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Peyton's Places - Season 5 Episode 8 -
A Tall Tale
A Tall Tale
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00ESPN original series is presented by Elijah Craig, the father of bourbon.
00:12Nowadays, tall receivers, they're pretty common, but when I was a kid watching the NFL, they were pretty rare.
00:20Believe it or not, one of the first tall receivers was Chris Collinsworth, and before he was a great broadcaster, he was a great wide receiver.
00:28Third time must be the charm in Ohio this season, so why not meet up with the 6'5 Collinsworth at one of Cincinnati's most iconic skyscrapers, the Carew Tower, to discuss how receivers have used height to their advantage.
00:46Time to hit the road.
00:48And now, the ESPN original series, Payton's Places, presented by Elijah Craig.
00:58Carew Tower, corner of 5th and Vine, beneath the clock.
01:12Hey, you made it.
01:13Chris Collinsworth.
01:14How are you, Payton?
01:15Good to see you.
01:16Good seeing you.
01:17What do you think about the great Carew Tower here?
01:19I thought maybe you could throw a football off of it.
01:22Omaha.
01:22I knew he was going to catch it.
01:30That's so season one.
01:32That's not the tower I came to see, Chris.
01:34I came to see Collinsworth Tower.
01:36You're a great broadcaster now, but way back when, you were a wide receiver.
01:39Yeah.
01:40And down it for Collinsworth.
01:41He has it.
01:42Touchdown, Chris Collinsworth.
01:45What a great catch that was.
01:47It's not ancient.
01:48It's not like I played with Don Hudson in leather helmets, but I was.
01:52Back to throw.
01:53Has plenty of time.
01:54Goes long.
01:55It's time for Collinsworth.
01:56He has it.
01:57Touchdown.
01:59Back in the 80s, wide receivers weren't tall.
02:01But you, 6'5", three Pro Bowls, four 1,000-yard seasons.
02:05You were living on the air in Cincinnati.
02:07Oh, nice metaphor.
02:08That was good.
02:08You like that?
02:09I like that?
02:09I wrote that myself.
02:11I bet you did.
02:11I'm Peyton Manning, and I love football.
02:18Don't worry.
02:19Peyton, who's your favorite football player?
02:21My dad.
02:22I'm on a quest to bring NFL history to life.
02:24Yes!
02:25Wow, that was pretty reckless.
02:27So join me for another adventure.
02:29Peyton.
02:30Dream come true, man.
02:30Oh, awesome, man.
02:31This is right up there.
02:32Are you kidding me?
02:33James plays.
02:34This is great.
02:38Hello, everyone, and welcome to Notre Dame Stadium.
02:40Tom Hammond and Chris Collinsworth.
02:45This is a tall tale that just so happens to be true.
02:49You'll make a memory, right?
02:50It's about a broadcaster.
02:52Here's a guy that is starting to figure the game out.
02:55Here's a guy with 10 sacks this year.
02:57Here's a guy, he looks like the dad playing in the backyard with all the kids,
03:02and they can't get him on the ground.
03:03A broadcaster everyone loves to imitate.
03:06Listen, guys, we're talking about a guy, Patrick Mahone, who's been throwing the ball since
03:14he was eight years old.
03:16That's Chris Collinsworth.
03:18Chris Collinsworth is six foot five inches tall.
03:22Oh, Chris Collinsworth, a sensational rookie.
03:24Back in the 80s, he took the wide receiver position to new heights.
03:3059 yards to the end zone.
03:33He's still a big man in the Queen City.
03:37Are you a tall glass of water?
03:39I'm the same height.
03:41What's the deal?
03:42You guys want a table?
03:43Yeah, one of the tall ones.
03:45Come on.
03:45Absolutely.
03:46Follow me.
03:49Chris can always get a table, even when the restaurant is closed.
03:54All right, Chris, I'm going to take you down memory lane here.
03:57Uh-oh.
03:59I think I've told you before, this was in my brother Cooper's closet.
04:04Our entire youth here.
04:08What do you remember about this poster?
04:11Well, first, it was the first time I understood that the NFL gives away nothing.
04:16They wouldn't let us wear our uniforms without paying $100 million, right?
04:23No chance.
04:25Look at us.
04:25It was supposedly the speedsters of the NFL, and there's Steve Largent and I, and people
04:31are going, what the heck are these guys doing in there?
04:34What jumps out to me, Chris, is that you're 6'5".
04:37You were the tallest receiver in the AFC.
