Commentator is now public enemy number one in Philadelphia

FOR once Tom Brady wasn’t public enemy number one among NFL fans. Cris Collinsworth grabbed that title with both hands.

Cris Collinsworth found himself the target of Eagles fans. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

The venom that Eagles fans didn’t direct at Tom Brady and their own city following the team’s Super Bowl LII victory was saved for Cris Collinsworth.

The NBC colour commentator introduced himself as Public Enemy No. 1 in Philadelphia on Monday, when he reacted with incredulity to a pair of Eagles touchdowns remaining touchdowns in the season of the overturned catch.

All year, fans and players have raged at the controversial non-catches, in which receptions that are plain to the eye are deemed incomplete for not “surviving the ground” or what officials rule is a bobble. That changed in Minneapolis, where two Eagles scores were confirmed by replay.

This wasn’t the game Collinsworth had watched all season. “I give up,” the former Bengals receiver said after Corey Clement reeled in a third-quarter catch at the back of the end zone, in which the ball did appear to move but apparently not enough to change the NFL’s mind. “If that ball’s not loose in his arms when that last foot came down, I give up.”

Collinsworth also questioned the game-deciding touchdown, a pass to Zach Ertz that saw the tight end take three steps and dive into the end zone, where the ball came loose.

He wondered aloud about the call before throwing up his hands: “I’m not even taking a guess.”

As Collinsworth tried to dissect the controversial catch rule, Eagles fans — and some not-as-biased spectators — wanted to dissect him.

Cris Collinsworth can never be allowed to call a game again. It’s a catch and a TD. #FlyEaglesFly

— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 5, 2018

Collinsworth making it clear who he wants to win. Lol.

— Chris Thompson (@ChrisThompson_4) February 5, 2018

Ok. What is Collinsworth watching? When was the ball ever "loose." Am I in a different stadium?

— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 5, 2018

Chris Collinsworth should not be part of the committee determining what a catch is moving forward. Gimme a break. Obvious catch.

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) February 5, 2018

It was a catch @CollinsworthPFF get over it.

— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) February 5, 2018

“NBC’s Cris Collinsworth couldn’t accept the Eagles scored a touchdown during the Super Bowl,” was the Philly.com headline.

“Great win for the city,” one fan crowed on a Fox interview. “And Cris Collinsworth, take that, baby!”

But NBC game producer Fred Gaudelli defended Collinsworth’s call, arguing his perspective was based on how the catch rule had been applied during the season.

“If you think about how the game has been called this year, Clement’s catch and Ertz’s catch, I would say a little surprising that both of them stood up,” Gaudelli told Sports Illustrated. “At the end of the day, I think people would love to see that as called.”

Corey Clement’s controversial catch.

Originally published as Commentator is now public enemy number one in Philadelphia