It seems like everybody was talking about NBC’s commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth this NFL season, or more particularly, the “Chris Collinsworth slide.”
In case you’re not yet familiar with it, the “Chris Collinsworth slide,” happens at the beginning of every football game, when play-by-play commentator Al Michaels introduces his co-host. It goes a little something like this:
Wish my slide in the DMs game was as strong as Chris Collinsworth’s slide on @SNFonNBC #KCvsIND pic.twitter.com/UPCHWavJ3g
— Mitchell Renz (@MitchellRenz365) January 12, 2019
What side will Chris Collinsworth slide into frame from tonight?
Left -120
Right -120— OddsShark (@OddsShark) December 24, 2018
Insane video of a bar going nuts for Chris Collinsworth’s Sunday night slide-in pic.twitter.com/0pncH4v3gA
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 10, 2018
Those slides became viral sensations this fall; everybody seemed to be talking about them. Turns out, everything is not what it seems. The famous slide is basically a figment of millions of viewers’ imaginations. (RELATED: The Numbers Are In For ‘Sunday Night Football.’ The Ratings Will Make The NFL Smile)
“The reality is the booths we are in, it is a very tiny, thin area in which the two of us have to sit,” Al Michaels explained to the New York Post. “When we come on the air, we like to do it when I do the overview [of the game] in a one shot. Otherwise, the other guy sits there for 30 seconds doing nothing.”
So, if it is fake, what makes Collinsworth look like he’s sliding in?
“We’ve always done it that way and it works effectively,” Michaels explains. “So, for Chris, he has to sit next to me because it’s not wide enough. So his torso might be next to mine, so he has to lean out at about a 45-degree angle. So, it looks like he’s sliding, but he’s actually angling in.”
Al Michaels can try to convince me all he wants about Chris Collinsworth not sliding in. To me, this is a slide, and it always will be:
There’s the Cha Cha Slide, and then there’s the Sunday Night Football Chris Collinsworth Slide.
Remember you can watch this game now on @WTOV9 Kick off is just minutes away! pic.twitter.com/jeGbPbR9om
— Kate Siefert (@KateS_WTOV9) December 24, 2018