Super Bowl Champions. What the Packers are doing now is far less relevant.

Listening to it, you have no idea how good the catch was. You would think it was a long completion in the first quarter of a preseason game. 

That's why Buck is the only No. 1 on a list like this. He gets the big assignments and consistently fails to deliver.

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