04:39When Harold Carmichael retired, you were the tallest receiver in the NFL.
04:42I think Largent, Tilly, Morgan, all six feet, maybe.
04:48What advantages did you think you had being a tall receiver?
04:52I just know back in the day that quarterbacks like me.
04:56I always went with the theory that quarterbacks really don't want the ball.
05:03There are a lot of big human beings coming after you.
05:06How could I flash in front of the quarterback to where you saw me before you saw anybody else?
05:13The height really helped with that.
05:16Anderson, wide open is Collinsworth.
05:21I knew he could see me.
05:23So many times in big moments and big situations, I knew he would see me first because I was a
05:30big guy out there.
05:31He could see me.
05:32These days, tall receivers like Drake London, George Pickens, and Mike Evans are commonplace.
05:41Baker Mayfield looks those involved.
05:43Caught ball.
05:44Evans, he's got it to the 40-yard line.
05:471,000 plus 11 seasons in a row.
05:50In his era, Chris was one of one and a nightmare for defensive coordinators.
05:56His nickname is Cadillac, and he has played in high society in his first year in the NFL,
06:03making the Pro Bowl 67 catches.
06:06I see a lot of footage of you making jump ball catches where a tall receiver has a huge advantage
06:11there.
06:11Is that kind of part of the game plan?
06:12I would always jump just a little.
06:22Just a little.
06:23Because, why?
06:26You tell me why you think.
06:28To get off the ground just a little bit?
06:29So nobody could come in and get my knees.
06:32Now, I got flipped a lot.
06:33Right.
06:35But if you're off the ground, you're not going to destroy your knees.
06:40So one of the great accomplishments of my lifetime, I never had the knee surgery.
06:48Why do you think the tall receiver was sort of uncommon back then?
06:52Because, typically, we were slow guys.
06:54Yeah.
06:54Which was not you.
06:56You were a speed guy.
06:57Yeah.
06:58Chris Collinsworth can run.
07:00He has good moves in the end of the net, but he has great, deep speed.
07:04So the narrative was always, he can't run, you know?
07:08And I would play into it.
07:09What happens is he releases me and runs behind me, so when I stop trying to pull back through
07:14him, he's in front of me, you know?
07:15It's like if I lean back into him and take off again, I think it could be big.
07:19And I would just go, yeah.
07:21Because all you want to do is get one advantage on one play early in the game and be able to
07:26do it.
07:27It was that sprinter speed that made some scouts ignore Chris's hype.
07:32In 1976, as a high school junior, he won the Florida State Championship in the 100.
07:40Forrest Gregg said we had some doubts about him.
07:43Long legs, long arms, long neck.
07:46But we kept looking at that 4-5, and as soon as we saw him at camp, we knew we had us a jewel.
07:51Is it true you once tried to race a horse?
07:57I went to the horse track one time.
08:00You know, we were getting hammered because the horses at this track suck.
08:04I said, I could probably beat these horses.
08:06Next thing I know, I had a race between me and Mr. Hurry.
08:13I come out in a limousine, full tuxedo.
08:17Mr. Hurry had run a hundred races and had never finished in the money once.
08:30By the time I get to the finish line, Mr. Hurry is already around the turn and up the backstretch.
08:37It was fun.
08:37We didn't quite beat that joker, but it was a lot of fun.
08:41Hey, hey, you got enough of me, horse.
08:44Chris, let's talk about your quarterback career.
08:46You were an All-American quarterback in high school, throwing rockets for Astronaut High, right across from Cape Canaveral.
08:55Go to Florida, you'd throw a 99-yard touchdown, the longest pass in college football history.
09:02All my buddies all have the same story, that I threw a wide receiver screen or a ball in the flat and a guy broke 27 tackles.
09:10Actually, what happened was, this is the first game I ever played in college football.
09:15We were up on rice by three touchdowns, so they put in the freshman.
09:19So it was supposed to be a roll-out, out-cut.
09:22Derek Gaffney, who played for the Jets for a long time, he goes, I ain't running no out-cut.
09:28And I said, what are you going to do?
09:30He said, I'm going deep.
09:31I was like, all right, man.
09:32What am I going to tell him?
09:33The first game was a freshman.
09:35I'm like, all right, go.
09:35No authority.
09:36So I roll out, and not a great thrower, but on the run, unleashed one about 45 yards, hit him in stride, goes in, right?
09:45So I am forever one of the greatest trivia questions of all time.
