Cris Collinsworth Reveals Why Slide Disappeared

One of the biggest mysteries of the 2022 NFL season has been solved: what the hell happened to the iconic Cris Collinsworth slide?

For the last few years, the Cris Collinsworth slide had been one of the hallmarks of NBC's Sunday Night Football.

If for some strange reason, you're scratching your head in confusion right now, enjoy this supercut of some highlight reel slides.

However, since Mike Tirico took over play-ny-play duties for NBC this season, the slide has been completely absent.

Some speculated that Collinsworth giving us his signature move was an homage to his legendary partner who has since left to helm Amazon's Thursday Night Football broadcast.

Not so, says Collinsworth.

The Real Reason The 2022 Season Has Been Slide-Less

The former Bengals receiver appeared on Fan Duel's Up & Adams hosted by Kay Adams, and gave the real story behind why the slide — coupled with a lip bite; people sometimes forget the lip bite — was no longer part of everyone's Sunday nights.

"Mike Tirico doesn't do the opening monologue," Collinsworth explained, a key ingredient in executing the slide. "So what am I gonna do? It's like, I'm sitting there, I could lean out and then it'd just be, like stupid, so what do you do?"

So, It's Mike Tirico's fault? Is that what he's suggesting?

Well, then maybe Collinsworth just needs to change it up.

"Maybe I'll leave that way," Collinsworth spitballed.

A reverse slide? Highly unorthodox — and to this point, it has only been spoken of in hushed tones — but if Collonsworth thinks he can pull it off, let's see it. Sunday Night Football usually does well, but imagine the ratings jump if people had to wait until the end of the game to see a slide?

Alright, that video is an exageration of peoples' affinity for the Collinsworth slide, but it's not too far off.

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