Even in a Sunday Night Football game in which Patrick Mahomes did not play, game analyst Cris Collinsworth found a way to spread the love for the Kansas City quarterback.
While showing a replay of a heads-up touchdown by San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, Collinsworth compared the younger Bay Area star to Mahomes. The similarities were clear, as Purdy scrambled across the red zone before finding a receiver in the corner of the end zone.
But coming from Collinsworth’s mouth, the compliment to Purdy sounded more like yet another celebration of Mahomes, who is infamously Collinsworth’s favorite player in the league.
As soon as he made the comparison, Collinsworth caught himself.
“If this were Patrick Mahomes, we’d be screaming, ‘Oh Patrick Mahomes.’ I know I would be screaming it,” Collinsworth laughed.
NBC play-by-play voice Mike Tirico was impressed.
“What I love about you is you’ve still got your speed,” he said. “You beat the internet to beating you up.”
Cris Collinsworth: “I like memes” pic.twitter.com/77i0Qi3GK2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 29, 2025
Then came the most hilarious Collinsworth quip of the entire exchange:
“I like memes … about me,” Collinsworth said. “I see a lot of that.”
Indeed, Collinsworth has long faced criticism over his reverence for Mahomes. As far back as early 2023, we’ve covered the veteran analyst’s admiration of the two-time MVP. Back then, Collinsworth was mocked for telling fans — fresh off Mahomes’ second Super Bowl win — that we were finally going to see how good the QB really was.
A few months later, Collinsworth acknowledged that viewers were tired of his lovefest for Mahomes, then proceeded to indulge in praising the QB once again.
In recent years, Collinsworth has had more fun with the bit. The longtime NBC game analyst admitted to some preferential treatment of the Chiefs star in an interview with Kay Adams, and ultimately has circled back to being comfortable praising Mahomes whenever he can.
The last level of Collinsworth’s self-awareness appears to be catching himself in real time, as he did while breaking down the magnificent score by Mahomes’ Super Bowl LVIII opponent on Sunday night in the Bay.
When Tirico asked whether Collinsworth might turn over a new leaf in 2026, Collinsworth wasn’t persuaded: “Don’t bet on it.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.