09:52Now, maybe you might think I caught a 99-yarder, but threw a 99-yarder, so they've got quarterbacks in the College Football Hall of Fame, and they go, oh, that makes sense.
10:01Like, what?
10:02What is, you know, so it's awesome.
10:05Yeah.
10:06So Springer comes in.
10:08He's going to a drop-back passing game and literally giggling watching me throw the football.
10:13Did he like your motion or what?
10:15No, I couldn't throw with a crap.
10:17They let me play the spring game.
10:19I think I went 0 for 11 with two picks.
10:22I was a wide receiver the next day, and it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.
10:31Chris, when I went to the combine, the knock on me wasn't physical enough, so I really wanted to weigh, like, 228 pounds.
10:39The day before, I went to the tanning bed.
10:41I did some close-grip dips and push-ups.
10:43Well, let me just take a look at your combine picture here.
10:47Yeah.
10:47It doesn't look like you did a lot of dips and push-ups.
10:49There's sexy, and then there's that.
10:54This was the one that they made you walk into a room.
10:58And they go, all right, take off your shirt and your shoes and socks.
11:03And so I'm watching this process.
11:05It's one stud after another.
11:08I go, this is a meat factory.
11:10I go, this is ridiculous.
11:11I'm like, why would anybody want to look at my body?
11:14So I said, give me the biggest shorts you got.
11:17I'm just going to try to make them laugh, right?
11:20Show a little personality.
11:22They laughed all right.
11:23They laughed my way right out of the first round.
11:25Chris entered the NFL as a punchline, slipping into the second round of the 1981 draft.
11:32The team that drafted him was also the butt of jokes, thanks to a garish new helmet.
11:39Bengal founder Paul Brown fashioned this novel design as new to the game today as the forward
11:45pass was a century ago.
11:47You remember your first reaction when the Bengals went to the striped helmet?
11:52I can just remember going, if you're going to wear these helmets, you better play your ass
11:57off, boy.
11:59It was like people wanted to challenge your manhood almost on the field.
12:04I'll tell you the truth.
12:05When you're wearing a helmet like that, it's one of those situations you either got to put up or shut up.
12:09You either got to play or they're going to laugh you out of the league.
12:12The movie Stripes out around the same time, they kind of made it cool.
12:15God, I love that comparison.
12:17In many ways, our team was like Stripes.
12:20I can just remember people laughing.
12:22It was like Barnum and Bailey came to town or something like that.
12:29Nobody was laughing after Chris put together one of the finest rookie seasons in NFL history.
12:36And the ragtag Bengals made it all the way to Super Bowl XVI.
12:41You can feel the electricity in the air here at the Silverdome and Pontiac, Super Bowl XVI.
12:46At wide receiver number 80, Chris Collinsworth.
12:54Every one of these players somewhere will see a tape of this game.
12:58You'll never forget this day.
13:00The interesting thing about that game is you all scored more touchdowns in the Niners.
13:03You outgamed them yardage-wise.
13:05Anderson to Collinsworth, and he has it inside the 30.
13:07You had 107 receiving yards, more than anyone else.
13:13Outstanding catch from Collinsworth.
13:16Collinsworth makes the catch.
13:18You know, I always felt like the game was up to me to win or lose.
13:21I know you did, but as a receiver, that's a weird thing to think about.
13:24Chris, we're a 6'5 receiver.
13:27It's really something for a quarterback.
13:29Chris kept flashing for his quarterback.
13:32The biggest target on football's biggest stage.
13:35Everybody will talk about a long pass that I had.
13:39Deep for Collinsworth.
13:40He's open.
13:41Got it.
13:42What a catch.
13:44Going downfield, looking directly back over his hip.
13:48I only remember one thing.
13:50Yeah, yeah.
13:50I remember fumbling.
13:52Hump, hump, hump.
13:56Anderson has Collinsworth at the 5.
13:59Eric Wright, the defender of fumble.
14:02San Francisco football.
14:03Collinsworth had it and lost it.
14:08I honestly have never seen the play.
14:11I watched it.
14:14I think it never was a catch.
14:16Yeah.
14:18Today, it would be an incomplete pass.
14:20But in January of 1982, this was a fumble.
14:27To make a mistake like that, rookie year, on that kind of stage, was incredibly painful.
14:34I still think about it.
14:36Out of everything I've ever done in sports, including every game I've ever played, that
14:42one haunts me like no other.
14:48Chris didn't get back to the Super Bowl until his final NFL game.
14:52Back to throw, Montana.
