Cris Collinsworth was not going to let a prime time game slip away without finding a way to mention Patrick Mahomes.
The NBC announcer snuck in a Mahomes reference while on the mic for the “Sunday Night Football” game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Collinsworth did it while commentating on an electric Brock Purdy touchdown pass with the Niners facing 1st-and-goal at the Bears’ 6.
Purdy danced around two Chicago defenders before throwing a TD pass on the run to fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
“Brock Purdy was drafted when they were cleaning up the joint. But here he goes, he’s cleaning up the Bears so far tonight. I mean, if this were Patrick Mahomes, we’d be screaming ‘Oh, Patrick Mahomes!’ I know I would be.”
“Honestly, what I love about you is, you still have your speed. Because you beat the internet to beat you up, mentioning Mahomes,” Tirico said in response. “You’re just jumping right there, going to it.”
Cris Collinsworth is aware he's obsessed with Mahomes pic.twitter.com/0OijCqhAvI
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) December 29, 2025
The internet has called Collinsworth out for years now over how excited he gets about Mahomes. It’s gotten to the point that fans have started to suspect Collinsworth secretly roots for the Chiefs despite being a neutral announcer for NBC.
At the very least, Collinsworth is self-aware about his broadcast love affair with Mahomes, who was hundreds of miles away from where Sunday’s game took place.