14:55Steps up, throws.
14:56Touchdown, 49ers!
14:58The 49ers have scored!
15:0134 seconds away from him.
15:04Once again, the Bengals lost to the 49ers.
15:08But in his eight seasons, Chris had taken the wide receiver to rarefied air.
15:13You were the last 6'5 receiver to have over 1,100 yards receiving until Ed McCaffrey in
15:20the late 90s.
15:22Can you explain that?
15:24Can you go into your broadcasting PFF role?
15:27Where do you get this stuff?
15:27Well, this is, I'm challenging PFF.
15:29I'm on a 6'5 receiver and not have that many yards for that long.
15:32Here's my theory.
15:33Let's see what you think of this.
15:35Listen, my theory is the 40-yard dash really doesn't matter.
15:40What matters is what I did between 30 and 40, that's where I'm passing somebody.
15:46So if you're 5'2, you should be faster to 10 yards than I am because I got to get out
15:53of the stands.
15:56But when I get up to speed and now we hit the Jets, think of Terrell Owens, think of Randy
16:02Moss.
16:03I mean, some of the taller guys that would run by people, they didn't run by them in
16:09the first 10.
16:09Right.
16:10He wants Owens, and he's got them.
16:12Touchdown.
16:13These are some get-some-where shoes right here.
16:15These are some get-some-where shoes.
16:17So if I were doing the combine and I ran a team, I would want to know not the first 10
16:24yards, which they currently measure.
16:27I want to know when this guy's up to full speed.
16:30What's it look like?
16:30What's it look like from 30 to 40?
16:33That would tell more who would be your top deep threat than the first 10.
16:39I like that, actually.
16:40Schoenert is back as the blitz comes.
16:42Goes down into the end zone.
16:43Touchdown.
16:44Got him close.
16:45He really ran away from Terrell Small.
16:47Oh, gee.
16:50You like my, I'll give you the tall glass, you know, for being the tall receiver and, you
16:54know, a little short glass over here.
16:55The amount of expense that you bring to bear for one of these interviews, I really appreciate
17:01the fact you've stolen a glass.
17:04Last one, Chris.
17:05Was this interview awkward because that chair didn't slide?
17:08It was just stationary?
17:09I mean, should I be more comfortable doing the Collinsworth slide?
17:12It's a big night for us, too, because Mr. Sunday Night Football, Chris Collinsworth celebrates
17:16his 500th game in the booth.
17:19So, why not slide in for old time's sake?
17:22All right.
17:22He's a little harder than I remember.
17:24I mean, you know how that got started, right?
17:27That's Al's contract, right?
17:28Yeah, Al's going to be, he's the first guy on camera.
17:31Chris, you look at this team, and we've seen them so much through the years.
17:34And so, Cameron would always say, Chris, you've got to get out of the shot.
17:38And I was like, hey, you told me I'm supposed to be on this piece of tape, and I'm straddling
17:44the piece of tape.
17:45So, I'm here.
17:46You want me here?
17:47You want me out of the shot?
17:48He goes, I want you there, but you've got to lean out of the shot.
17:51And so, I'm sitting for my entire broadcasting career, I'm on the opening on camera, and
17:56I'm laying on the table next to Al Michaels as he goes through this thing, and he goes, all
18:01right, well, now I want to bring in Chris Collinsworth.
18:03You remember the old bozo things as a kid, you punch, and they fall down, and that's
18:08me.
18:08That was, I'm like, I'm sitting there, you know, and I would do that.
18:13Chris, so many good stories, so many good storylines.
18:16So, Chris, we've seen two very good offenses.
18:19So, Chris, we have had a lot of really great matchups in the quarterback this year.
18:23So, Chris, when you look at New England and the way things are going, they're on a little
18:26bit of a roll.
18:27So, partner, are you part of that consensus?
18:30Well, talent-wise, yes, of course.
18:32They're the Super Bowl champs, right?
18:33Why not?
18:34You've been broadcasting for more than three decades.
18:36What do you say we remind people what you used to do?
18:39How about you and me go have a catch?
18:41You're out at the park?
18:42Deal.
18:43Man.
18:50It was taken by Collinsworth.
18:52He took it right away.
18:53Chris, you have this over-the-shoulder catch.
18:58It's not, you know, kind of the outside.
19:01I mean, it's directly, like, over your head.
19:04I mean, how did you make those catches?
19:05I think the biggest thing for me was I grew up in a basketball family, and I was a rebounder.
19:13You learn to box out.
19:16And so my whole thing was, if I could get my ass on them, right, and reach out, they weren't
19:23going to get it.
19:24It's a ballet move, almost, because you have to take the steam off the ball while you're
19:32doing that.
19:34That was probably my favorite.
19:41Chris, All-American quarterback in high school.
19:43Surely the Bengals had some gadget plays.
19:47I mean, did you ever throw a pass as an NFL player?
19:50I threw two.
19:56The first one, I throw truly as good a pass as I've ever thrown in my life.
20:02My roommate was Steve Kreider.
20:04Hits him on the goal line.
20:07He missed it.
20:08Oh.
20:08Yes.
20:09So I only got one other chance.
20:10Monday night football against Pittsburgh.
20:13Okay.
20:14And Sam White has been preaching to me the entire week, if it's not there, don't throw it.
20:19Throw it away.
20:19Well, you can't give a wide receiver the football and tell him to throw it and expect him to
20:25pull it down.
20:26Right.
20:27And the reverse.
20:28To Collinsworth.
20:29He's got it.
20:30Trying to get the ball deep.
20:32Picked off by Eric Williams.
20:34Intercepted to open.
20:36Opened by Monday night football.
20:38Started out as a college quarterback, Chris Collinsworth did.
20:41But that's his first pass in the NFL.
20:43He'd like to have it back.
20:44You go from Kenny Anderson to Boomer Esiason, right-handed quarterback, left-handed quarterback.
20:51Talk about the difference catching passes from those two guys.
20:53Well, first of all, I don't know if you know this.
20:57If you kick a ball or throw a ball far enough, it sort of fades.
21:02So if you're a right-handed thrower, the ball fades a little bit this way.
21:06He looks by Chris Collinsworth.
21:07If you were a left-handed thrower, it would fade a little bit that way.
21:12It is popped.
21:13Boomer to Collinsworth.
21:15Kenny Anderson, if the ball was here in front of you, you knew there was nobody there.
21:21Looking, looking, fires a middle touchdown right down the middle to Collinsworth.
21:25If he threw it down here, you knew you were about to get hit.
21:30He's protecting you.
21:31With Boomer, Boomer threw rocket shots.
21:35Boomer back to throw.
21:36Quick shot to Collinsworth.
21:37Touchdown!
21:40It was, there we go, baby!
21:42I mean, he was going to just hum that thing in there.
21:46He believed in not throwing a pew, pew, pew.
21:49He believed in this one, baby.
21:51It was, it was, we're going big plays.
21:54Yeah, it was great.
21:55Boomer goes back to throw.
21:56Goes long this time for Collinsworth.
21:59He has a touchdown!
22:01All in all, not bad for a quarterback who wound up being a wide receiver.
22:10Chris, thanks for doing this.
22:11It's been a lot of fun.
22:12You brought the wide receiver position to new heights.
22:14It took almost two decades for the NFL to catch up.
22:16Yeah, it doesn't matter if you're tall or short.
22:18It's like Bill Murray or Harold Ramis said, you've got to earn your stripes, baby.
22:21I agree with that.
22:22Let's get a selfie here.
22:23Let's do it.
22:24Let's go tall receivers on three.
22:26One, two, three.
22:26Tall receivers!
22:29Actually, Chris, I think I might be a little bit taller.
22:31Sure, Peyton.
22:36All right, Chris, why'd you want to show me the coat closet?
22:39Come on.
22:40This is so obvious.
22:41Look at this.
22:42Cincinnati is one of the few places in the world where they make the coat closet doors
22:48for the tall and sexy people like us.
22:50I don't know if you ever threw a ball right out of the box.
22:53They were slick.
22:54In the preseason, my first game against Warren Moon and the Seahawks,
22:57he liked them right out of the box.
22:58I had three balls literally slip out of my hand.
23:02And here's a fumble.
23:03Looks like the ball just slipped out of his mouth.
23:07And Jim Moore was yelling at me.
23:09I'm like, I can't grip it.
23:10I knew those balls were slick.
23:12I thought I'd at least get a wobble off.
23:14I thought I'd at least get a throw off.
23:17Here's my highlight, Bill.
23:18Well, it's just a really big, big place.
23:23I'm here for the Collinsworth Tower.
23:25Back in the 80s, Chris, wide receivers weren't tall.
23:28I can't remember the rest of my line, so we can hopefully can cut right there.
23:32Here it is.
23:32Here it is.
23:32Omaha!
23:45Omaha!
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